Lagoon Catamaran Smashed To Bits

[gonesail]

always remember: a rocky shore is not a marina

[skwanderer]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

Boat vs rock is never going to end well.

Like any disaster a chain of events leads to the catastrophe at the end with loss of vessel, and possible loss of life.

IN this case,

Event Chain link 1. inadequate lightning protection. I know this begs the question, but whatever steps including anchoring in a thunderstorm was obviously insufficient.

Event Chain link 2. No backup electronics, Both engines were offline. Not atypical with electronic engines where a single transistor can make them inoperative.

SO at this point the boat is in no immediate danger. Repeated lightening strikes are unlikely to do further damage than, well, TAKE OUT BOTH ENGINES.

Up to now the boat owner is reacting, instead of proacting.

NOW is the time to make a decision, hopefully one that doesn't make the problem even worse.

Choices...

Choice 1. Stay put. The boat isn't sinking at this point. Close all seacocks, and examine Bilge area, and all seacocks, and hoses for damage, prepare stoppers, and waterproof tape, and or adhesive for any leaks.
Try to get any bilge pump, or dewatering device working, and test for successful operation. Which then leads to ....

Choice 2. Leave the boat, apparently an option as the boat is anchored within dinghy distance from shore.

Downside, you are leaving a damaged boat unattended. You may have to get shore lodging, and risk a dinghy run in the same severe weather that damaged the first boat.

Upsides. If you wait for a good weather window to dinghy ashore, you can wait for optimum conditions. From shore you can contact towing, and engine mechanic, Assuming radio is down on boat, you now have access to help, and parts to repair boat.

Hanging out in a hotel while not cheap is generally safe.

From now on additional choices are higher risk.

Choice 3. Move the boat to a shallow anchorage to minimize risk of sinking.

You are now taking a damaged craft from the secure anchorage you've had it in until now, and intentionally placing it in harms way. There is no way to sugar coat Navigating with a broke boat, NO Chartplotter, depth finder, and NO ENGINES.

Choice 4. (The choice attempted) Drive a BROKE boat into a narrow channel lined with rocks under ail alone, with NO ENGINES, and adverse currents, and wind.

With predictable results.

Good decision framework. Thoughtful, appreciated.

The phenomenon of “gradually then suddenly” combined with “if it can happen, it will happen” are two assumptions I’m continually learning to observe for and mitigate.

[johnjuliano]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

Boat vs rock is never going to end well.

Like any disaster a chain…

Choices...

Well written and thought-out. Thank you. Not a diatribe at all and very, very helpful to me who sometimes has situational awareness issues (in the very short term, admittedly).

[malbert73]

All new Yanmars of a certain size are common rail which require an ECU. When I last chartered in 2018 I asked the charter base service manager and he confirmed a lightning strike rendered the engine inoperable. One reason when I repowered my boat I went with beta instead of Yanmar.
That said, I sometimes will start my engine proactively when a severe squall is approaching so that if I get struck don’t need to worry about starter getting fried…

[Paramotorgreg]

There was also a Greek registered Lagoon 46 “Obsidian” destroyed on rocks off the coast of Kefalonia on the night of 12th October.

[Hoodsail]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

The point of my diatribe above is every disaster is a chain of events.

The most important thing any boat owner, (or Nuclear plant operator), can do is as soon as something goes wrong, or unexpected the FIRST step is to properly assess the situation, and take the proper action to BREAK the chain.

Take a well thought out, but decisive step to prevent the chain from progressing further.

Capn Bill: couldnt agree with you more...in the hospital when responding to code blues, some early good advice was....first, take your own pulse! gives one the chance to assess the situation in a hi stress environment....thnks

[rslifkin]

Realistically, a lightning strike is going to do significant damage to any boat. What damage you get and what systems are disabled is going to be somewhat dependent on the boat's systems and somewhat dependent on luck.

Electronic engines may get the ECU blown up and become dead, but it's not a guarantee. Same way some boats end up with a perforated hull in a lightning strike, others don't. I personally know someone who had both their depth and speed transducers blown out of the hull by a lightning strike, leading to a significant water ingress they had to mitigate.

[Hermia II]

For unexperienced yachtsmen the sea is the enemy and land your friend, which often leads to problems. The best thing would hav been to go out to sea if it would have been possible to turn and tack your way out. This is much harder with a multihull. An experienced yachtsman knows that the sea is your friend.
Regarding electrics and electronics..I have just installed a house bank of LiFePo4. Very complicated considering BMS should be able to shut off charging and shut off loads etc. Most important however, the installation contains loads of electronics (even bluetooth communication with each battery). It is begging for trouble in a thunderstorm. I have yet to see what will happen in a thunderstorm, Victron will not answer that question.

[Tillikum]

Speaking of "chain links", why wasn't anchoring an option? Can't let the anchor(s) go without electronics?

Convenience comes at the price of reliability, durability and "redundancy", again.

A good EMP or Carrington Event will do the same thing to most vehicles on land and sea.

At least on land you can walk home.

And if your boat is plastic maybe best to have a metal dinghy...with plenty of flotation.

[Scorpius]

If they were indeed underway and on their way in when the lightening struck, they probably had very little time and very few choices to make that could have saved the boat. It appears no one was killed or injured - although I was surprised to see that, as people were crawling up that board, there wasn't a single safety line in evidence. A fall onto those rocks would have been painful! No injuries or death was the main thing. Boats are more easily replaced than people and insurance will deal with the loss.

At least the dinghy and the rig appear salvageable.

[PirateFoxy]

Originally Posted by Hoodsail

Capn Bill: couldnt agree with you more...in the hospital when responding to code blues, some early good advice was....first, take your own pulse! gives one the chance to assess the situation in a hi stress environment....thnks

One of the most frustrating things for me when dealing with any kind of emergency or urgent issue is how few people are willing to pause for a very short period of time to assess and coordinate. They just want to rush in and run around like chickens with no heads. I always want to get the group together (less anyone actually doing something critical at that exact moment like CPR) and just go over what we think/know, and what needs to be done, and who is going to do it. It takes very little time if everyone cooperates and results in much better results since everyone is on the same page and knows what to do. Like <30 seconds.

(My dad was a private pilot and a sailor and my mom a nurse, so I assume I picked it up from them. My dad in particular taught me a lot of ‘life tips’ he’d picked up from his sailing and flight experiences. I’ve never been in a boat-related emergency but I have been in multiple medical-related situations.)

[Bulawayo]

Its the first time Ive seen this so whether or not its old is irrelevant for me. Also suggest that a means to use the dinghy outboard engine be considered.

[Tetepare]

Originally Posted by leandroflaherty

Choice 5: turn around and head INTO the sea. Into deep water under sail. And wait for help to tow you back in calm conditions. I much rather be shaken around for 48 hours than smashed to bits in 1. Short of a major storm, a cat will have no issues getting sloshed around in a nasty sea. Now if its a charter haha..

Choice 6: read the thread and realize that spinning around and going to sea was not an option.

Amazing the number of people who don’t bother to read but just gotta have something to say.

[moseriw]

Hard to say what exactly happened. Could be a hint to enter ports with a bit of sailgear up until one is in the pond. The only information we have is: "Whilst the boat was at the entrance of the marina, it was struck by lightning,..."

So it depends where it has been hitted. With sails up there would have been a chance to divert to NW to the save anchorage and call the charter company with one of the nine mobiles to tow it in.
Even if there are rocks at the emergency anchorage below the anchor will bite in somewhere.



It is easy with a car. Hit the brake and are on the safe side but on a boat in can take one or two minutes tu sort your options out. Time you may not have.


The worst option is to run scared and try to enter a port. Always interested in survey reports like the ones from the german BSH.

I bet there is a lot of "wantonly negligent" in this case with an unexperieced "captain" in charge but we can not claim as the informations on the case are ZERO.

[Alistair242]

Originally Posted by moseriw

Hard to say what exactly happened. Could be a hint to enter ports with a bit of sailgear up until one is in the pond. The only information we have is: "Whilst the boat was at the entrance of the marina, it was struck by lightning,..."

So it depends where it has been hitted. With sails up there would have been a chance to divert to NW to the save anchorage and call the charter company with one of the nine mobiles to tow it in.
Even if there are rocks at the emergency anchorage below the anchor will bite in somewhere.



It is easy with a car. Hit the brake and are on the safe side but on a boat in can take one or two minutes tu sort your options out. Time you may not have.


The worst option is to run scared and try to enter a port. Always interested in survey reports like the ones from the german BSH.

I bet there is a lot of "wantonly negligent" in this case with an unexperieced "captain" in charge but we can not claim as the informations on the case are ZERO.

There is a very long fetch to the south there and a southerly wind(strong) is very unusual. I’m guessing from the suggested weather conditions and the video that there was also a big swell running. Its a tough ask and there is nowhere else to go close by. No chance of dropping the pick either. Tough day for the skipper.

15-20kts would not produce that swell.