Iddyle 6 has sunk...Dale is OK...picked up by TRNC CG

[Ocean Girl]

BeBe, if he needs help be sure to let us know, anything. if this community of boaters is good for something, it should be helping when when one of us are down.
Erika

[AussieWayne]

So sorry to hear of Dales predicament but pleased to hear that he has survived. Hopefully Iddyle 6 was fully insured to help ease the pain a little.

Dale if you get to read this at some stage and you need somewhere to stay for a while to gather your thoughts and energy back, my boat is available to you. You know where she is and who to talk to.
I wish you a complete and speedy recovery.
AussieWayne

[beneteau-500]

well I am Now ok as a result of the impact at time of hitting unknown object i suffered chest injuries and have been in hospital for surgery.

and yes I have lost Idylle 6 here is how it happened . after Months of being battered in the Cyclades i headed to Cyprus it happened around 05.30 /05.45 am i was on a heading of 111 deg with the wind blowing sw at 12 to 15 knots and sea was rolling about 1 to 1.5 meter and was cruising at about 6.8 knots w and i was really enjoying it because hadn't had a good sail like that for ages .

On Impact the yacht lurched to port and didnt come back down this is the point i was thrown forward into cockpit table then yacht rolled with toe rail under water with another two hits to yacht.

At this point i will admit i was scared and shitting my self the yacht stopped in its tracks sails where slapping about I had a quick loo down in saloon what a mess cabin sole every where.
i decided to get engine running an haul in sails but couldn't get helm to turn rudder suffered damage but got it finally to move and turned auto back on and hauled sails in

on going down to check saloon area and cabins I found a big crack in one of the fibreglass stringers and water in bilge which my bilges are normally dry some checking and looking around the bilges where filling up with water and my high water alarm went off . main bilge pump running i then switched one of the 4 back up bilge pumps on
and i though **** f*&%^% hell i went to the deck and the forward crew cabin i had to throw dinghy over board as it covers the hatch ,

on entering cabin i found about 2 ft of water i located hole which was on starboard side it was about 4" wide about a 1 1/2 ft to 2 ft long hole I had a large canvas tarp in cabin along with fuel cans etc i folded tarp cover hole and wedged it with plastic containers between bottom bunk and hull it slowed down leak but not entirely ,

On my return to saloon the water level had risen a lot yacht was now listing to starboard i decided to throw Life raft over and just prepare in case, hooray life raft worked as it was 8 months out on a service check
and water as at bottom of engine i switched on other bilge pumps and removed the jabsco filter covers for the forward shower pump as water was now over the stringers

no sooner Had i done this than engine stopped f^%&*^78 water went above starter and bottom alternator and it made some weird noises with water still coming in i tried to locate where the water was coming in i started to stuff pillows and sheets into the holes in the stringer beams where i also believe there was may be a big hole but no matter what i did i couldnt slow down or stop the water at this point i was exhuasted and my chest was starting to really hurt and also battery power was going down could here forward shower pumps slowing down, at this point i decided to grab my grab bag and one or two personnel things which i had in a bag at nav station and through into dinghy after an hr 1/2 trying to save yacht it was time to abandon yacht as it was listing badly and tip of bow was under water i went to hit dsc button on main vhf and it was dead no power luckily i had a hand held VHF dsc radio and jumped overboard to life raft and dinghy i am now glad i through dinghy over as i couldnt get into life raft as my chest injury was giving me some grief but managed to get into dinghy and then onto life raft and sent out a may day call

[rivonia]

Hi Dale,

Well thank God. Phew you do like to have fun-hmm enough og=f the jokes. Just glad that your OK mate. Have sent you loads of e-mails.

How did the rescue go and where are you now?

Bloody hell mate you must have hit a semi submerged container or something.

Hope that the chest is now on the mend-did you break some ribs?

All the very best

peter

[beneteau-500]

at this stage i was not to sure how far i was off shore but i could see land so i guess i was some 10 to 12 miles off shore and i did no at the time i was roughly 30 miles from girne as i planned to stop there and at time of impact i thought i would arrive around 14.00hr

some 1 1/2hrs after call went out coast guard arrived the where fantastic and did a great job i was fortunate they had come as they where just heading out at time of my may day call and looked after me so i will say here and now a big thanks to you
I was asked a few questions on the way back i described to them what happened at time of impact and said on impact it sounded like a 44 gallon drum was rolling along a road and the second impact was big which on reflection was around the keel and might explain why stinger was cracked/broken and at this point the first engineer who spoke good English said it was likely to be a Large ship mooring buoy and i got the inclination from him that this is what it was and it is floating about some where

Whilst i lost my Yacht which was insured i have lost a lot more as i have spent over 25k in past 2 yrs doing up grades on yacht which where not insured my fault for not having them added to policy i also lost all my clothes funny the one pair of shorts the only ones saved dont fit me so have been on the scrounge since as i have lost my wallet and bank cards etc i have had to arrange to get new ones what a pain and which reminds me I would personally like to thank my Freind Rasit the talking taxi driver in Nth cyprus A big thank You Rasit for all you help

On my return to uk my Insurance company where very quick in sending a loss adjustor to see me but to find out what is happening now or next or what the process is for a claim like this is like getting blood out of a stone

I will be back on water soon though this incident has taught me a lot

[rivonia]

Ahh thats what I like to hear. My old mate will be getting back on the water. Go for the Motor Boat mate.

So pleased that you had insurance - Phew.

How is the chest now. Whatever do take your time.

peter

[beneteau-500]

I had a opp i ripped out all the cartridge around my ribs and from my right shoulder down to the centre of breast ribs

[rivonia]

Originally Posted by beneteau-500

I had a opp i ripped out all the cartridge around my ribs and from my right shoulder down to the centre of breast ribs

Jeez that made me cringe. You certainly got a lot of guts. Keep the old pecker up.

keep in touch and all the very very best mate

Claire sends her love as well

Peter

[AussieWayne]

Dale
Wow that is a very harrowing tale to read let alone experience it for real.
I am so glad that you are ok. Battered and bruised but alive and well looking to get back onto the water again by the sound of it.
Pleased to hear that at least you were insured. I realise that it wont fully replace Iddyle 6 which had been your home for some time but at least the insurance payout will assist you to secure a replacement vessel.

It is a very scary thing to know that the runaway ships mooring buoy or whatever it was is still just floating around in the water waiting for its next innocent victim to make contact.
Is there a takeaway lesson for you and for all of us from this sad event?

I sincerely hope with the help of close friends and fellow cruisers that you recover quickly and bounce back stronger than ever.
I look forward to catching up with you in your new cat ,,,I mean boat next year.

Regards
AussieWayne

[rebel heart]

Dale -

Not that you need me or anyone else on the Internet to tell you anything, but for whatever it's worth yours is the first story on here of a lost yacht where I can say "Yep, that's about all a person can reasonably do."

Found the leak - check
Attempted to stem it - check
Had pumps running - check
Deployed life raft in advance to be safe - check
Spend 1/2 hour trying to rectify situation - check

Sorry man; you got delt a **** hand.

[Ocean Girl]

Originally Posted by beneteau-500

I had a opp i ripped out all the cartridge around my ribs and from my right shoulder down to the centre of breast ribs

So so glad you are ok and so so sorry for the loss of your vessel. I could not of done all you did with that type of multiple injures, you are one tough guy!!

Anyways, hope you can sort the insurance stuff out soon and continue on your adventure.

[miyagimoon]

Dale,

Sheena, Charlie & I were shocked to read all this. The saving grace is you are still with alive. You have certainly had a s**t time recently.

We wish you a speedy recovery, the boat is plastic and metal and eventually will be replaced. There is only one Dale, thank god you are still with us.

We will be back in UK from Dec to Feb. Love to meet up, then you can personally tell us all about it.

Take care mate.

Albert, Sheena & Charlie