Leopard 46 lost in French Polynesia - stunning rescue pictures

[Paul L]

Hit reef going from Moorea to Huahine. Apparently no insurance and big costs to have it removed from reef.
Hitting the reef:
https://adventuresofatribe.com/2017/07/23/mayday/
Follow ups:
https://adventuresofatribe.com/2017/...-list-success/
https://adventuresofatribe.com/2017/...like-vultures/

[DumnMad]

Man thats awful, cruising along living the dream then cruuunch. Glad all are safe and supporting each other. A huge shock to the system but who better to cope than cruisers.

[Cherod]

That's bad

[daletournier]

Always sad hearing a story like this, people that have the courage to give it a go only to have this as a reward. Hope they actually do have insurance.

[barnakiel]

I am looking hard at that chart, can't see any uncharted reefs between Moorea and Huahine. Maybe this is what the author means by uncharted, actually.

Making a night landfall in uncharted waters ... at 9 knots of speed ... while having a daysail stopover option at RT meanwhile ...

Sounds a major navigation error there.

Too bad for their pockets but so good they are physically OK. Mentally, if you look at the picture of the girls in the chopper, they seem quite fine too.

A lesson for all the others (us).

b.

[sailormed]

Reading this it seems it is un "uncharted reef", but ONLY on Navionics charts!!!
What is the legal responsability of the chart supplier if this is the case?

[LeaseOnLife]

I don't think they were planning for a landfall just then, they were preparing to sit down for dinner. Another blog describes the position of the wreck just outside of Avea Bay on the SW end of Huahine: Puanani Voyage 2016

The closest possible pass thru the reef is another ~9nm to the north. Maybe they just skirted the South end of Huahine too close? Maybe the reef extends a bit further than drawn on the Navionics map?

We were there in 2010 and if I remember right, the Navionics chip did match the real world quite well, for French Polynesia.

[Cormorant]

Here's a relevant passage in their blog:

"When they asked us what happened and we told them that our chart did not show reef, they asked us if we had been using Navionic charts, and I said yes. He then shook his head and said that at least five boats end up on those reefs a year who were using Navionic charts."

[jibstay]

I thought I recognized the name of the boat. They buddy boated with the YouTube family "Sailing Zatara" from Panama to the Galapagos.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by sailormed

Reading this it seems it is un "uncharted reef", but ONLY on Navionics charts!!!
What is the legal responsability of the chart supplier if this is the case?

There is no such responsibility, I think.

Choice of charts and navigation methods are responsibility of the sailor. And navigating in coral in darkness is asking for trouble.

Official charts there are SHOM not Navionics.

Looking at the images, it was not any 'uncharted reef' but the actual barrier reef that surround Huahine.

I checked their blog and they seem to be having great fun taking the boat apart. This is good as a lighter hull will be easier to remove.

b.

[taxwizz]

I smell a healthy lawsuit coming, or a generous out of court settlement.
The French still use the guillotine, I think, and would welcome the Navionics executives for a visit.

[Cormorant]

This part is a real heartbreaker:

"Our insurance had dropped us in Galapagos even though we had 12000 nautical miles of sailing experience, saying we didn’t have enough experience to make the 3000 nm journey from Galapagos to Marquesas."

[taxwizz]

This story, with the photos, is so very very sad.
Have you thought about a "Sympathy Crowd Funding" effort?
And....Don't give up on suing Navionics yet.
Please keep us up to date.

[Emerald Sea]

Its known that Navionics and most other charts of FrPoly are out by varying degrees. Many of these charts have been built on soundings and positions from the 1800's with rudimentary bathymetric equipment. Only in areas where commercial traffic is there the commercial incentive to have accurate bottom surveys completed. Its prudent of a skipper to know that any chart cannot be fully relied upon and when you get remotely close to a reef its only your eyes and ears that can be relied upon.

We sailed Hauhine only a few months back, during the daytime, and found Navionics ok but there are errors.
Below is our track in one of the Tuamotu's passes where its out by 25-30m.

Keep a wide berth and Never let your guard down when amongst any remote islands.

[alansmith]

I am so happy that that family survived. Unfortunately the insurance company got it correct. What a devastating financial loss for this family. They are healthy and alive and that's the important thing. I am sure that the father is thanking his lucky stars that no loss of life occurred. This could have been a deadly disaster. With both engines on I'm sure he didn't even hear the waves breaking. Did u Read the part where she said they were in 18 feet of water and then it suddenly went to zero and they were doing 9 kn with both engines on in the jib up? Hopefully we will get a further accounting from the skipper of the boat so we can see what he was thinking

May God bless your family. It was a very lucky Outcome And sometimes that's all you need is a little bit of luck. Your guardian angels were watching out for you at night. What if they had landed on the reef at low tide? What if the breakers had been even bigger? What happens if they've had gotten rolled from gunnel to gunnel? What if someone was badly injured during the rapid deceleration of the boat? The questions are endless. So many things went right for this family. They are so lucky people. And by the looks of it they look like a very happy good family.