Sunsail Mayday, Portsmouth harbour

[henryf]

With 15 minutes until low water we heard a Mayday called just outside Portsmouth harbour.

Yacht had run aground on the Hamilton bank. Apparently she was listing. We arrived at low water. When the two people got off the end of the boom (they were trying to lean her over to clear the keel) she seemed fairly upright to me. Crew happily sitting on the side dangling their legs over the side, feet dry as a bone.

Possibly not the wisest use of a Mayday.

Nature will come to their rescue and Buddha will be along in due course with more water. In the meantime pop the kettle on and enjoy a cup of tea. No chance of it getting spilled when you're aground.

Henry

 

[simonfraser]

Could have holed it ?

 

[henryf]

No damage or water ingress reported when asked. I think more chance of damaging it by trying to drag it off rather than letting nature take it's course.


Henry

 

[bedouin]

Plenty of examples of yachts sinking after being grounded in fairly benign conditions. I wouldn't have sent a Mayday myself but it is the skipper's call and I would not want to discourage skippers from calling for help if they think they need it.

I am sure the coastguard correctly identified the risks involved so calling Mayday can't do any harm and not doing so can.

 

[henryf]

When I did my VHF course we were told that mayday was quite specific in that there was a clear risk to life. Pan Pan on the other hand was non life threatening.

I absolutely wouldn't want anyone to hold off asking for assistance, nipping things in the bud or alerting the emergency services in good time is wise. I just couldn't see a mayday situation on this occasion.

As we went past heading into Portsmouth there were a couple of people hanging off the end of the boom, some people sitting on the edge of the boat with their legs dangling over the side trying to tilt the yacht over so the keel cleared the bottom. I believe the Gosport lifeboat rib had tried to pull the halyard to try and tilt the boat over more. This wasn't a vessel on it's side about to take on water and sink, in 3 feet of water.

I can imagine running aground and feeling the yacht lean over is alarming but calm down, take stock and think about the tide times. As it is the yacht was over a very well charted shallow area, there's a tide gauge as you leave the harbour and tide times are widely available. It's not going to get any worse if you're at the bottom of the tide.

Someone probably shouldn't have been out in that hire boat. Maybe I'm just a grumpy old git who'd been sitting in the sun too long

Henry

 

[MapisM]

I just couldn't see a mayday situation on this occasion.

I also can't, according to your description - in fact, neither does bedouin, as I understand ("I wouldn't have sent a Mayday myself")...
But the risk perception is to some extent individual, mostly depending on experience, of which I guess that crew didn't have plenty, based on your report.
Did they ruin your plans for the day with their call, possibly?

 

[henryf]

No plans were ruined.

I'm just being a miserable old git !!

Henry

 

[henryf]

Details on the Gosport lifeboat website here:

http://gafirs.org.uk/2017/04/09/yacht-aground-pulled-to-safety-by-gafirs/

H.

 

[SteveSarabande]

doesn't really matter what you call, mayday or panpan. If you are blocking the entrance anywhere near Portsmouth harbour they will likely send someone out.

i think i read something about the small boat channel veing barrow after the dredging and hamilton bank being a danger

 

[bedouin]

When I did my VHF course we were told that mayday was quite specific in that there was a clear risk to life. Pan Pan on the other hand was non life threatening.

That is odd - when I did the VHF course Mayday was for imminent risk to the vessel too, in fact I thought that the "life" bit was an afterthought. AWBs do sink following groundings - even in the Solent (I seem to remember a couple on Bramble Bank) so any such vessel aground can claim to be in imminent danger!

I know what they teach on VHF courses but in practice it really doesn't matter - a VHF call was made that alerted the Coastguard to their predicament. Doesn't really matter if it were Mayday, Pan Pan or just call on 67.

As I said had I been skipper it wouldn't have been a Mayday, I doubt if I would have made any call at all (provided I had a liferaft handy). But it is the skipper's call and I think Mayday is not totally unreasonable. After all what harm did it do? Did CG even call Silonce?

 

[Chris_d]

It can get a bit dodgy if the crew jump about a bit!

 

[henryf]

doesn't really matter what you call, mayday or panpan. If you are blocking the entrance anywhere near Portsmouth harbour they will likely send someone out.

i think i read something about the small boat channel veing barrow after the dredging and hamilton bank being a danger

The yacht was some way off the channel into Portsmouth.

Having read some of the replies here I'm trying to understand why it bothered me. I take a mayday call quite seriously immediately thinking about how we can assist. In this instance I had the urge to point out to Solent Coastguard we were almost on low tide but I didn't. Particularly as we rounded Gilkicker Point is was immediately apparent that no one was in danger, Gosport inshore lifeboat were on station and this wasn't a critical situation.

So why did it bother me to the point of posting on here? I'm and odd chap without a doubt but I'm pretty laid back and have all the time in the world for people learning the ropes. I suppose my concern is the same one doctors have with antibiotics. If we over use Mayday does it get ignored. The boy who cried wolf.

Its hard enough now that Solent Coastguard aren't looking out of the window over the water anymore so to put more strain on them worries me. In this instance the coastguard watch station at the entrance to the harbour had a front row seat and could see everything in clear detail so there were "eyes on the scene". There are hundreds if not thousands of boats out in the Solent over a weekend and it only takes a small percentage of them pulling the trigger too early for the system to get swamped.

Maybe I'm worrying myself unduly. It's the start of a season, we've had peace and tranquility out there over the winter and now everyone's back.

Henry

 

[petem]

I see dozy YBM describing it as a "Motor Yacht" - FFS! - http://www.ybw.com/news-from-yachti...t-runs-aground-hamilton-bank-portsmouth-50949

 

[MapisM]

As far as I can tell from your pic, the sailboat bow is pointing South.
If they were coming out of Portsmouth, they didn't have to go too far to get into troubles...
Better call a mayday right away and call it a day, rather than go further offshore, I reckon!

 

[henryf]

The news article is indeed totally incorrect.

I can't disagree with you there MapisM. The same thought crossed my mind. There is a huge tide gauge as you leave Portsmouth harbour as well.

H

 

[henryf]

I see dozy YBM describing it as a "Motor Yacht" - FFS! - http://www.ybw.com/news-from-yachti...t-runs-aground-hamilton-bank-portsmouth-50949

All sorted !

H.

 

[dragoon]

We came past you not long after you and GAFIRs came to their assistance. They couldn't have been far off low water, so would have refloated shortly after anyway, so their Mayday seemed a little premature - but like you I will move to assist if I can.

Their AIS track suggested they had come down the swash way before turning into wind, I assume to luff to either raise or lower sails. After they were pulled off by GAFIRs they seemed to head back out along the main harbour channel. I suspect the atmosphere on board may have been a little tense.

What did strike me during the whole thing was the radio conversation with CG. Firstly, they had a hopeless radio on board - we were in line of sight and could barely hear them. Secondly CG were asking them to describe what a Sunsail yacht looks like, and seemed to have no knowledge of the local area - I guess as a result of relocated them away from the Solent. In the end I note that GAFIRS came on scene of their own accord.

 

[henryf]

I posted some time ago about the demise of Solent Coast guard.

To the fair the operator remained calm, was clear, and asked a lot of questions. You and I were probably thinking the same thing. From the moment I heard the call (could only hear SCG as the yacht radio was too weak) I knew what the problem would be. I assumed from the radio signal that it would have been somewhere up the channel en route to Port Solent.

There was mention of listing and so I assumed the yacht would be on it's side about to take on water.

What I didn't hear was SCG calming the skipper down and letting her know that it was essentially low water and the levels wouldn't fall any more. Given the lack of list my thoughts were that dragging the boat or trying to lean it over by hanging off the boom could potentially stress the keel. Waiting patiently would raise the the keel off the bottom.

We both had local knowledge, weather, tide, what a Sunsail yacht looks like, where the yacht was lying and so on. "Are you safely out of the entrance channel?", "Have you spoken with QHM on Ch 11 to alert them of your situation?" and utilising the services of the coastguard watch station at the entrance to Portsmouth.

The boat which came and offered help had a clear radio and when the Gosport lifeboat rib arrived they could take charge. Ultimately SCG did a lot of talking but didn't actually do very much.

I remember a similar incident last year as we entered the Hamble at low water. There was a chap stuck off Calshot from memory who was in a right state of panic. Once again things weren't going to get any worse as we were at low water.

Local knowledge and indeed knowledge of being at sea is a wonderful thing if you are operating a coast guard service.

Henry

 

[bedouin]

I think the point about the response of the CG is more concerning than the skipper calling Mayday. We are used to Solent CG handling the myriad of "Mayday" and Pan calls very competently. If that is changing then it is potentially of greater concern when a genuine emergency arises.

 

[dragoon]

Local knowledge and indeed knowledge of being at sea is a wonderful thing if you are operating a coast guard service.

I couldn't agree more....