Multihull Wrecked on Ulithi Atoll

[svstrider]

News in Oz paper re the wreck of a catamaran on Mogmog Island in the Ulithi Atoll which is in the Caroline Islands, 103 nm east of Yap.
Barrie family | Mogmog | Micronesia | Australia All Over

They were shipwrecked when struck by a cyclone ?Thomas. The last wind reading on their anaenometer was 90 kts!! They lost both anchors. Must have been anchored in the lagoon.

The captain, wife & 2 daughters are planning on trying to rebuild their boat over the next 6 months. The news of their shipwreck only surfaced when he rang a popular public radio programme in Oz called "Australia all over". People from all over OZ and the world ring in for a chat to the compere. It is quite popular for people in out of the way places &/or doing weird things to call in.

Interesting reading about Ulithi Atoll - one of the world's largest lagoons. During WWII over 600 US navy boats anchored there at the same time!
Ulithi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[rebel heart]

I'll be the first arm-chair-admiral with this piece from the article:

Last year, they hit a reef at an island off Western Australia and bent their rudder when their electronic sea mapping system failed to indicate it was there.

One more addition to my pile of articles where someone was relying on their electronic navigation systems and ended up smacking into something.

[maxingout]

Eyes are great for nagivating. In fact, they are the best thing around.

Electronic charts are really good at telling you what reef you wrecked your boat on when you weren't using your eyes.

[Kordie]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

I'll be the first arm-chair-admiral with this piece from the article:



One more addition to my pile of articles where someone was relying on their electronic navigation systems and ended up smacking into something.

Do you think it would have been shown on the paper chart? Are they inherently more accurate? I believed that the Chart plotter charts are based on the same information as the paper charts?

[Agility]

Are there really people that use electronic charts and don't use their eyes?

I prefer using both.

[maxingout]

Originally Posted by Kordie

Do you think it would have been shown on the paper chart? Are they inherently more accurate? I believed that the Chart plotter charts are based on the same information as the paper charts?

In atolls and in areas around atolls, if you can't see, you don't move the boat. I would not move my boat at night in an atoll because I couldn't see the reefs. That means no night sailing, and if you are near an atoll, you hold position twenty miles offshore at night just to be sure you aren't in a danger zone.

I didn't see the atolls in the Tuamotus in daylight until I was a mile away, sometimes less if there weren't any big palm trees or wrecks alerting me to the presence of the reef.

I routinely heave to offshore until daylight.

[Agility]

Originally Posted by maxingout

In atolls and in areas around atolls, if you can't see, you don't move the boat.

Sound advice!

[maxingout]

Originally Posted by Agility

Are there really people that use electronic charts and don't use their eyes?

Good point. They use their eyes to look at the electronic chart.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by maxingout

In atolls and in areas around atolls, if you can't see, you don't move the boat. I would not move my boat at night in an atoll because I couldn't see the reefs. That means no night sailing, and if you are near an atoll, you hold position twenty miles offshore at night just to be sure you aren't in a danger zone.

I didn't see the atolls in the Tuamotus in daylight until I was a mile away, sometimes less if there weren't any big palm trees or wrecks alerting me to the presence of the reef.

I routinely heave to offshore until daylight.

Full agreement. Is it slow? Yep. Keeps you from covering lots of ground? Yep.

I've got plenty of safety violations that I do (whether I plan on doing them or not) so I don't want to sound like I've got it all figured out and don't/won't have problems of my own.

[downunder]

It would be interesting to know what type of anchor they were using and if they had all chain rode and what lenght of chain. If they were using rope invariably their fate would have been sealed. Cats are often light on for anchor gear watching weight.

Those that have survived cyclones at anchor have had oversized anchors and all chain.

Too many inexerienced sailors carry inadequate anchor gear and more vessels are lost at anchor than any other situation. Up to some 70 vessels dragged onto rocks or sunk just last week in the Whitsundays with Cyclone ULUI a lesser storm than Cyclone Thomas.

It is easy to be critical of anothers mis-fortune were we don't have full information. I for one would not ever like to be caught in a cyclone however it would be inaluable to know what failed in case you are ever caught in such circumstances.

Follow this link to my photo album from Cyclone Ului.

Cruisers & Sailing Forums - downunder's Album: Cyclone Ului Airlie beach March 2010

[James S]

We were anchored in that very lagoon in 79 ...what a Paradise it was back then.
One of the things I remember about it was the huge moorings we found all over the bottom left over from the war...and as I recall the lagoon didn't seem that deep....and the sharks...hundreds and hundreds of little reef sharks.
I hope the family is successful at repairing their dream and I'm thankful all are well.
In the days when we were there...ALL the women went topless but had to wear very long skirts...seemed like they went to the ankle.
Our first stop was to pay a visit to the chief (barring gifts) to get his permission to explore the islands...it was so cool!

[Kordie]

Originally Posted by James S

We were anchored in that very lagoon in 79 ...what a Paradise it was back then.
One of the things I remember about it was the huge moorings we found all over the bottom left over from the war...and as I recall the lagoon didn't seem that deep....and the sharks...hundreds and hundreds of little reef sharks.
I hope the family is successful at repairing their dream and I'm thankful all are well.
In the days when we were there...ALL the women went topless but had to wear very long skirts...seemed like they went to the ankle.
Our first stop was to pay a visit to the chief (barring gifts) to get his permission to explore the islands...it was so cool!

That is an awesome story.

I for one would be thrilled to explore the war history of the South Pacific by sea. They came so close to Australia. It was only the diggers at Kokoda and the USMC at Guadalcanal that kept the yellow peril at bay in those uncertain times.

[Randal Johnson]

"I for one would be thrilled to explore the war history of the South Pacific by sea. They came so close to Australia. It was only the diggers at Kokoda and the USMC at Guadalcanal that kept the yellow peril at bay in those uncertain times."

Read "Reminiscences" by Douglas MacArthur and "American Caesar" by William Manchester about Gen. MacArthur. I would recommend them both. Also " Midway Inquest" by Dallas Isom. A minute by minute accounting of the battle of Midway. I understand Spielberg and Hanks are doing a series on the Pacific War called Pacific to be shown on HBO.
I hope this family gets their boat repaired and can continue their journey.

Randal

[Kordie]

Originally Posted by Randal Johnson

"
Read "Reminiscences" by Douglas MacArthur and "American Caesar" by William Manchester about Gen. MacArthur. I would recommend them both. Also " Midway Inquest" by Dallas Isom. A minute by minute accounting of the battle of Midway. I understand Spielberg and Hanks are doing a series on the Pacific War called Pacific to be shown on HBO.
I hope this family gets their boat repaired and can continue their journey.

Randal

Read them both. MacArthur didn't win a lot of friends during his time here in Australia. I studied him when I was a subaltern, like many successful leaders he was deeply flawed. Possibly even more disliked was his Australian counterpart, Field Marshal Blamey. I could speak for hours about the Pacific campaign.

The least well known, but certainly the most effective weapon of the allies were the Coastwatchers. People may have heard of them in relation to PT109.

But this isn't the place to be discussing this subject

[svstrider]

My apologies to the forum - I am not sure whether my original post should have been in Scuttlebutt forum and not Multihulls.

Moderator, feel free to move it there if that is a more appropriate section for my OP.