Leopard 48 vs unlit fish farm

[Kenomac]

Stuff happens, gotta keep a good watch at night using the chartplotter AND radar. Our prop got snagged 18 months ago in the mooring lines of a fish farm, we had dive gear onboard to take care of the mess ourselves.

The mayday call was over-the-top unless the owner thought they couldn't control the leak, which may have been the case during the adrenaline rush. Anyway, it looks like everything turned out OK.

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by babaluey

Was mayday the appropriate distress call to make, if there was no immediate threat to life or loss of vessel?

I agree, seems rather over stated to me, but darkness escalates everything. This should likely have been a pan-pan.

[Three Sisters]

Just sitting here with my cylinders fogged.

Dragging the million dollar yacht over the top of the 500 dollar fish pen was a brilliant maneuver. Flooded bilges. Yikes. What can you do.

Now I know what they mean by "you're in good hands with Allstate".

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Also well documented and even if Farms were on the charts, they should still require perimeter lights by law

Can you please clarify which law?

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by svlamorocha

Can you please clarify which law?

I am sorry if the question sounds flippant, I should have worded differently. Still, I would like to know which Spanish law can be used to claim damages in this situation.

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by UpOnStands

what type of radar? any type would pick them up?

Plain vanilla (but modern) Furuno kit but using manual settings as taught in the RYA Radar course.

I am afraid I did not mention a key factor. The ones in NE Brazil had radar reflectors in them. I do not know about the Spanish ones.

[Kenomac]

I see a radar dome on the Leopard mast in the video. They need to learn how to use it. IMHO

[prof_mariner]

I don't know if I'd be too quick to judge. I've spent many years operating ships and boats with Radars big and small. If I didn't know what to look for, in that sea state that fish farm would paint a pretty small and hard to interpret target. Depending on the size of the Radar array, its height and direction, and how well tuned the display, I think it would be pretty hard to pick out that fish farm from the swell and other noise.

As for whether he should have put out a MAYDAY or not, hind sight is always 20/20. His vessel was hit by an unknown object, unable to maneuver and taking on water. He had passengers, including children and no idea how long it would take nor who would come to assist him. I don't know if I could fault him for his actions here either.

I worked with the Joint Rescue Center for the USCG in Honolulu and can tell you that we responded to far less serious calls than this.

[rallyman1122]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I see a radar dome on the Leopard mast in the video. They need to learn how to use it. IMHO

Pretty weak comment from the sidelines. They hit an object not much more than a meter high made out of plastic. The radar return could have easily been missed.

Here is a link to their blog that explains the logic behind the mayday call and shows the damage to the boat.

Four to Eight Islands – Burnetts Ahoy!

[Kenomac]

Much of the avoidance issue comes from experience sailing the area. The Spanish coastline is littered with these fish farms, so it would be wise following a close encounter like we had or the Leopard to not sail parallel to the coastline in darkness or choppy seas relatively close to the shore.

Lesson learned the hard way in both cases, but the fish farms aren't going anywhere soon, so it's best to avoid them and not expect the fish farm to be the one that moves out of the way.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by rallyman1122

Pretty weak comment from the sidelines. They hit an object not much more than a meter high made out of plastic. The radar return could have easily been missed.

Here is a link to their blog that explains the logic behind the mayday call and shows the damage to the boat.

Four to Eight Islands – Burnetts Ahoy!

We've maneuvered around hundreds of these fish farms along Spain, Italy and Corsica, they are clearly marked on the charts, and have radar reflectors and usually some sort of lighting or strobe to indicate their presence. The Spanish government doesn't let just anyone float an unmarked hazard off their coast.

The fish farm strobe can be seen quite clearly in the photo you posted. Although I'll give you the point that the farm itself would be difficult to see on radar alone.

Mostly just bad luck, as was the same in our case. The lesson I've learned from the Leopard encounter, is to not sail too close to a strobe during the night.

[category4jay]

Too many unknowns here to make an educated comment. Was there a strobe on the farm or not? Was it lit or not? Was it charted or not? If it was charted was it charted in the correct location or not? Was the radar on or not? Were they using the radar or not? Do they know how to use the radar or not. How many farms are there in that location? Was it prudent to sail at night given the number of farms in the area. Just way too many questions needing to be answered to comment. As far as Mayday being called prof_mariner said it well. Now a couple questions: 1. Why couldn't they have just torn that fn farm apart? 2. Had it been an Oyster 53 with a 7' bulb keel that hit the farm what would have happened?

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by category4jay

Too many unknowns here to make an educated comment. 1. Why couldn't they have just just torn that fish farm apart? 2. Had it been an Oyster 53 with a 7' bulb keel that hit the farm what would have happened?

Answers:

1. Because the fish farm didn't belong to them and the fishermen and Spanish Coast Guard would probably get rather pissed off.

2. Probably not much, that farm looks to be less rigid than our hull and it's less likely we would've have climbed into it with the 7' 6" keel. But we'll continue our practice of sailing around them just to be on the safe side.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I see a radar dome on the Leopard mast in the video. They need to learn how to use it. IMHO

Nice - real nice.

[rallyman1122]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

The fish farm strobe can be seen quite clearly in the photo you posted. Although I'll give you the point that the farm itself would be difficult to see on radar alone.

Too bad you didn't watch the video or read the blog. The strobe light was not working and there does not appear to be any radar reflector visible. And the Coast Guard stated the fish farm was semi abandoned which could be why such items were not working or in place.

But hey, you keep on trolling the catamaran forums, cause everyone knows that nothing ever happens to million dollar monohulls