Getting Aboard in the Rough?

[gjordan]

Having gone back and reread post 12, I still see only luck and not an ounce of common sense. The weather reporting on that island is the knowledge of people (families) that have lived there for 200+ years. These sailors must not have paid attention. This vidio should become a standard for all sailing classes on how not to do things. At least they had on life jackets which may be awkward, but cushioned the rib breaking hit from a railing on the upswing. Still, I am glad the outcome was good.____Grant.

[colemj]

You mentioned you are considering a catamaran.

A catamaran would not be corkscrewing like that and the rolling motion would be much more damped. The boat instead would just be mostly pitching.

Most catamarans have sugar scoop transom steps leading down to the water and some have a large back platform between the hulls. Both these design aspects make boarding in rough conditions much easier. Since the boat is mostly only pitching, you just pull up along side a transom and quickly step off the dinghy on the same level as whichever step is available at the moment at that level. And be ready for a vertical rise.

Mark

[nautical62]

I can't speak to the anchorages on Pitcairn, but I've anchored for the night at least 500 times and have always picked much more protected places to anchor.

In those conditions, I'd probably either stay offshore, or stay ashore.

[zeehag]

in those conditions i would remain with my boat, and relocate it asap, if not before the nbad stuff comes in hard. i listen to the locals with weather as well as look online for it.
btw--the locals usually have better sense of weather than do many of the weather reporters on radio.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by nautical62

I can't speak to the anchorages on Pitcairn, but I've anchored for the night at least 500 times and have always picked much more protected places to anchor.

In those conditions, I'd probably either stay offshore, or stay ashore.

Qne needs to read a bit about Pitcairn Island such conditions would be expected. As someone else said there is no anchorage just lees.

[donradcliffe]

The usual tradewind anchorage at Pitcairn is Tedside, or West End. Bounty Bay is usually too rough, and one cruiser lost his wife there a few years back when the boat went on the rocks in the night. Every home has a VHF--give them a call for anchoring recommendations (if they don't call you first) as you approach. They are very in tune to the weather, as they spend a lot of time on the water, but occasionally even they have been caught out.

Tedside has anchorage in 30-35 ft with sand and rock (don't try to use nylon rode here), and you have to pull your dinghy up on the rocks (they will help) and ride the fender of an ATV back over the hill to the settlement. When we were there, the rocks were strewn with the remains of a tri which was hove to waiting for the skipper to return from the island--unfortunately the crew was playing backgammon instead of paying attention.

They will invite you to spend the night ashore, but seamanship demands that someone stay with the boat.

[bobconnie]

Connie and I have been there a coupe of times in our Pacific days ! it's one of the worse places to anchor in we have ever seen !! Ya must get some local input to know whats going on !! the folks there are real careful about thier weather conditions ! if ya ask them on the radio, they will tellya whats coming up! and which anchorage to use for the weather thats coming up !! it can change in an hour ! from calm to what ya see in this film !! The last time we were there in 1990, we changed ancorages 4 times before we felt comfortable in going ashore!! even then we had a youngster watching the boat for us, and he would have gotten us if there was a quick weather change !! it's a neet historical place BUT it's also a dangerous place to try and go ashore ! Thats why they were there in the first place !! no place for anyone to bother them LOL. If ya think it's bad Now ya should have seen it before the launch area was put in !! there was almost no place to get a dink onto the shore !! just sayin somebody needs to be onboard if your gonna anchor there !! Just my 2 cents !

[David_Old_Jersey]

I think the (young) fella who was first onboard pretty much said he was an idiot for trying (the event was 2 or 3 years earlier when he was 21).

[Starbuck]

It's easy to armchair-quarterback, and I'm not taking anything away from the man who gained the deck, but after seeing this, I realize I'm too old to do that. Here's what I'd do if I felt I had to move the boat:

Preparation

1. One large snap-shackle, big enough to quickly attach to a stanchion.
   
2. Attach a length of thick line.
   
3. Tie a loop in the line the size of a dinner plate about a foot and a half below the shackle, inserting a 7–8" length of garden hose or similar in the bight to keep the loop open.

Execution

1. Clip onto a stanchion right there where they were, on the high quarter.
2. grab the stanchion at the base.
3. let yourself be lifted out of the inflatable.
4. Get a foot through the loop.
5. Now you can stand up on the loop and take one more step aboard.
6. Take a line from the tender & secure.
7. Crew can gain the deck the same way.

[Starbuck]

David_Old_Jersey, are you equating youth with stupidity?

Wait, scratch that: of course you are.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Starbuck

David_Old_Jersey, are you equating youth with stupidity?

Wait, scratch that: of course you are.

Stupidity would be a bit harsh (in these circumstances) - perhaps a less highly developed sense of mortality.

..........and a smaller collection of stupid stuff already in the bank , that as you get older now makes you shudder to think about .

[Dsanduril]

It's easy to armchair-quarterback

I'll second that. The one thing I see that stands out is that Felix had to go up and over the lifelines to get aboard, and I think that is what made the task as difficult as it was.

Perhaps having a gate area that is at about a body-length, and leaving the gate open when you leave the boat? That way you can to get your stomach on the gunnel when the boat comes down (or the dinghy comes up), then roll onto the boat. If I counted right he did that four times getting back into the dinghy Seems like the thing that got to him each time was having to continue upward to get over the lifelines/railing.

All second guessing from a long way away, so try to learn from it, think about what you might be able to do in a similar situation. We've all done stupid/ill-considered things in our lives, only difference being they didn't end up on YouTube.

[cat man do]

Many are happy enough to cut a hole under the waterline for plumbing, cut a hole in the deck for a hatch and cut a hole in the side for a portlght.
I have often thought a hole cut in the side (sealed of course) for a foothold could be a worthwhile addition

[colemj]

Island Spirits and new Manta catamarans have this. I think I have seen it on other catamarans also. It's a great idea for any high freeboard boat.

Mark

[Andrew Troup]

Those who say they should have taken a hotel room, shucks, there wasn't even a gaol until recently on Pitcairn. There's only about four dozen people, tops. I somehow doubt they have any plans to build a hotel, given there's no airstrip, no proper wharf, and no anchorage.

When a prison was needed for half a dozen of them, the inmates had to build if first!

I seem to remember a few of the locals can "put you up" in a unit of some sort on their bit of land, but I think that's pretty recent.

And those who refer to a 'storm': it's not a question of a storm blowing up: it's a question of a swell train arriving, often with little warning.

This is because when a developed storm comes down to the surface suddenly, a few thousand miles away perhaps, the large waves which build up after a period will actually travel faster than the smaller initial waves, and arrive first at a different destination.

This is why the seas often go down a lot slower than they come up: they're arriving in reverse order.

It's not that windy, if you look closely. Certainly not a gale, let alone "storm".

The problem, as others have pointed out, is that there are no "anchorages".

You have to simply try and be on the side of the island with no swell, and sometimes there is no such place.