Pumice Field off VaVa'u

[hawkline13]

We-S/V Finely Finished- sailed through a pumice field for about 6-8 hours starting about 9 hours out of VaVa’u, Tonga.Here is the youtube video https://youtu.be/PEsHLSFFQhQ

August 9, 2019
2:30 p.m. intermittent streaks of small pumice and rocks.

3:30 p.m. pumice and rocks in large patches.
18° 24.049’ S
174° 39.765’ W

4:33 p.m. thick mat of pumice approximately 15 centimeters thick completely covering the ocean to the horizon.
18° 22.068’ S
174° 50.800’ W

6:34 p.m.
Pumice mat continues.
18° 18.798’ S
174° 55.689’ W
Do not have the exact time we exited the field but approximately 10:00 p.m. on a heading of 290°

We were motor sailing at the time we hit the patch. We shut the engine down but did plug up out head and got a little in the intake but were able to flush it out.

[belizesailor]

Thats one way to scrub your waterline! [emoji6]

[barnakiel]

Amazing!


What an adventure! ENVY!


THX for sharing.


Tonga is very active. I can remember seeing a 'temporary' island there!



We still have souvenir pumice pieces found in Queensland.


barnakiel

[Tillsbury]

That's quite mind-bending

[Dave_S]

Roam ran into the same, they managed to skirt it by talking with others around and working out where it was.

Apparently it was 4nm wide and 50nm long at the time

For those not scared of Faceplant :-) https://www.facebook.com/sailsurfroa...type=3&theatre

I saw another video a few years back and they motored in it and it tore up the impellers in no time, also took off all the bottom paint.


I hope all is well.

[RaymondR]

I vaguely recall reading, seeing or hearing that there are more undersea volcanos than there are on land.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, hawkline.

[Hardhead]

That is absolutely bizarre - something you'll never forget. Almost looks like Mars in a way. Perfect depiction of wave energy.

[grantmc]

Happens in the Tongan islands every few years. Nice video. I'd only ever seen photos previously.

[StoneCrab]

I can't imagine what happens to that in a storm. Even if it disperses, the pumice would be like a sandblaster both in the water and air.

[Tetepare]

A couple years ago the volcano has surfaced. Not sure what the status is now.

[Dave_S]

If you find a pumice float, don't go up stream of it, you might find one of these :-)

https://youtu.be/fRU22t1BhNY

[barnakiel]

I believe in a regular storm, the field would be the safest place to be. The field will disperse the energy, waves will be slower, lower, not dangerous. I think you would have to go bare poles as any extra speed could then translate in plenty of loading on the hull / rig.


Then again I can imagine a storm of the hurricane scale ... eh, that could be quite a different kind of threat. Hard to imagine but probably very bad adventure.


?


b.

[Dave_S]

Apparently the pumice is very abrasive and might do some serious damage in a storm for any length of time.

I wonder how the swell looks as it exits the float. I imagine all that energy is still in the swell just more aligned.

[Dave_S]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-...9t3uNv9W39q9IQ