All Cyclone Pam threads merged to here

[Steadman Uhlich]

Still photo (NOAA) of Pam from space

The islands outlined on the photo are Vanuatu.

This is NOT from the video I linked in previous post.

[smithje149r9]

NoTies, Glad to hear you guys are doing reasonably well! Thanks for keeping posted!

If you get a grip of what the community could use the most that you think we could help with, please let us know! As a community of cruisers and travelers that appreciate the hospitality of small communities all over, I feel like we have a responsibility to help as much as we can.

We all know how hard it is to recover from natural disasters, even in areas with substantial means. Hell, the marina I'm in was just rebuilt after being wiped out during the 2011 Japanese tsunami, and hundreds of boats were lost. But that still doesn't compare to the devastation in Japan. I digress, but, really, I'm in Hawaii and can see what my humble sailing club (la marianas sailing club) can put togather. You name it and I'm sure there are other clubs around the world that will join too.

J

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Luther]

Firstly, glad you’re ok NoTies.
My son forwarded this from the Australian Guardian newspaper:
Four non-residents who were sheltering on yachts when cyclone Pam devastated Port Vila harbour – including a young child – are believed to be among the victims of the natural disaster.
The bodies of a family of three and a middle-aged man who had been aboard two yachts moored in the capital were later retrieved from the harbour, Guardian Australia has been told, but their identities and nationality remain unclear.
Fishing and diving tour operator Leanne Phillips said the middle-aged man’s body had been discovered in the debris near the water’s edge next to her business, with police taking pictures at the scene. “It was terrible,” Phillips said.
I grew up in Vanuatu until I was 30 on my family’s yacht. My wife is also from Vanuatu and we still have no news of our family, nor of our house (in Elouk). We lost the roof in ’87 during cyclone Uma but the boat I had at the time survived in the inner harbor (near the Shell Depot). A few years earlier we had a bad cyclone and I spent the night aboard the boat trying to motor into the wind to relieve the strain on the anchor.
I was surprised by some pictures taken as Pam was approaching showing some boats still at anchor between Irririki and the market. If there were people aboard they could have got under the power lines to Irririki to anchor in the inner harbor. Was there no more space? These appear to be the boats that ended up on top of the Wharram in the town centre. Also saw a picture of a super-yacht ashore in Havanna Harbour… thought it might be the infamous Phocea (ex- Club Mediteranee)?
Glad my boat is on the hard in Florida.

[NoTies]

For everyone wanting to help, Lemara and Elsie from Yachting World have agreed to be the contact and coordination point. Noonsite will be posting something soon with contacts. Things to donate are the usual, clothes, school supplies, fishing gear, rice etc. Please no candy ciggarettes or alcohol.

[Buzzman]

Here's the link for the noonsite article which has all the links to other orgs and sailors who are going to assistance of Vanuatu and East Solomons.

Vanuatu Relief Efforts – How you can Help - Updated — Noonsite

Sea Mercy, the Fiji-based charity with access to half a dozen big cats, has a Paypal acct listed on their website so people worldwide can chip in and kick the tin to help.
These guys are the 'small island specialists' who go to the smaller islands and, having shallow draught, wind-driven sailing cats, can do so cost-effectively, meaning the donated dollars go further and they can get supplies right to the beach on the outer islands.
http://www.seamercy.org/civicrm/cont...?reset=1&id=20

S/V Adina, currently on the hard in Vila is also going to be doing some relief trips and can be contacted via their blog/email Yacht Adina
Email Tom and Susie direct - addys are on the blog post linked.

Chris Bone of charity OceansWatch chris@oceanswatch.org has yachts in NZ ready to go (almost) but needs self-funded volunteer crew members, so if people could pass this link on to any Kiwis they know who might be able to down tools and take a little holiday for a week or two, please email Chris direct.

Otherwise, why not contact your own local yacht club and do a fund-raiser and donate funds raised to one of the linked charities, as the bigger agencies have plenty of media coverage and advertising budgets to get funds from the wider public and govts.

Makes sense we yachties should be helping each other to help the locals directly, as it's the locals who help us yachties when we are in their neighbourhoods....

And maybe a 'brag post' here to provide a spur to others with whatever you did that worked and raised dollars and where you donated it to...???

[sapient sue]

Hi everyone

Having read the entire thread and watched as much news as possible - I still have not heard anything about the remote northern islands of Vanuatu. They have no roads and rely on boating to get supplies. Does anyone have any news of the people in villages in the Banks Islands and islands further north.

concerned

[Buzzman]

I'd say no news is probably good news, as from the reports by our ABC news here in Oz, it seems the southern islands were the hardest hit.

Anything north and especially west of Efate seems ot have missed the worst of the weather.

[pbmaise]

It may be a little early, however, I want to begin asking the questions what did and didn't work. I am up in the Philipppines with a 170 knot typhoon that luckily has just been forecasted to track to my North. However, someday I may not be so lucky.

The problems of other boats breaking way and heading into your vessel are not ones that can be fixed no matter how good your mooring is. "Typhoon proof" harbors are not safe if large vessels are anchored upwind. That is why I concluded it is critical for me to have an escape to open sea if vessels anchor nearby.

During a typhoon in January, I found a very large commercial vessel and maintained a position in it's lee. Neither of us were anchored.

When feedback is possible, knowing how many anchors were laid down, size of mooring, and whether failure was owing to being rammed by a large vessel is useful.

I am particularly impressed about how many masts were able to survive these winds.

I was not impressed looking at one sailboat that still had the mainsail mounted on the boom.

When I prepared for Yolanda that passed within 40 nm of me, I left the pilot house windows open so the wind could freely pass through. 14 lines attached my vessel to the shore. 4 of those were chain.

I read a good statement about putting out ground tackle.

If what you put in the water fails, you probably won't need what you failed to put in.

One particular item I am looking for feedback on is called a kellet. A kellet is a heavy weight on the chain that must be lifted before the anchor sees any load. I currently have 500 kilos of kellet in the water. These are my spare diesel drums filled with sand. They are plastic drums so my main concern is attachment points to the drum failing.

[NoTies]

Originally Posted by sapient sue

Hi everyone

Having read the entire thread and watched as much news as possible - I still have not heard anything about the remote northern islands of Vanuatu. They have no roads and rely on boating to get supplies. Does anyone have any news of the people in villages in the Banks Islands and islands further north.

concerned

The northern islands were pretty much untouched, damage started east Maewo and got worse the further south you go.

[NoTies]

Out of 39 boats damaged in the inner harbour, only one shows evidence of the boat failing before the mooring. The bulk of the moorings were in very poor condition, I observed one "cyclone" mooring with what used to be 5/6" studlink chain down to less than 1/4" in some links. Many boats had sails still on booms and furlers. Main reasons for such a high casualty rate:- Complacency about moorings and leaving too much windage up.