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mjgill1 · 01-12-2018, 06:27

Anyone have any additional details on this? Here's a link in case your interested to the article.
https://www.chesapeakebaymagazine.co...miles-offshore

Feel bad for them. Glad they got home safe. Would like to hear the details in order to learn from it.

billknny · 01-12-2018, 07:30

I didn't see serious weather predicted to go by that area those days, and sure enough the offshore buoys all reported winds of 25 to 30 from the west that day. Conditions I would not hesitate to sail in.

Hardly conditions that should disable a 55 foot boat handled by a professional crew. Something else going on and the weather is blamed.

john61ct · 01-12-2018, 08:07

Extreme conditions can be very local and short-lived.

A 40' circle of 100+ y.o. trees completely knocked down up the hill from us attests, few hundred yards away we hardly noticed, was just a bit windy.

mjgill1 · 01-12-2018, 08:20

I don't want to speculate, just gather Intel and learn.��

SofiaB · 01-12-2018, 08:51

All crew were taken off the boat by the CG! That means there is a nice 55' Beneteau floating out there! Agreed; no need to speculate but weather with 25-35 kn winds would cause damage sufficient to cause abandoning the boat?

**boatman61** · 01-12-2018, 09:11

Enough to break the mast and damage the steering it seems..
As has been said.. local conditions can often be different to the general forecast.. I have been headed for Cadiz with a forecast of 15 to 20kts.. we got hit by 40kts which lasted 24hrs.
I know you guys consider gribs and weather guys the holy grail.. but like the grail they're prone to spillage.

Captain Bob · 01-12-2018, 09:52

New boat. They may have been crossing the Gulf Stream with the wind against the current. Nobody seems to know what happened or they do not want to say.

Fiveslide · 01-12-2018, 09:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by SofiaB

All crew were taken off the boat by the CG! That means there is a nice 55' Beneteau floating out there! Agreed; no need to speculate but weather with 25-35 kn winds would cause damage sufficient to cause abandoning the boat?

If memory serves me, that's at least the second Oceanis 55 abandoned. These boats are quite capable of most journeys, Zatarra is an example of that.

Hope we get some more info on the damages. I'd like to know how much sail was up when the stick fell, what in the world damages steering out there and such.

scottydaum · 01-12-2018, 10:04

The weather off the Outerbanks, is always an interesting study. It is it's own micro-climate, which sometimes creates it's own weather in very localiZed events. The Colder (I think Labrador Current) meets the Warmer Gulf Stream, combined with the under sea profile, and wind patterns which can be localized and kinda craZy.
I remember doing a solo delivery, and getting a later start out of Beaufort NC, which put me out there solo in the dark with no moon....(yes bad planning, when I let a delivery schedule dull my judgement). I was trying to get a sense of the sea state and direction, when I finally figured out in the darkness that the boat was being buffeted from wave action from all directions on every side of the boat. It was weird and a little scary. And then punctuated by the periodic BIG wave that seemed to come out of nowhere from the E/NE and slam me.
A bad rig, a rogue wave, a knockdown can break a mast, or disable a rudder. One or the other, can be dealt with....both, and the problems increase exponentially.
If the rig went down, a good chance the radio, weather instruments, GPS/Nav gear all went down. Dealing with stiff winds, and difficult seas is one thing. Doing it when you can't steer, and the mast is trying to bash a hole in the boat below the waterline is a different challenge.
Armchair sailing is one thing, and being cold, wet, and scared stiff thinking you are going to end in a cold wet dark end changes the whole decision process.
I may make one set of choices if it is MY boat that I have loved, cared for, and worked on for 15 years, and another set of choices when it is someone else ratty boat I am delivering someplace for a long overdue refit.
In the end.....my responsibility is THE SAFETY OF MY CREW, and boats can be replaced. If I save my Crew, and lose the boat.....it's still a good day!
Just my 2 cents worth.
PS......I also once turned down a delivery of a boat because a local Shiprite (sp?) warned me it was not sound. Another Captain took the job, the boat foundered and the Crew of three were rescued. It turned out the group of 3 Doctors knew it was unsafe, and wanted the boat to go down, but wanted it to happen with a Licensed Captain in charge so there would be fewer issues with the insurance company.

billknny · 01-12-2018, 10:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by SofiaB

All crew were taken off the boat by the CG! That means there is a nice 55' Beneteau floating out there!

broken mast and failed steering gear... your definition of a "nice" boat is different than mine...

billknny · 01-12-2018, 10:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by boatman61

I know you guys consider gribs and weather guys the holy grail.. but like the grail they're prone to spillage.

Since I talked about the conditions in the area, I'll point out to you that I was talking about DATA from the sea buoys surrounding the reported location of the rescue, NOT model outputs.

billknny · 01-12-2018, 10:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fiveslide

If memory serves me, that's at least the second Oceanis 55 abandoned. These boats are quite capable of most journeys, Zatarra is an example of that.

Two Oceanis 55s lost at sea? That's an amazingly high percentage of a small number of boats.

A boat that size should be able to withstand anything short of a full-on hurricane on the open ocean. Something is wrong...

Elie · 01-12-2018, 13:22

Sailing this area at this time of year, is risky. All northers off Cape Hatteras and the fronts that barrels down from the north create compressed isobars and the wind may get nasty. And just one wave bigger than the other may just do the job of cleanly flipping a sailboat. Caution, or better avoiding altogether sailing on this portion of the eastern seaboard seems to be a sage precaution.. And keep in mind, these new boats are not necessary made to sustain such weather, for a long time.

Bean Counter · 01-12-2018, 13:51

Maybe rig had not been checked for some time, a busted pin on the forestay may see the mast fall down, or even a spreader failure with a bit of sail up, in the ensuing mess around the boat I can well imagine damaged prop and rudder. What I don't quite get is that why would you be 100 miles off Cape Lookout in the middle of the stream heading south to Miami, unless they were going via Bahamas, if it was to cross the stream you would need to cross it again and the weather forecast for the second crossing would not be reliable by the time you got there. I know plenty cross the stream around this area between Hatteras and Lookout, but I would have thought that was because they were headed to Bahamas or BVI etc.