Spirited 380 Lost in the Coral Sea

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by minx

There were two approx 1/2" drain - holes in the cockpit floor - carefull as in some conditions water shoots up through the holes. Holes in the eng-compartment bulk-head for wireing allowed water into the aft cabin once the water passed that level - not sure where the water entered behind the toilet into the head.

Thanks for that info,
I have just realized that the steering on my Gemini goes through the back of both my hulls and out to the rear steering locker though the stairwell locker which does not drain, and the steering Locker which gets full of water in following seas, and can come straight through and fill my hulls as it is just above the waterline,

Being in the cockpit or on the back hammock for most of the time, I would not notice the boat filling with water,

Sealing them up when I get my boat back will be the first thing I do,

Thanks again for the info, I Would not have twigged to it otherwise,

Cheers,
Brian,

[minx]

Originally Posted by rodcat

Glad to see your okay hope you find your boat again ours washed up about three months after we we winched off but it was upside down still insurance had already paid out so insurance cut it up. Be interesting if you hear any feedback from the designer as l sent a few e-mails but got no response just wanted some feedback from the designer so we could all learn from the experience

Thanks for your comments.
Minx was uninsured, our original policy did not cover incidents occuring between dawn and dusk.
Im sure the designer is well aware by now of the weeknesses with the S-380. I dare comment that in our experience we found the S-380 underpowered and vunerable to water passing over the stern steps/ engine covers and walk-through transoms in some conditions.
Our engine hatches leaked sea water from day one, it was a challange to keep them sealed. Unavoidable humidity levels in the engine compartments with any salt water encouraged rust. We redesigned the stern steps so that the engine hatches were level with the cockpit floor which made changing the drive belts and impellers 100% more easily excessable compared to the original design.

[minx]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

Great you are here to talk about it, sad to hear your loss. How many people were onboard?
Hope things work out for you from here on.

Thank you, there were two of us aboard.
Were starting from scratch to find our way to some normality, shouldnt take too long with careful planning - cheers...

[boatman61]

Tough luck mate... but your both alive and thats the main thing..
And as for starting over...
we all do that every morning when we get up...
Its only daunting if one pause's to think about it..
Best Wishes...

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

Sweet as you're OK, but what were you doing in the middle of the coral sea in the middle of cyclone season??????

How about if we wait a couple of days before starting the process of grilling these poor people?

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

If you were 300 miles east of OZ you're close enough to the middle of the Coral Sea. If you voyage in cyclone season you're a fool.

And that was just mean.

[rexd666]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

If you were 300 miles east of OZ you're close enough to the middle of the Coral Sea. If you voyage in cyclone season you're a fool.

What does that make people who randomly abuse people who they do not know on the basis of a paragraph of information??

[Erik C]

Glad you are ok. Looking forward to reading your report.

[ocean_groover]

You must be shattered to have to abandon your boat Minx, but we're very glad to hear you got your persons back safe.

Thanks for coming on and sharing your experience, it is of great value to the rest of us. And of course great fodder for the after-the-event-experts.

Good luck with whatever comes next mate.

[dirkdig]

I would not have thought being in the coral sea in up to 35 knots should have been too much of an issue cyclone season or not.
What i am sure will be revealed is that the season did not have a lot to do with the problems encountered here.
I am no expert but i would have expected this cat to be fine in 35 knots.
Thanks for letting everyone learn from whats happened.
We have changed a number of things after learning from Rodcats experience and what did and did not work for Rod

[Palarran]

There have been several catamarans lost due to flooding of the engine compartments and subsequent flooding of other areas.

There was a french guy who lost a Fountaine Pajot Belize? because one engine compartment flooded then the seawater followed the steering cables to the other engine. And the brand new Lagoon 500 which flooded when the sail drive was torn off. The water flooded the main hull section through pvc electrical tubes.

I think this is a problem with many cats. We should all investigate it with our own.

[downunder]

Minx ,

thanks so much for your straight shooting comments and I can only say that I can feel for you in your loss.

I certainly liked the internal fitout of Minx as per the Multihull mag article and felt Stallion Marine who built minx to be good quality builders.

In my research I note the Fusion 40 is very similar to the Spirited 380 with similar engine salt water issues.

The maintainance guy for a Whitsunday charter boat company with a couple of Fusions said the Fusion had similar drainage issues with engine hatches with salt water dripping on to motor and subsequent corrosion problems.

Seems both the Fusion 40 and Spirited 380 are very capable in coastal crusing they have some design limitations in rough offshore conditions.

From your experience do you think the Robertson and Caine 38/40 ft vessels would have been any better. I suspect not but not from any experience on one.

Thanks again for sharing your experience and good luck for the future.

Cheers

[impi]

Very sad news .... I really hope someone spots her and you guys get to sail her again !

[impi]

Originally Posted by dirkdig

I would not have thought being in the coral sea in up to 35 knots should have been too much of an issue cyclone season or not.
What i am sure will be revealed is that the season did not have a lot to do with the problems encountered here.
I am no expert but i would have expected this cat to be fine in 35 knots.
Thanks for letting everyone learn from whats happened.
We have changed a number of things after learning from Rodcats experience and what did and did not work for Rod

Any chance you could share some of these changes with us?

[Mr B]

Minx, I know what its like to lose your dream and every thing else to the ocean.

I left my Gemini on the beach on Broughton Island with very large holes in the hulls,

At least I got my boat back, The salvage crew did a great job floating it to Port Stephens on air bags,

Its a very emotional moment, leaving your boat behind, I still cant get to grips with it, and that was over a month ago.