Cat hits reef and sinks

[barnakiel]

How much tide is there?

It looks as if they may be able to plug her.

If there is enough tide, she can be fixed on the beach before taking her gently to the nearest boatyard.

b.

[Bulawayo]

Originally Posted by Tingum

Cats by the very nature of their light design are quite delicate. A steel or alloy monohull could have pounded on the reef for months! But then they are much less roomy and much slower. A choice.

Yet another misinformed posting. There are certainly some lightly built cats just as there are some monohulls similarly lightly built. It is incredible in this day and age just how poorly informed some people are - guess some real sailing knowledge goes a long way. To suggest any boat could take on a reef for months adequately displays the shallow depth of knowledge.

[The Miss]

Sad to see any boat like this.

Very sobering image...

the Miss
Miss Catana

[colemj]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

How much tide is there?

b.

About a foot.

Mark

[silverbeard1]

Sad, they lost the boat, no matter, hey!

[barnakiel]

Only one foot of tide ;-) does not seem enough to dry for repairs.

Depending on how they sat they may have sheared the drives, but this does not sink a boat. If they have holes ... I guess it will take a couple of oversize inflatable baloons and a diving compressor to lift one hulls at a time.

Wonder how much damage there is. I know Catanas used some amount of (aramid?) matrix in the vulnerable areas.

Any newer pictures cropping up?

b.

[belizesailor]

Sure makes a strong case for an anchor alarm of some type. This simple precaution could have avoided this all together....that and a well set hook.

[Triumphant]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Sure makes a strong case for an anchor alarm of some type. This simple precaution could have avoided this all together....that and a well set hook.

And to quote from Aussie Keith, a long term resident of Roatan, "West End is no place to be in a norther"

[tdoster]

Originally Posted by Jon Eisberg

I'm gonna presume they were attempting to enter the anchorage in West Bay... The break in the reef there is pretty tight, I doubt many folks sail thru there in anything other than the most idyllic of conditions...

Definitely one of those spots you'd want good light to enter... Looks like they might have put their faith in what some glowing screen was telling them, instead... To go in there after dark, well... Sorry, even if they were following a track they'd laid down previously, just incredibly dumb...

The Caribbean Safety and Security Net is reporting that FOUR yachts have been lost so far this year, in the San Blas Islands alone... Absolutely mind-boggling, in this day and age...

Or, perhaps not... :-)

https://www.safetyandsecuritynet.com...fety-reminder/

It really serves no purpose to assume someone was "dumb" without actuallly knowing the full story.

[D&D]

Originally Posted by The Miss

Sad to see any boat like this.

Very sobering image...

the Miss
Miss Catana

+2

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by tdoster

It really serves no purpose to assume someone was "dumb" without actually knowing the full story.

Heck....isn't that how cable news works?

[barnakiel]

An anchor alarm only helps if you are dragging and if there is ample room behind/around you. In many anchorages the reef is very close behind you and the alarm may help BUT there is no warranty you will have enough time to act. Esp. if it were dark.

b.

[Jon Eisberg]

Originally Posted by tdoster

It really serves no purpose to assume someone was "dumb" without actuallly knowing the full story.

Right you are, sir, no doubt about that... In my defense, however, I would note that I did at least manage to get an "IF" in there, in preface to my comment... :-)

If my post did serve any purpose, it might be as a reminder to what can happen when one is responding directly to a particular post, instead of addressing the larger picture... I was replying to comment that they were apparently not under sail at the time of "hitting" the reef, so I ran with the notion that for anyone to sail a boat of that size thru the reef opening into West Bay would be highly improbable, even in the most favorable of conditions... Still, my bad, for not making it clearer that's what I was referring to, and was the basis of my presumption...

However, I'll stand by my opinion that IF, indeed, anyone WERE to attempt that entrance at night, that would be a pretty dumb move... :-)

Just heard today that yet another yacht - a 52' Beneteau - was lost in the past day or two on a reef in the San Blas... So, that makes FIVE boats lost in the first 3 months of this year in the San Blas Islands alone... I'm gonna go out on a limb once again, and "presume" that at least a couple of those losses might have been due to a stupid move somewhere along the line...

:-)

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Triumphant

And to quote from Aussie Keith, a long term resident of Roatan, "West End is no place to be in a norther"

True, having spent a lot of time there, I agree its a fair weather anchorage, but the report implied the conditions were not bad. Any idea what the weather was?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

An anchor alarm only helps if you are dragging and if there is ample room behind/around you. In many anchorages the reef is very close behind you and the alarm may help BUT there is no warranty you will have enough time to act. Esp. if it were dark.

b.

In West End the reef is astern in prevailing winds, but in most popular anchoring spots there not so close you would not have time to react.