Dismasted at Sea! Amazing video!

[Sailor647]

Every sailor's worst nightmare caught on video.... wow!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4p6q9IjSuI&t=6s

[Cheechako]

Interesting.
Not really rough conditions.
Dismasting about 3:15
Pic of broken chainplate at 5:30
To keep from rolling with the mast banging alongside they start the engine. High risk with all that debris under the boat! But it's one of those decisions you have to make...

[Pete7]

Well, I thought they handled that really well and got themselves to the shore safely.

Pete

[Sailor647]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Interesting.
To keep from rolling with the mast banging alongside they start the engine. High risk with all that debris under the boat! But it's one of those decisions you have to make...

Honest question here...what would be a safer approach in rolly seas? Thx.

[BillKny]

WAIT A MINUTE...

Who thinks its OK to "attach to a fishing buoy" overnight if the wind is too light to sail????

WTF????

But they can motor at "one knot per hour," so there is that...

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Sailor647

Honest question here...what would be a safer approach in rolly seas? Thx.

I really don't know. As I indicated...Tough one. But in those minimal seas I'd sure as heck want to know I've got all the rigging/lines out of the water though because if you screw up the shaft/prop, now you are adrift on a raft.

[BMD21]

I'm certainly glad that I didn't have you guys commenting on my screw ups. Willing to concede they were stupid, but when I got out of them, I didn't need to hear what I should of done.


Boris

[NaClyDog]

Originally Posted by BMD21

I'm certainly glad that I didn't have you guys commenting on my screw ups. Willing to concede they were stupid, but when I got out of them, I didn't need to hear what I should of done.


Boris

Unless you posted about them publicly, how would anyone be able to comment about them?


My 2 cents, if you post about something publicly you are also opening yourself up to praise, indifference and criticism. Welcome to the internets.

[Creedence]

My chainplates are glassed in- first out of 5 boats I’ve owned to have them glasses over. Grinding the glass off to allow for visual inspection has been on my list since I bought it last year... I’ll go ahead and bump that up a bit.

[Cheechako]

I just don't see much "posting about my screw ups.."?
Maybe the "attaching to a fishing bouy..." Which is a bit strange but.. not a huge deal. But that's about it.

[ChrisJHC]

Must be something wrong with my iPad as I couldn’t see the rough seas they kept talking about.

It does show that demastings can occur in calm weather as well as the storm that mine occurred in!

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by BMD21

I'm certainly glad that I didn't have you guys commenting on my screw ups. Willing to concede they were stupid, but when I got out of them, I didn't need to hear what I should of done.


Boris

interesting thought

personally, when i screw up i'm very keen to hear & learn what i should have done

in this case i don't see much screwed up. i would have done more to get rid of the rig rather than drag it through the water (at 1 knot per hour ) but thats all

cheers,

(ps : best part of the video is abt 33-36 secs in...)

[JPA Cate]

It was dark when we were dismasted, fortunately only 65 n. mi. SE Cape Moreton (gateway to Brisbane, QLD, Oz).

We did things a bit differently, but it was a different type of dismasting, because our mast broke just about 8" above the deck, so there was really nothing to work with--even the spinnaker pole was gone.....

She (the woman in the You tube vid) said something like "if you have no sails, you have to motor." To me, this showed that she (or they?) had not considered how else their 1/2 mast could be supported, minus the chainplate connection. It would depend on what you have, how your boat is constructed, if there were other options. It is one of the things I like about perforated toe rail along the hull to deck join. The half of a mast that they had left represents something to work with for jury rigging something, if they could figure out an alternate means of supporting what was left of the mast. They did not appear to have considered any option other than motoring, dragging the mast end in the water.

Like Pete said, though, they did get their boat safely to port. It's sort of like landings: any one you walk away from is a good one.

Another difference is that Jim was able to jury rig an antenna, so we were able to come up on our ham net, and get someone to arrange with Customs that we would go in to a marina after we got in. There was no emergency, because we had plenty of fuel, and we did have to motor all the way. And we had radio comms if we needed them.

In our case, we let the whole rig go to the bottom of the sea. Part of the reason for that was that in the swell, the mast was sawing vertically along the topsides, and we didn't want it abrading a hole in the hull that would allow water in. And then we waited 10 min., with our arms around each other. And then, did a walk around, to make sure there were no lines, nor anything else we'd missed, before we dared to start the engine. It became very important to my self esteem that we could get ourselves safely into port. Meanwhile, a bunch of the ham radio guys wanted to come "rescue" us. ....We came to a compromise: we asked them to come meet us at dusk (only nav light left was the stern light) to escort us in. And so they did, and one couple whisked us away to their place for dinner, which was really kind--tasty, too.

We do not have an MFD. Once it is displaying white noise, man, I'd want that puppy off! or covered. I did wonder what their backup was, but it did not seem to be a problem for them.

For me, it was a pretty upsetting experience, and my first dismasting. Jim's Catalina 22 had been dismasted, and he knew more what to expect, and had also had years to think about it in, which stood him in good stead for dealing with it all.

Ann

[Mike OReilly]

Wow... amazing to capture the exact moment of failure on video. Did they determine what caused the break? Conditions were far from harsh, and it didn't appear they were over-clothed. I didn't see a shroud or stay go first, but I might have missed it.

[C420sailor]

Is there really much advantage to keeping the rig vice cutting it away? Seems to me like the insurance company bought it at that point, jettison it before it sinks you.

Not criticizing, genuinely curious.