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yacht in big trouble off Whangarei


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Would heading to Great Barrier have been a plan? Hard to navigate if no nav gear or charts, but perhaps someone could have met them in the lee and guided them in? A few weeks ago I was sheltering in lee of Waiheke and the swell from outside in the gulf wrapped right around and swayed us at anchor.

 

BTW huge thanks to wheels and others who have given me new respect for this coast.

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Could someone with experience explain to me why they did not just run down the coast (wind was from north or north east quadrant wasn't it?) until either conditions abated, or a much easier option than breaking seas in Whangarei Harbour entrance was found?

I am not making judgement on them, wouldn't dream of it with my own lack of experience, just wanting input from those that have been there done that in similar situations.

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It was easterly. Or Slightly S of East. You can't run off a lee shore. Passage to Great Barrier was directly to windward, they could not even make it to the poor knights. I'd have to say that most local yachts would have difficulty making any distance at all to weather in those conditions.

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It was easterly. Or Slightly S of East. You can't run off a lee shore. Passage to Great Barrier was directly to windward, they could not even make it to the poor knights. I'd have to say that most local yachts would have difficulty making any distance at all to weather in those conditions.

Understand.

Thanks for explanation.

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Someone else suggested "throwing out all your anchor rope and chain a mile or two off the shore..." and that doing so would have held them in place. Can anyone elaborate on this as an option in similar conditions? Wouldn't have been a fun night, I am sure, but better than ending up on the rocks.

 

This makes me want to practice deploying the sea anchor that came with my boat...

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Poor Knights for shelter was never a realistic option as anyone who has been through there in a big East will tell you , in fact I would take great issue with the person who suggested it.

Whangaruru straight downwind with a wide safe entrance as long as you stay off the wide berth - Rimiriki rocks was the obvious solution.  The coastguard are limited in what they can do with RIBS -as they are not a happy thing when not planing in big seas and wind. The old Tut english coastguard boat would have been much more appropriate.At least the couple are ok, which after all is the main thing after this unnecessary event- they are popping out those boats dozens a day. 

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Yeah Mimi was the best option for ESE. Sad.

 

 A friend of mine was doing a 2 handed Round Waiheke club race  10 or 15 years ago in his D28.  They were in a real 40 knots by the bottom end of Waiheke, beat up into big northerlies and made a seamanship decision to go on past Gannet before tacking  even though they could have layed through earlier.

Annnnyway, as they tacked  they lost their rudder and found themselves without steering( they rounded up) and a bukh 10 . Couldn't make headway out and drifted backwards over time to the seaward side ( Northern coast ) of what forms Hooks bay. 

Their  penultimate  resort was to anchor and guess what, that thing held. They were anchored in  what the Waiheke rescue boat people described  as the worst conditions they'd been in, very big seas and gusts well into the high 30's through 40's. They got towed out there.

 The funny part of the story is they went coast walking a couple of months later and found the rudder, which had broken off at a through bolt on the waterline.

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(Cough),Considering the people we've met over the years and who are now in that age group......, more likely to be an inexperience issue than an age issue per se.

Just saying....( wink smiley face thing)

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I suggested putting out all your anchor gear. If you don’t have the ability or energy to do much more than drifting and if there is land or reef nearby then 100 m or more with an anchor on the end is likely to hook on something before the boat does. When I read the rose noelle story I wondered why they didn’t do it the boat would have stopped before getting smashed on the rocks at Rosalie bay. Not too many places are over 100 m up against the rocks

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yep. which, IMO should be a min of 50% more. However, it does not all need to be chain - how about joining the 2ndry anchor warp on? Or a tow line, docking lines, a halyard, even a mainsheet if need is dire...

 

Insufficient fuel also an issue....

 

No voyage plan, alternatives  etc ...

 

At least they had some sort of sea anchor.

 

I must admit, when I first heard of this, I considered going up to help. Probably should have.

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And even if you just threw out that 40 metres there’s a good chance you will hook up before you hit land. Most boats will and should have a lot more available ready to use. 40 m chain and 60 plus of rope with the rope being available for use on the sea anchor too is not too much to carry.

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If I recall correctly the Rose Noelle lost her anchor when she flipped. A lot of the storage hatches opened up. I can't remember for certain though...

 

As for the drinking water... humans can survive for, what? 3 days without water? Barring any medical conditions, at worst they would have been thirsty had they chosen to wait it out. Disclaimer: I am armchair admiral-ing from the point of view of a young, fit person. Then again, I don't want to discredit their capabilities just because of age, either...

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This is all very hypothetical without being on board with 2 possibly very sh*t scared people.

All I know is that I learnt from a very young age that it can get pretty bad along that coast. 

I was always taught to leave your last resorts until you have no other options left. As I have previously stated, I remember once being hove to outside the BOI because it was deemed too risky to head in. Not necessarily because we couldn't, but if anything happened like losing the rig or rudder or whatever, then you are in a rather large spot of bother that could have been avoided by just sticking your tail between your legs and sitting it out for 12 hrs or whatever time it takes to abate. 

I recall the old Farr 2 tonner Fireball 2 getting rolled while trying to close in on the coast and that was with a full race crew aboard.

Depending on how close in this boat was, making headway out to sea could be extremely difficult, but you've at least got to give it a go. Even holding station is better than getting closer in. 1 knot of headway and you'll eventually get far enough out that the seas even out a bit.

Obviously option 1 was not to be out there at all, but maybe there's a story behind that also.

 

All hypothetical though.

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Did anyone else notice that the Beneteau had a MSA number on the stern? It made me wonder if they had chartered the boat, and perhaps had some time pressures to return it to Auckland?

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