S/V Victoria Goes Aground

[SkiprJohn]

Just caught the 5 Oclock news and it showed photos of the 45 foot sailing vessel Victoria broken up on the reef off Waikiki. Apparently it went aground around midnight last night after transitting to Hawaii from San Diego.

JohnL

[SkiprJohn]

The 10 Oclock news showed Victoria completely destroyed on the reef. The owner and two crewmembers were waiting for the tide to refloat her but it started taking on too much water and they had to come ashore.

I believe this to be another case of someone wanting to come in at night to an unfamiliar harbor. The Captain was a 75 year old from Maui who bought the boat on eBay for $4300 and put about $25K into it before sailing it over (according to the news). His name is Magee. Anyway, that's all the rumors I know at this point and will probably read more in the paper tomorrow AM.

JohnL

[Ex-Calif]

Wow - Sucks big time - some discussion of a rudder loss - before or after hitting the rocks? No anchor?

Sailboat Splinters Against Reef Off Diamond Head - News Story - KITV Honolulu

Sailboat stranded off Diamond Head | KHON2 FOX | Local Top Stories

[SkiprJohn]

A couple of changes to the initial report are that it was a 42 foot sloop. The owner, Captain Magee, had bought it for $4300 and put about $30,000 more into it. They were sailing from San Pedro to the islands. Off Diamond Head there is a Red Buoy marking the shoaling area and if you cut from there straight for the Ala Wai Yacht Basin it is easy to go aground. Its always a good idea to keep heading East a bit more before coming closer to shore. I would imagine the crew was tired, they were anxious to get in to the Ala Wai and a lapse in judgment bounced them on the reef whereupon they lost the rudder and that was their demise.

The weather was brisk trades and they (probably) had just come downwind through the channel between Molokai and Oahu which can be pretty choppy and accelerates the wind strength. So physically they might also been tired. They had been out for 17 days.

The lesson in this tragedy is that when you are tired and close to shore it is always better to standoff, get your thoughts together and unless you are absolutely certain where you are don't head in.

I had a friend lose his boat while single handing just this very same way. He saw the lights of Hilo, decided to come in at night because he was exhausted. He said he went down below to make some tea to keep him awake and the next thing he remembers is bouncing on the rocks. Close to an unfamiliar shore at night is no place to let down your guard.

Kind Regards,

JohnL