Coast Guard searching for overdue vessel between Oahu, Maui

[Discovery 15797]

Here is the initial story...

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/06...r781KKtYQz8Fzw

The boat was located 65 nm south of Oahu by the USCG with 4 persons onboard.

I did hear on the coconut telegraph the folks onboard departed the marina with some visibly un-seamanlike behavior (e.g. bounced off the channel marker, raised and lowered sails several times in channel, etc.).

Also another report is that USCG is working with vessel to get them back to land, but navigational skills aboard seems to be "challenging."

Someone else locally commented..."At least it's not 2 women and dogs."

Oh boy...I can't wait for the CNN coverage!

[davenrino]

Here is a post on FB Oahu Sailing-


"

I watched them depart the Alawai 800 row, bounce off the reef inside the harbor entrance, abandon the broken jet ski they were towing, get jammed up at the cement channel marker, pole themselves off the rocks, raise and lower their main and jib several times, and eventually sail out the channel to parts unknown."


Someone said they are engineless and have a broken mast.

[DanCan]

Info here
https://boatwatch.org/resolved/bolo-...o-maui-hawaii/

[OloteleMtn]

I am guessing the sale price just went down......glad they are safe.

[carstenb]

we saw them that morning - we went out to tune our windvane. They were busy pushing the boat off the reef inside the channel - no way we could help them - we have a seven foot keel and could not get anywhere close. Later, as we were coming back in, we saw them outside the channel trying to raise their sails. The main was up, but they were having a number of issues trying to trim it.

Bad time to be going out if you didn't know what you were doing - blowing 25+ knots and swells running about 2 meters.

Good thing they've been found - boat looked like a POS.

[roverhi]

Having had the pleasure of sailing to Maui from HNL when gale warnings were up, it's no walk in the park. The current flows to the north between Molokai and Oahu and winds almost always strong trades from the NE. Classic wind against current waves often with the added plus of seas generated by intense lows to the north of the Islands. The maiden sail on my Columbia was in those conditions and it was interesting. Every third wave or so broke over the bow sending solid water down the deck and into the cockpit. One of my crew never went sailing with me again after that and he'd been the most enthusiastic about daysailing off Waikiki before that. The slamming into the vertical seas broke the bulkheads loose and were a real test of the rigging.

From the pictures of that boat and description of their departure from the Alawai it's not surprizing that they ran into difficulties. From the looks of the boat bet they'd found a buyer who was looking for a place to fly their pirate flag.

[Tellie]

I saw a picture of that boat to. I was waiting for a certain captain to come out and proclaim. "If anything is going to happen, it's going to happen out there.”

[BugzyCan]

How do you break a mast off with waves of up to 2 feet and 17mph winds?

[alansmith]

OMG Tellie, I just spit my OJ all over the desk. One of my favorite comedies of all time. Great line from Captain Ron. Now to get this sticky sh!t out of the keyboard. At least warn me next time you are going to say something so outrageous, would ya?

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by BugzyCan

How do you break a mast off with waves of up to 2 feet and 17mph winds?

when they went out - the winds were running 25 knots gusting more. swells were running 2 meters. weather calmed later in the day, but they had at least 3-4 hours of the bad stuff.

Once they got south of Diamond Head the winds and swells would have calmed, but it was a stiff boat ride outside of honolulu

[Captn_Black]

Half of me wants to say this is why we need tougher regulations for sailboat ownership, the other half says that this is why we don't need them - they clearly paid the "fine" financially and physically for their lack of preparation and knowledge.

[Calif.Ted]

Lucky it's a ketch, I guess, wonder which mast they "broke".

[P3sailor]

You will have to wait for any news coverage, seems our wonderful media is occupied with CV-19 and floyd (not Pink Floyd), until something bigger comes along. I do hope the overdue vessel and it's occupants are found and rescued.

[davenrino]

Originally Posted by Calif.Ted

Lucky it's a ketch, I guess, wonder which mast they "broke".

The mizzen's boom was missing in the picture and it doesn't appear they were competent enough to make use of what they had left.

[Hoodsail]

That’s quite an exit out of the harbor, surprised that didn’t turn them about..Is a boom missing from the mizzen? Glad all were found safely by the USCG. After this, owner might be willing to pay someone to take her..