Yacht hits reef off King Island: sailors rescued ..

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by neilpride

Well wtf yesss!! if I'm sailing a beneteau and I touch the rocks the least thing come to my mind is to venture offshore without check for damages , now if I'm sailing in a steel boat who cares anyway... heee.

neilpride, They may have had little choice.

It is only an open roadstead anchorage, no haulout facility there. Ham radio chat, not confirmed, was that the boat was on delivery to West Australia, but then why did they not leave Kiing Is. to starboard? If they had been anchored in Grassy Inlet, why leave in the middle of the night?

Did one of them get any pics? They were lucky the fisherman was so close by, it can be a pretty empty bit of water.

So many questions, so few answers.

Ann

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by neilpride

Well wtf yesss!! if I'm sailing a beneteau and I touch the rocks the least thing come to my mind is to venture offshore without check for damages , now if I'm sailing in a steel boat who cares anyway... heee.

So, every single time you touched bottom, you'd need to get the boat hauled and surveyed?

Never realised what a PITA it must be to own that type of keelboat.

[neilpride]

Each in their own, really, to lift a cabin sole board and see if water is coming just take few minutes ,, in any case I prefer a nasty open anchorage v some miles offshore taking on water... but this is just me ....

[neilpride]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

So, every single time you touched bottom, you'd need to get the boat hauled and surveyed?

Never realised what a PITA it must be to own that type of keelboat.

Boat hauled?? who mention travelifts in this issue...?

[44'cruisingcat]

I did. In my previous question, which you answered "Well WTF Yes!"

[neilpride]

Well I miss that part , but obviously no boatyard in my mind, no even in that location , no excuse anyway to keep going after strike a reef....

[44'cruisingcat]

So a cursory inspection by an unqualified person is adequate?


How do you know this wasn't done in this instance?

[neilpride]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

So a cursory inspection by an unqualified person is adequate?


How do you know this wasn't done in this instance?

Sounds to me you wana play a smart ass game, but whatever,if you are not qualified to inspect your boat for visual damage after a incident then stay at home,,, you don't need to be a surveyor to open a dam cockpit hatch and see if water is rushing from the rudder post, or keel ...

[Factor]

So sad for them. Big dollar boat, all gone. On the substantive issue, given the waters they were about to embark upon, I am sure they wouldn't have made the decision to proceed lightly.

And so unlucky that it sank, I have been advised by experts on this forum that monos that are abandoned rarely sink

[44'cruisingcat]

The point is it may look fine in an anchorage, before heading out to sea. But without proper inspection how would anyone know for sure?


What I'm saying is, it's easy to criticize these people as idiots after their boat sank. But lets say they did lift floorboards and checked the rudder post and keel bolts. and everything looked fine. How many people would have decided to abandon their trip just because they'd run aground or bumped a rock?

[Seaslug Caravan]

In the true cruiser forum tradition lets ignore the facts.

Whilst departing Great Barron Island on the morning of the sinking I was made aware of it via a VHF securite or notice to mariners or similar.

At the time it appeared from the available information that the Bendy Toy had contacted the end of the breakwater whilst departing the harbour.

After a short period they noticed an ingress of water, notified AMSA who assigned assets.
A fishing vessel which was close offered assistance, which was accepted.
During the transfer a collision occurred which hastened the demise for the Bendy Toy.

Very difficult to come alongside another vessel without causing damage at sea.

Sounds to me like the rescue boat sank the Bendy Toy.

The internet reports changed after the initial report, with no mention of the collision.
Enough paper work without mentioning the collision.

Not sure anyone would want to as the penalties for false reporting are sever.

Can anyone confirm this version of events?

[tuffr2]

Newbie just wondering how well the ocean floor, reefs etc. are mapped. And what electronics are needed to avoid hitting bottom. If night time navigation was a contributing cause I also wonder what was the root cause of hitting bottom. Alcoholic drinking?

Sent from my SM-G360V using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[monte]

Pretty well marked. They may have left at night to arrive at their destination in daylight or timing tides / rip. It looks like they just cut the corner of the breakwater too close.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Newbie just wondering how well the ocean floor, reefs etc. are mapped. And what electronics are needed to avoid hitting bottom. If night time navigation was a contributing cause I also wonder what was the root cause of hitting bottom. Alcoholic drinking?

Sent from my SM-G360V using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

It varies greatly. In some areas of the Pacific for instance, charts can be out by miles. And some reefs aren't marked or charted at all. Some of these charts were drawn by James Cook, and haven't been substantially updated since...

Probably a good indicator of how accurately charted an area will be, is how much shipping traffic it sees. Heavily trafficked area will most likely be well charted, and usually well marked with beacons and lights.

Places where ships and navies rarely go, not so much.

[JPA Cate]

Nice answer, 44'cruising cat. I don't think the cause of the "touching" was due to poor charting, really. Our Open CPN chart for Grassy Hbr. would allow you to exit safely, even at night, I think. We would not normally leave in the middle of the night, but it was suggested that one would do that to catch a tide at one's next port, and we've done a lot of that, too.

Pretty sad event, in any case. We really don't even know for sure the sequence of events. As in can we rule out that they struck, checked the bilges, and all seemed well, then continued on, only then to lose steering, and so on?

Ann