Jump to content

Mystery Yacht wreck found in Picton


Recommended Posts

I hope they dive on it and identify it. Sioux was an 11m Cheiftan centre cockpit. It's hard to tell from that pic what it is. It's disappearance was suspicious with a possible suspect.
The mooring line was cut and there was a Southerly Blowing at the time. It was really ruff out in the strait, but nothing really bad in Waikawa, where the Boat was moored. I can't see how it would have drifted from Waikawa to that point off Picton in a Southerly. However, a person had snagged a piece of rigging near Alports Island and Paul (owner of Sioux) and I covered the area with a sonar, but found nothing. But Allports Island is in a much better position to have the Boat drift to in a Southerly blow.
We spent two days scouring Tori channel and the outer area of the channel, but found nothing. A Diesel fuel slick had been reported Joe Heberly and the the day before, he sighted a yacht matching the description of Sioux, heading out of Tori into the strait. Of which he thought the Skipper must have been really keen or nuts to go out in that sea state.
It would be awesome if it was Sioux. It would be even better if she had any clear signs of being deliberately scuttled if it was. I guess it's possible that she drifted on to the Rocks on Allports and was damaged, perhaps sunk or partially sunk even and perhaps lost her rig there as well. But I can't see how she could get from Allports and end up where this wreck has been found, but hey. Even though the Tidal currents don't seem much that far in the sound, perhaps it is enough and it has drifted along the bottom all these years.

Link to post
Share on other sites

To add, Paul managed to get NIWA to come across with there flash towable sonar. The picked up an image off Tori that they suspected as the yacht. But due to the horrendous current, (8+kts through the entrance) they could never get a camera down to ID what it was.
After my effort, I came to realise how hard it was to see things down at those depths from a surface sonar. You have to have a damn good towable unit that tows at depth to maintain any decent image size.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Divers inspected the vessel today and were able to confirm it was not the Sioux - a $150,000 yacht that went missing five years ago.

 

Police originally thought it was the vessel, after the wreck was discovered during a Defence Force training exercise on Friday.

 

The wreck has now been identified as a much older launch, not a yacht or ketch.

 

It is understood the newly-found wreck has been underwater for about five to 10 years.

 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11540507

Link to post
Share on other sites

A mystery wreck at the bottom of Picton Harbour is suspected to be the Black Prince, a fishing boat from the 1970s.


The Black Prince was a commercial fishing boat in the 1970s and was believed to have been converted into a pleasure craft in the 1980s, police said. 


http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/73751209/police-chase-black-prince-lead-after-wreck-dive

Link to post
Share on other sites

Umm, common?? Not sure it was common and especially not in full view of the Harbour. The bigger issue would be whether it was an insurance claim. The vessel (if it is confirmed as such) actually called Jean. I don't now at what point the name was changed to Black Prince and it was never called Blue Submarine. That was just a pet joke name. There is one other "submarine" still cray fishing down in Fiordland.
There were a couple of that size that were Vindex boats. I know where one still is. All the others I remember were all larger regular fishing boat designs and I know one that is in Picton that is in fact called Jean, which is now in Havelock. But she was much bigger, with a big Gardner powering it with a ginourmus slow turning Prop.
The Vindex is also now in Havelock and renamed.
There are still a few of the old guys in Picton that may remember. I can't remember any buzz around about re a Fishing Boat sinking. Although it may have sunk a year or perhaps two before I arrived. The main discussion at that time was the Russian Cruise Ship sinking.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...