3 ARC boats divert to Cape Verde with damage/injuries

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Old stories. No dinghy race anymore in the ARC programme!
.

No? They had it last year..

[sabray]

So what do you get for the entry fee? No one seems to have an answer.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

It sure looks like a wild ride. If I could afford one I'd name it :



FILTHY LUCRE

How about just "FILTHY"?

Then single girls would know I need care, attention and loving they would line up at the door..... Ummmm hatch..... Plank.

[Blue Crab]

I was trying for subtle.

[Lagoon4us]

I noted this excerpt in the logs today regarding an ARC competitor, this is how you deal with things, between yourselves. Well done i say!!!

Johanem - Miracle on the Atlantic
08 December 2012

Hi all

Our readers are by now familiar with the generally schoolboy humour surrounding our lack of success with the fishing line. However, yesterday afternoon events in the fishing department took on a decidedly more serious tone.

To cut a long story short we finally managed to catch a fish ... but at what cost.

The day started well enough with the fishing department finally deciding to employ its best weapon from a highly depleted reserve of lures. This one was a sleek and convincing plastic fish with two triple hooks. This was deployed with great confidence.

Several hours later, at 3:00 pm, just as Susie and I were coming off watch and handing over to Tony and Nick ( aka the fishing department), the fish alarm went off, Nick raced to grab the rod and it was all hands on deck.

Seconds earlier Tony had been lolling in an armchair on a fairly windless sunny afternoon but was first to the scene to help Nick. Just as he arrived the fish was landed, a ten-pounder thrashing about wildly. Just before it was killed, as if in final revenge, it managed to propel the lure, complete with it's exposed second triple hook, in the direction of Tony. In an instant man and fish were caught on the same lure. One of the triple hooks buried itself in Tony's upper left forearm ... and I do mean buried . A second part of the hook was also under the skin. Nick managed to separate man and fish with a terrifyingly large set of bolt-cutters - the only thing we had on board that could cut through high-tension steel hooks. On separation we were all able to see that we had a significant problem. Tony managed to cut through the skin to free the second minor hook but the main problem was still there. We didn't have a scalpel and local anaesthetic to cut it out and we almost certainly lacked the skill to do so. It was a job for a trained surgeon .. and we were over 1000 miles from anywhere. This realization was a low moment for all of us. Tony was very brave about it but we all were concerned about how this might play out.

We called other ARC boats on the VHF and SSB radios, but with limited response. "Ooh-Jay" had just passed us and were kind enough to come over to offer assistance. They couldn't help us with anaesthetic or scalpels but remained concerned and thoughtful, even after we'd thanked them and sent them on their way. This continual interest very much evoked the spirit of the ARC and helped a great deal. After experiencing very bad luck with the hook, what followed was quite remarkable.

How likely is this:

- We were on our way to try and rendezvous with a boat now would be better equipped but still concerned about who would perform the very tricky operation of getting it out. We'd called Falmouth Coastguard on the sat-phone for advice. Their Doctor called us back and was helpful on medication ... but was a long way away.

- Meanwhile, without our knowledge, Ooh-Jay had contacted a boat behind,"Ostria", that had heard our conversation on the VHF. They had a doctor on board with all the right equipment who was willing and able to perform the operation. When we heard this it was like the cavalry arriving over the hill..and they were only twenty miles away.

- We immediately set a course for a rendezvous.

- It was pitch black when we met but we'd talked on the radio on approach and both crews were ready.

- almost any other night of the trip it would have been almost impossible to contemplate transferring men and equipment between boats because of the swells, but this night was fairly calm.

- Nick launched the Avon dingy off the davits (no easy task on even a relatively calm Atlantic) and rowed across. This took some courage in the middle of the Atlantic on a black night. The Doctor, Jan and his son-in-law, Peter, duly arrived. Amazingly, Jan was an eye surgeon who had removed many a hook from eyelids in his native Holland Jan had all his kit and with a little help from our crew was able to perform the operation successfully , but it wasn't easy by any standards. He'd once been ship-wrecked and spent 24 hours in a life-raft so he had a very good excuse for not sailing ever again.. but thank God he was there.

- After photographs, whisky and beers we thanked them profusely and returned them in the dark.

Much relief, and perhaps a quiet pride all round, that we had performed well as crews and got it done. We recommend the actions of Ooh-Jay and Ostria as shining examples of the ARC spirit for their selfless actions. Who knows what would have happened if they hadn't come along. A hook in your arm for six days was not a healthy option.

Only 6 hours after the drama started we'd done the necessary operation .. over 1000 miles off-shore. I doubt we could have beaten this time in the local A&E

We look forward to a less eventful day tomorrow. Tony is doing well and the wound is healing nicely.

Cheers
Jim

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

This is about the only thing I have in common with the ARC racers.

Sure don't get these rudders falling out of high dollar boats. I wouldn't mind moving my spade rudder from current location, and if I do it'll be on the transom.

These are all high dollar boats. It's the beneteaus that don't loose them

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

One interesting thing pops up when you hear about these: Spade Rudders. We often have discussions on whether you should sail around the world in a Catalina or a Beneteau etc. on this forum. The amount of rudder damage reports on these long distance races should tell us the answer. NO!

These were not production boats one was still !! So YES

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by sabray

So what do you get for the entry fee? No one seems to have an answer.

People enter ARC for some of the following:-
Security.
Companionship.
Fellowship.
Tribal feelings.
Security.
Fun.
Guidance.
Competition.
Organisation.

[careka]

They did well by them self for 5 days, but where drifing to rocks/small islands and wanted help to get away from it all to be safe,
-- all comments, that you are on your own ? if you are drifting towards rocks, dont you need help as well ?
40000.- nok is about--- 6500 euros.

and why "TOPSAIL" did not put up the money for the tug ???

----
The LADY in RED "Harbourmaster of the year" JOHANNA. did take her own money and commanded the tug to go out and rescue the boat with crew before it went aground.


So if there is a HARBOURMASTER OF THE YEAR WORLD WIDE; here she is.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by TeddyDiver

No? They had it last year..

Sorry, no dinghy race anymore.

Maybe because the gas station has a new owner? Now it is Cepsa, it used to be Texaco and the race was officially called Texaco Dinghy Race.

Maybe because of the surge of sewage that flooded the basin during the ARC. But I think it is not the sewage because the sewage was there also last year ...

Fear of dinghy theft perhaps? I know that bikes are stolen during the ARC a dime a dozen...

Alas, it is hard to imagine a dinghy being stolen FROM UNDER the owner.

Then it must be due to lack of insurance cover when the dinghy is used for competitive racing.

b.

[goboatingnow]

pedro ( if I remember correctly ) owned the fuel station and was the all round fixer of things. He sponsored the dinghy race. ( and the BBQ) nice guy, I wonder is he retired. Etc?

Dave

[foolishsailor]

The thing that I take away from this is not that the ARC didn't "help", but that they didn't get any radio contact or support. And it is less shocking that there was no ARC support, they are in the middle of the ocean for fecks sake, the shocking bit is that the insurers were not willing to front for a tow and also quite frankly that the skipper didn't have the capacity to front 6,500euro on a card! An important safety and good sense item is to have a large limit card that you never use. You don't have to be wealthy to have a card that has a 10k limit lets say that is used for an emergency just like this...

[goboatingnow]

I think we rarely hear the real thruth about these things anyway my experience being involved in incidents is that they are inevitably mis reported or " spun" by someone often the crew or skipper

I certainly know in the ARC that world cruising were very helpful , they actually got a UK minister involved to put pressure on the spainish to respond to a issue.
Dave

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by foolishsailor

didn't have the capacity to front 6,500euro on a card! An important safety and good sense item is to have a large limit card that you never use. You don't have to be wealthy to have a card that has a 10k limit lets say that is used for an emergency just like this...

I only ever started to accrue wealth after I cut up my credit cards. I was 21.
I would never, ever have one. I use debit cards - different than what Americans buy in the supermarket - propper bank issued debit cards.

[foolishsailor]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I only ever started to accrue wealth after I cut up my credit cards. I was 21.
I would never, ever have one. I use debit cards - different than what Americans buy in the supermarket - propper bank issued debit cards.

Mark,

Same difference. Only a fool lives on maxed out cards, but then again only a fool owns a boat where an emergency exceeds his ability to recover from. I live in Ireland and we never use credit cards, but I have two high limit cards on my boat for exactly this type of event.

Edit: however I would like to think that something a minor as the loss of a rudder would not keep me from making a safe harbour. I have a workshop on my boat for fecks sake, nothing a spinnaker pole and some plywood wouldn't sort out, they were less than 400miles away!

Double edit: and my boat is alloy, and as we know from other threads alloy never breaks!