Mayday call off Palliser

[wheels 543]

Last night a Mayday call was made for a Boat off Palliser. It's a Catamaran, but I don't know if it is a Power Cat or Sailing Cat. I am thinking Power Cat, and I think there issue is Fuel. So not a definition of a Mayday call either. IT should be a PanPan
The Mayday call was made around 8.15PM last night and the Weather had changed from Westerly to Southerly. Not overly strong, but onshore wind for them and I can only imagine they were worried about being blown ashore in the night. That Coast is nasty and can produce massive surf onto very ruff Coast Line.
Apparently they want towed to Wellington and then Fuel so they can motor into Wellington.
So story rounded up, sounds to me like a Power Cat, has gone way out where they should not be, in Weather they did not expect and not enough Fuel to cover a head wind home, then worried about being blown onto the Coast in the early hrs of the Morning, so called a Mayday when it should have been a Pan Pan and now want a tow home. If that is the case, they need their A's kicked all the way home in my opinion.

[DrWatson 381]

yeah, I read that, and i think it could just as likely be the media having no idea what a PanPan is and just calling it a mayday so that the readers will understand.

 

If you wrote "Boat calls PanPan", half the readers would think that the crew were summoning a Disney character to help them fight an evil drug smuggling yank called Dr Hook...

[Island Time 1,246]

Yep, not much data. Could be a legitimate mayday depending on the circumstances, not enough info. Current conditions 1-1.5m seas at 14 secs, building. It is pretty steep to around there, I would not be keen on anchoring on the lee shore. Certainly a Pan Pan.

18m cat, does sound like a power cat. In the conditions (currently about 15 knots building), if a sailing cat, could have easily made Wellington under sail and anchored in the harbor. So I guess it was a power cat...

Also, it could have had a fuel/tank/line/pump issue of some sort as well - not enough info to blame anyone, unless it was actually running out of fuel!

[Guest shane]

Well said island time.

[too_tall 15]

Indeed, I suspect that media are so inaccurate that we really dont have a good idea as to whats happening other than something floating got into a bit of grief. It had around two hulls, but maybe one, maybe three, and it was 18 meters long. Or was that feet?

 

Sounds like no one is injured or lost, so the outcome is positive. That's the only thing that is important. 

 

In all seriousness, the skipper may have realized their mistake in getting to where they did, understood that the skill set they possess is insufficient to confidently  return given the quantity of fuel they felt they had and thought it was far better to swallow their pride than it was to risk the lives of others on board, require an emergency rescue and, last, and least, potentially lose their vessel.  Everyone I believe got home safely. Where is the wrong in that?

[wheels 543]

There were 3 people onboard and they made the Mayday based on low fuel. They sheltered in Palliser bay for the night and managed to transfer Fuel and made it back in under their own steam.

There is no excuse to head out anywhere with not enough fuel. There is even less of an excuse to head that far off any coast without enough Fuel. There is even less again to head off that far and in that area of NZ Coast with not enough Fuel. There are golden rules to how much Fuel you use and keep in reserve. If they don't know those Golden rules, they have no business heading out to where they did.

[Clipper 346]

Do you know the name of the vessel?

[grant 40]

Two Up

 

Dr W is on the mark I believe

[John B 106]

At least they didn't put out an sos like Redford did in that last film of his.

[MarkMT 68]