blue marble wrecked in niue!

[atoll]

posted on fb for those that have been following the voyage,yesterday the catamaran "blue marble" broke its mooring,whilst the crew were ashore,and drifted onto the reef.

condolences to the crew of 8 norwegians,who are all safe.
the boat has been towed off and lifted onto the dock.
but the prognosis does not look good with extensive hull damage.

link to their blog and the story of their attempted voyage on cf
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...nts-93113.html

Shipwrecked on The Rock (Niue) - YouTube

[David_Old_Jersey]

Ouch .

I am guessing by the added flotation that the hull was breached.......

[robert sailor]

Been to Niue. Bad news for sure! Anyone know if it was the mooring that broke or their mooring line??

[Jimbo485]

You can see the mooring ball in the video....

[boatman61]

Bumma... one reason I'll always choose my hook over a mooring ball... if I've a choice..

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Bumma... one reason I'll always choose my hook over a mooring ball... if I've a choice..

We have never picked up a mooring buoy for the same reason.
That video was awful to watch. I could just imagine how the crew was feeling .

A few comments by one of the crew members on the video:

"We were just assigned that mooring by the yacht club when we came in."

"The D ring on the mooring unscrewed itself on the bottom so it came off the mooring and landed on the reef."

"It might be a total write off. We will have to talk to our insurance company".

[boatman61]

Spent a few winters servicing 100's of moorings in Poole Harbour with a guy called Rob Hawkins... we'd lift the first and work our way down the lines checking and replacing fittings as needed... its amazing how fast steel gets worn down in tidal waters with the abrasion of sand washing back and forth... that's where I developed my distrust of swivels as well...
EDIT: should add all shackles we replaced were screwed as tight as possible and the thread ends 'peened' so the only way they could come apart was to cut them off..

[robert sailor]

You have to know something about Niue and the anchorage there before you get too opinionated. You have little choice but to take a mooring ball there because the anchorage is 90 feet deep. I anchored there and let all 300 feet of chain out as well as some nylon rode and I couldn't wait to get on a mooring ball as I would never have held if any real wind had come into that open road stead. Magical place, smallest Nation in the world and great diving to boot but forget about anchoring there.

[robert sailor]

I'm on the boat and don't do video's

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

You have to know something about Niue and the anchorage there before you get too opinionated. You have little choice but to take a mooring ball there because the anchorage is 90 feet deep. I anchored there and let all 300 feet of chain out as well as some nylon rode and I couldn't wait to get on a mooring ball as I would never have held if any real wind had come into that open road stead. Magical place, smallest Nation in the world and great diving to boot but forget about anchoring there.

So no way to check the mooring yourself... unless you carry dive tanks... so one has to take someone's word for the security...
I'll be even more opinionated and say if I can't anchor (and looks like the guest moorings can't take a real wind either) I'll just keep going... won't be the 1st time...

[robert sailor]

First time I heard of a mooring ball failure there but hey it can happen anywhere at anytime, your anchor shackle could come undone or break, its really just a piece of bad luck.

[robert sailor]

Picked off the internet


Nightmare in Niue
Joe & Heidi
08/31/2013, SV Huck
Niue is a very interesting island. It is a different topography than any island we have visited thus far. The natural chasms, caves and pools are simply amazing. That being said the anchorage and dingy process is somewhat unique as well. It is a given that it is an open mooring field with no westerly protection. We became painfully aware of this yesterday as the westerly winds came in the night before giving us a rolly and less than restful nights sleep. The constant watch (every 2 hours) to check your mooring lines for chafe and the super rolly seas are NOT my favorite. The seas became such that we were hit by a couple of larger waves yesterday morning that unfortunately broke one of or dingy davits. This resulted in the dingy being an unruly mess. As we tried to get it secured, Huck suffered some additional minor damage to the teak rail below the dingy davit and also some gel coat damage from the dingy motor banging the side of the boat. OUCH!.

After it was all over, we sat saddened by the minor but awful damage that we had received but also grateful that we were not hurt. As we sat there collecting our thoughts, we noticed a boat across the way had broken free if the mooring and was heading to the reef. They were not able to intervene and did end up on the reef. The local officials were amazing and very efficient but it was not to be saved. The boat was pulled from the reef and hoisted up to the concrete wharf...a total loss. Good news, again no one was hurt and the crew is safely ashore this evening. Our hearts go out to S/V Blue Marble and her crew.

Also have to send out props to Dennis Ommen from S/V Landfall for all his valent efforts this week.

Anyway on our way to Tonga Saturday Sept 7th. Love and kisses

Heidi and Joe SV Huck

[Boatguy30]

The "moorings" are large concrete blocks set on sand patches between coral heads. The rode is a short scope maybe 1.5:1 poly pro 25mm or so. We were there in 2005 in some rough weather and several large boats were left unattended while the owners spent the nigh ashore. A few boats moved the blocks around on the bottom, but no one broke loose. Also, several boats checked there moorings with scuba gear.

At the time, 2005, the tackle was almost new on all mooring. Is it now almost 10 years old?

[Jim Cate]

When we visited Niue in 1990 there were no moorings, so we anchored... in 90 feet (about) and stayed for a few days. Would have stayed longer, for it is a fascinating place, but a W'ly change came through and we felt that being on a lee shore in such a tenuous anchorage was unwise... so we left and beat our way toward Tonga.

I feel sorrow for the loss of Blue Marble, and the discomfort experienced by the others in the anchorage, but they had the option of departure... the seamanlike option in this case. The false sense of security afforded by moorings is seductive and in this case fatal to the boat. What a pity...

Cheers,

Jim

[Wrong]

This is what the Niuie anchorage can look like in a strong westerly. Ignore the 'easterly' in the photo. No, although I've been there twice, didn't take the photo.