30 Boats Smashed

[Jacana]

Absolute carnage Airlie Beach the control centre of the Whitsunday Islands last time i was there we counted over 200 boats at anchor or on swing moorings seems an abrupt wind change dislodged moorings and anchors beaching vessels onto rocky foreshore holing and sinking a few also 70ft vessel anchored off hook island broke anchor in same storm also throwing vessel onto rocky shoreline 30 odd backpackers and crew winched to safety via helicopter,thankfully no casualties.Google;boats smashed at airlie beach for full story and photos.Have heard also a catamaran was holed and sinking 250ks east of Sydney heading to New Zealand crew picked up approx 1am by passing freighter believed to be Sillouete11.

[stevelxls]

Boats smashed in Airlie storms. 12 Feb 2008. ABC Tropical Queensland. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A lot of very sad but graphic photographs at the above link

[Latitude9.5]

wow, that was a lot of bost sux

[viking69]

it is way more then 30 as well. looks like its more likely about 64. now they are just removing the written of ones and using an excavator to smash them into garbarge skips. there are more sunken ones still out on the moorings. the ones on the rocks were just the start of it.

[Alan Wheeler]

excavator to smash them into garbarge skips.

Sacrilege!!
I don't understand this. Why can't someone salvage the gear from these boats. There surely must be equipment that is not compleatly destroyed.

[David M]

What can be learned by this? What were the mistakes? Opinions?

[viking69]

the owners are being given time to salvage anything if they want otherwise the insurance companies are just trying to clean up as quick as possible as the is wreckage strewn everywhere. i guess if it all goes to the dump it will be there for whoever wants it.

As for what can be learned i am not sure there is a lot that could have been done. Maybe a bigger scope on the moorings. I know that the existing moorings which are concrete blocks will soon be old school as a new screw system from the states was allready on the way for at least mooring company here. apparently the 2 systems are like chalk and cheese in quality and the amount of pull that can be exerted on them is a lot different

[boris]

we are a throw out society !

that includes boats

[44'cruisingcat]

It's very sad. I know the owners of one of those boats, they built it themselves. Losing a boat you bought would be bad enough, but to have put in the thousands of hours of sweat to build her exactly how you want her, then have this happen.....