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yacht in big trouble off Whangarei


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There jib still seams ok so they have way on , so the boat may have blowen out the main but the jib is there , last I herd 14 miles to whangerai , keep going

Main looks like its sitting tidily in the stack pack...

I'm thinking inexperience and rattled. 

They said they had lost steering, but by the sounds of things are actually steering fine. The boat may not be going where they are pointing it, but that would be due to the swell rather than any mechanical steering failure. i.e. an experience issue.

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The Wind and Sea has been running E/SE for sometime and has covered a huge distance, so the Swells will be getting up there. Windyty says the swells had been 4m. On top of that, there will be the Sea state due to the local conditions. Wind has been a pretty solid 30kts and thus there would be a ruff sea on top of those swells. The Sea direction would make entering Whangarei, Tutukaka, Whangaruru, mumu and all the other moos completely nuts to try. As Coastguard suggested to them, under the Poor Knights is the best choice. 
I imagine they are very very tired and exhausted and that only makes the situation for them soooo much harder to cope with. They may not be highly experienced perhaps, who knows, but Sailing is one of those situations where you can't often "practice" till you experience it. How many of you have ever deployed a Sea anchor in anger? it is a far different thing that when you practice it in calmer seas. They are going to gain a substantial amount of experience after this, even if it isn't till they get there feet back on dirt and sit down with a brew and think back at what they could have done better.

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Oh dear. Latest news says they did not get up under the Poor Knights as suggested and decided to head to Whangarei harbor, but struck rocks. I don't think they are sinking or stuck on rocks, but I don't know a lot more

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Can definitely imagine some of those places looking pretty frightening. I've been past tutukaka in big easterly conditions where I wouldn't have attempted the entrance. But with some south in the breeze it shouldn't be too hard to unfurl a little of that headsail and potter along northwards around Brett and into the boi.

 

Given they've been able to make the poor knights and the picture appears to show them motoring into the conditions fairly happily, it doesn't seem that they have a major breakage.

 

Theyve asked a lot of other people to risk life and limb, and wanted to be winched off what appears to be a seaworthy boat. If it is a case of inexperience and getting a bit scared then it's pretty irresponsible.

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Having seen the photo, it actually looks a bit like a boat I saw anchored just off the western side of Mimiwhangata on Saturday, opposite Whangaruru. I was out hiking the DOC reserve and had been down on the beach at the end of the peninsula, but as I got back to the top of the ridge I saw the boat heading out to sea. At that point the weather was beautiful and it wasn't till maybe 3-4 hours later that the storm blew through while I was on my way back to Auckland. There was also another boat of similar size, maybe a Townson, that came into the bay while I was there and was still there when I left.

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From CG Facebook page

 

Northland Incident Update; Shortly before 0500 hours this morning the yacht decleared a distress stating they had hit rocks north of Whangarei. They had their lifejackets on and dinghy ready should they need to abandon the vessel.

The team at Northland Rescue Helicopter have now successfully lifted the two people off the yacht and taken them back to safety where they are being assessed by St John New Zealand. They are believed to be well but clearly suffering from exhaustion after the ordeal which has been the incident span over 32 hours.

You’ll see in previous posts we’ve referenced the height of the waves as part of the hindering weather conditions, it’s not the height as such that’s been the major issue but the consistent short period time between waves making them steep and hard hitting.

Huge credit to everyone involved in the incident including our SAR Partners Maritime New Zealand and the Rescue Coordination Centre. Not to mention those behind the scenes and on the end of the radio providing vital information and coordination throughout the incident and the volunteers who left the comfort of home to head out and did the best they could in frustrating circumstances given the weather - team work from start to finish!d

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I re-iterate what I said last night. Approaching  a lee shore in any vessel under marginal control (for whatever reason) is foolhardy. At least the crew survived, but a waste of a boat...

When the weather is crap, searoom is your friend.

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From Scottie's link,

note the ages, that is really sad. 

 

Couchman said the man and woman, who are husband and wife aged 77 and 70, had got out of the yacht and were on the island when they were rescued.

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When the weather is crap, searoom is your friend.

Exactly so. With searoom you can then heave to, hunker down and ride it out, reasonably confident that you are going nowhere except maybe to windward at perhaps half a knot. And you may also find that in making a little leeway you boat will create a smoother slick that can be enhanced with a little oil. I've done it many a time from the comfort of down below, dribbling a little oil down the galley sink. Is heaving to a forgotten art these days?

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