Spirited 380 Lost in the Coral Sea

[justwaiting]

Originally Posted by Cookiesa

I suspect like a lot of these things there is a lot more to this story than what we have so far as facts.

And given some of the responses to the OP i am sure that we will not get to know more. In spite of that i have learned from both the OP and some others. Sorry for you loss and thank you for what i have learnt.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by smj

I don't think they abandoned the boat because it was sinking they abandoned because they were in the path of a cyclone and couldn't get out of the way.

For a liferaft...
Are they faster....

[Pyrate]

Originally Posted by smj

I don't think they abandoned the boat because it was sinking they abandoned because they were in the path of a cyclone and couldn't get out of the way.

Well said. Much better to abandon in the face of very probable death (yes, even in a multihull, especially a damages one) from a cyclone than to trust in cat fanatic's undying faith in all multihulls. Especially because we don't know for sure if it is still afloat at all. It could have been broken up in the ensuing storm and might be floating in 50 different pieces.

Despite all the arguments one way or the other about the seaworthiness of the boat, decision to sail at that time of year, or any other factor, they made the right choice to call for help and abandon while it was a 'relatively' easy rescue than wait until the last minute when rescue may not have been possible, or at least would have been much more difficult.

Best of luck getting your lives back in order and hopefully you will find yourselves sailing again soon with this experience helping you and others stay safe on the water.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by smj

I don't think they abandoned the boat because it was sinking they abandoned because they were in the path of a cyclone and couldn't get out of the way.

This is not what we can read at #1.

At #1 we can read that the ship suffered severe damage in less than sever conditions. It stopped being safe and got abandoned. Which, given the ship's condition, and was the right decision.

BTW Were the nav lights left on to limit the risk of somebody else's running down the ship?

b.

[smj]

Originally Posted by boatman61

For a liferaft...
Are they faster....

I never saw a life raft mentioned in the rescue. What I read is they went from their cat directly to a ship.

[smj]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

This is not what we can read at #1.

At #1 we can read that the ship suffered severe damage in less than sever conditions. It stopped being safe and got abandoned. Which, given the ship's condition, and was the right decision.

BTW Were the nav lights left on to limit the risk of somebody else's running down the ship?

b.

And they were in the path of aDeveloping cyclone. Sounds like they made a wise decision.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by smj

And they were in the path of aDeveloping cyclone. Sounds like they made a wise decision.

Sure. A boat that cannot, for whatever the reason, be sailed, is not a place to be in this weather situation.

b.

[Mr B]

There was another Cat that they abandoned because of the deteriating weather conditions about a year or so ago,

The Cat was found later sailing across the ocean undamaged.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by malbert73

Does anyone else notice that this poster loves to throw darts a lot of the time on multiple threads? Usually aimed at anyone who dares oppose the gospel of perfection of all multihulls.

Anyone ever sit down with him for a drink and watch a sunset while being nice?


Just saying.....

Throwing darts? I agreed with the guy!.

And yeah, I've had a beer with people from this and other forums.

But it would be nice if you could try to stay away from personal attacks ..... just saying.

The point I was making was that just because a boat isn't heavy, doesn't mean it is underbuilt, or structurally unsound. While Minx had several problems, some of which could be attributed to design flaws which ultimately lead to her being abandoned, as far as I've read, structural failure was not amongst them.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by boatman61

For a liferaft...
Are they faster....

A bulk ore carrier makes quite a liferaft....

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

A bulk ore carrier makes quite a liferaft....

Well every one must agree to that one,

Step up to your life raft when abandoning ship.

[Sand crab]

People sail in those areas all the time during hurricane, cyclone, typhoon season. Just sayin...

[Cookiesa]

Quote "approx 380nm East of Mackay on Australia's Eastern Coast.
We are forever grateful for the assistance by the aircraft crew from the RCC and the crew of the ship Ocean Lord (coal carrier) during the three and a half hour rescue operation.
We had endured 72 hours in rough seas (3-4 metres) and winds to 35knots with a developing cyclone chasing us."

Mackay is 970 km's north of Brisbane, the forecast on the 21st was...

The latest from the BOM.
Tropical Cyclone 3-day outlook for The Coral Sea
IDQ10810
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Brisbane

Tropical Cyclone 3-day outlook for The Coral Sea
Issued at 2:30pm EST on Wednesday the 21st of December 2011 and valid until end
of Saturday

Existing Cyclones in the Eastern Region:
Nil.

Potential Cyclones:
A low situated in the northern Coral Sea is moving in a south-southeasterly
direction and is expected to develop slowly over the next 24 hours. The system
is then forecast to turn southeast, further away from the Queensland coast, late
Friday. During Saturday, the system is likely to continue moving southeast and
transition to an extra-tropical low. On current forecasts no direct impact is
expected along the Queensland coast.

Likelihood of a tropical cyclone in the Eastern Region on:

Thursday: High
Friday: High
Saturday: Moderate

Therefore the low, not a cyclone was south and heading south to south east... Can't see how it was "chasing them" It was in fact south of them and heading away, not that it was a cyclone.

The more I read through the information provided the more I am begining to believe they were out of their depth and panicked. Hopefully some more information is posted proving me wrong

[spiritcat]

It was sad to hear of the loss of Minx as it was the first 380 launched and I had met with Jon before he departed offshore and been in touch with him a number of times since.

There has been considerable comment made about the design of the engine access hatches on the 380 and the impact they had on the loss of Minx. The original design of the engines hatches was difficult to seal and required the engines to be cut out to remove. A modified design improves access, but water proofing was still a problem.

Myself and other home builders (and susequently a commercial builder) came up with a redesign of the access hatch at one level and significantly easier to seal. I understand that Jon may have made some of these changes to Minx, but do not quote me on this.

I have sailed my 380 offshore and have had following seas run up the rear steps and over the top of the engine hatches. I have not had the engine bilge pumps start due to water ingress to the engine bays.

There are a number of prominent catamaran builders around the world who also have rear mounted engines with access at bridgdeck level, so do not bag the 380 unless you wish to include others in the context.

Jon made a decision to call for help after a number of days in a trying situation with the forecast expected to worsen and develop into a tropical cyclone which it did.

He lived to talk about it and that is what is important.

Peter

[cwyckham]

Hi Peter,

It's great to hear somebody who knows this actual design well. It's good to know that you have found a way to seal the engine access.

The question still remains, though, what of access to the bays for engine maintenance in heavy conditions? Perhaps this isn't enough to write off a design for blue water, and I don't have enough experience to know for sure, but I've heard plenty of people complain about being bum up in the engine compartment in heavy conditions trying to change filters and bleed fuel lines to get the engine going to charge batteries or motor.

Seems that this would be difficult with the hatches on the transom steps (or at least very, very wet).