How stable cats really are (video)

[RaymondR]

It managed to motor back into the Tweed River on one motor and then received assistance.

Those folks were very lucky to walk away from that incident.

Not a good decision to leave port in those conditions and since most of those places in that area have video of the bar conditions accessible via the net they could have checked before leaving the mooring or hoisting the anchor.

[Jim Cate]

Yep, they made a bad decision, but have we not all done so? They seem to be quite experienced cruisers, with many successful miles under their keels, so likely not stupid or careless as a rule. Perhaps they had not done many bar crossings whilst circumnavigating Oz... quite possible to do so, and had little experience of their terrors... I dunno.

But even folks with huge experience can make similar errors. Some years ago a prawn trawler in the Clarence river, a fellow with hundreds of crossings of that bar, chose to go out in pretty gnarly conditions. A photographer standing on the jetty got a snap of this large (~50 ft?) and very heavy boat standing nearly vertically on a breaking wave at the entrance with green water cascading over the boat. He survived, but the boat reportedly suffered over 100K$ in damages.
The photo was blown up into a mural and it is still today shown on a wall in "downtown" Iluka. I stop and stare at it every time I walk by.

So, I can't feel too damn critical of Begonia's crew... and I bet they won't make such a blunder ever again!

Jim

[David B]

Originally Posted by Martkimwat

Nobody disputes that cats are stable, but unfortunately they are equally as stable upside down....

More stable upside down if anything ....
You have the engines in the bottom of the hulls, and other heavier stuff, but then you have the mast (and things that have now ended up sitting on the roof inside).

Impressive video I have to say.

[David B]

Originally Posted by adjo

As they say: cats are extremely stable upside down - monos are extremely stable on the sea bed

Indeed - a lucky escape.

Really ???

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Yep, they made a bad decision, but have we not all done so? They seem to be quite experienced cruisers, with many successful miles under their keels, so likely not stupid or careless as a rule. Perhaps they had not done many bar crossings whilst circumnavigating Oz... quite possible to do so, and had little experience of their terrors... I dunno.

But even folks with huge experience can make similar errors. Some years ago a prawn trawler in the Clarence river, a fellow with hundreds of crossings of that bar, chose to go out in pretty gnarly conditions. A photographer standing on the jetty got a snap of this large (~50 ft?) and very heavy boat standing nearly vertically on a breaking wave at the entrance with green water cascading over the boat. He survived, but the boat reportedly suffered over 100K$ in damages.
The photo was blown up into a mural and it is still today shown on a wall in "downtown" Iluka. I stop and stare at it every time I walk by.

So, I can't feel too damn critical of Begonia's crew... and I bet they won't make such a blunder ever again!

Jim

walk past this pic most days...and there is a full sequence before & after on the wall of the fish n chip shop in yamba

the guy who was driving the trawler that day now drives the ferry here...and i understand does not go outside any more

cheers,

[Don C L]

I'd like to see the rest of the video. And, yes, as boatie says, I wonder what condition the rudders (and engines, struts, props) are in after that. And that's not a criticism of cats, any boat surfing backwards will have rudder damage I'd bet.

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by Don C L

I'd like to see the rest of the video. And, yes, as boatie says, I wonder what condition the rudders (and engines, struts, props) are in after that. And that's not a criticism of cats, any boat surfing backwards will have rudder damage I'd bet.

links to the full videos are here in the earlier thread

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ar-251201.html

cheers,

[RaymondR]

My reading of it is that they were lucky that the first breaking wave caught them and drove them backwards as it looks like had it not the larger breaking waves further out would have flipped the vessel with fairly certain loss of life.

Looking at how fearsome that sea looks from the distant viewpoint of the barcam it must have been truly fearsome looking at it close up at water level.

As sympathetic as one may feel for fellow cruisers who have just been subjected to a terrifying experience like that one cannot escape the fact that it was foolhardy to make the attempt.

Now, let's throw a fox into the chicken pen.

I wonder if the latest covid panic in Victoria and the threat of border closures played a part in those folks making the attempt to escape the southern states? With winter coming on I may even have made the attempt myself.

There is also the anchoring regulations in NSW where one is only allowed about twenty eight days total with a maximum of fourteen in any one episode. Lump it all together and the pressure to move on mounts.

[Cliffhanger]

Here is another one. Not dangerous but certainly uncomfortable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU_AfADAgsk

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by Cliffhanger

Here is another one. Not dangerous but certainly uncomfortable.

very good photography, but makes it look a whole lot worse than it is...

cheers,

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

My reading of it is that they were lucky that the first breaking wave caught them and drove them backwards as it looks like had it not the larger breaking waves further out would have flipped the vessel with fairly certain loss of life.

Looking at how fearsome that sea looks from the distant viewpoint of the barcam it must have been truly fearsome looking at it close up at water level.

As sympathetic as one may feel for fellow cruisers who have just been subjected to a terrifying experience like that one cannot escape the fact that it was foolhardy to make the attempt.

Now, let's throw a fox into the chicken pen.

I wonder if the latest covid panic in Victoria and the threat of border closures played a part in those folks making the attempt to escape the southern states? With winter coming on I may even have made the attempt myself.

There is also the anchoring regulations in NSW where one is only allowed about twenty eight days total with a maximum of fourteen in any one episode. Lump it all together and the pressure to move on mounts.

while it is possible that some folk might worry, there has been zero talk about any closure of the qld border to boats from northern nsw...boats crossing every day

and as for the old chestnut of nsw anchoring regulations : while this is on the books, nobody (including the BSOs) outside sydney harbour gives it a moments thought. we are permanent live-aboards and know this for a fact

cheers,

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by chrisr

that's right, and i think it illustrates the need for a cat to be able to slide sideways when in danger. to me this is a danger of dagger boards - they are intended to stop more of this slide than will mini-keels. this can be managed if boards are up, but...

cheers,

They were motoring out over a bar. If it had daggerboards they'd be fully raised. Absolutely no reason you'd have them down.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by chrisr

while it is possible that some folk might worry, there has been zero talk about any closure of the qld border to boats from northern nsw...boats crossing every day

and as for the old chestnut of nsw anchoring regulations : while this is on the books, nobody (including the BSOs) outside sydney harbour gives it a moments thought. we are permanent live-aboards and know this for a fact

cheers,

When one deals with perceptions actuality often has no influence.

[Boatguy30]

Breaking waves well shorter than beam of boat. Well within the assumed limits by any rational designer

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by chrisr

while it is possible that some folk might worry, there has been zero talk about any closure of the qld border to boats from northern nsw...boats crossing every day

and as for the old chestnut of nsw anchoring regulations : while this is on the books, nobody (including the BSOs) outside sydney harbour gives it a moments thought. we are permanent live-aboards and know this for a fact

cheers,

The latest instance of the madness.

There is a train called "The Ghan" which runs from Adelaide on the southern coast of the Australian continent to Darwin on the north coast. The middle of the Australian continent is one big desert (yeah I know it's subdivided into a number of sub deserts but it's still all desert) with a population density of about one person per million acres.

Anyway the train was stopped in the middle of this desert and about 50 people removed and put on a bus to god knows where. Their problem, they came from the State of Victoria where another corona virus cluster has occurred.