Island Packet lost on delivery trip

[Sgeir]

Apologies if this has been previously posted, but was only recently sent the story by a pal in the US;

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/20...0322_1_outer-banks-coast-guard-helicopter-sea

 

[Seajet]

Sgeir,

well I haven't seen it before and thanks for posting it, I think ! Nightmare situation, maybe it would have been different if they didn't feel obliged to press on and deliver the boat, but they were experienced guys, glad they made it.

 

[awol]

Apologies if this has been previously posted, but was only recently sent the story by a pal in the US;

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/20...0322_1_outer-banks-coast-guard-helicopter-sea

As always with rescue sagas I am in at least 2 minds - first is gratitude that it wasn't me involved and another is, despite not being there and suffering the conditions, a feeling that surely "they" could have done something different, in this case sails and/or running off, probably back to where they had started. The SP is after all a sailing boat and the motion is usually more comfortable under sail. I've just looked at the area on OpenCPN and it is a nasty area shelving rapidly from >1000m to not a lot with the only bolthole routes through narrow channels (the Hatteras Inlet is <4 cables). Not a place to have as a lee shore in a gale.

 

[Sgeir]

Having the benefit of hindsight from the comfort of an armchair, I suppose the difficulty was knowing which choice to make, and when to make it.. At the time when they contacted the Coastguard, the wind was 25kts with a wave height of 10', which probably wouldn't be too bad on a 41' yacht. At that point it seems that the choices were;

He could make for Hatteras Inlet 20 miles away, though reports said waters there were tricky. He could seek Oregon Inlet, where water was calmer, but 10 hours back north. Or he could bolt for Morehead City, 70 miles farther south but through lethal shoals.

Having headed for Hatteras where the Coast Guard lifeboat would meet them and guide them in, the CG then advised against coming through the entrance. After that, things then just seemed to have deteriorated badly - the Oregon Inlet was closed and the weather worsened to point where the vessel seems to have become unmanageable and the Mayday decision was taken.

 

[jonic]

SWMBO and I have done that run a number of times and it is one coastal hop where I can say I have been truly nervous.

Any sort of onshore wind means it turns nasty quickly as the area is full of shoals and areas of shelving.

The inlets into the safe harbors soon become untenable and the seas build rapidly, with short periods and huge waves.

Here are some pics of SWMBO and I contemplating coming in (and abandoning the idea) having seen the sea state in the inlets.

It started off as a good sunny day with a good forecast and ended with us having to plug on with a blown mainsail clew whilst listening to commercial fishermen calling for coastguard assistance on the VHF. Not nice.

Very easy to get caught out there.

The bottom pictures (were) the harbor entrances.

 

[rallyveteran]

This loss has been widely discussed on US forums. Those who start with the choices at the time the crew contacted the CG are missing the point, which is: Why on earth did they go outside Cape Hatteras, when the route inside, via the ICW, is 70 miles shorter?

The Island Packet SP Cruiser is perfectly suited to cruising the ICW (indeed some might say it is better suited there than in the Atlantic), and the delivery crew obviously weren't in a screaming hurry as they were planning to stop for the night anyway.

To be off Hatteras in March with a storm forecast, looking to pass through impassable inlets is the result of negligence not bad luck.

 

[westernman]

It seems a bit strange to lose a seaworthy boat in a F7/F8. It may have been bloody unconfortable and rough(particularly when trying to head into it without sails and just under engine) but as far as I am aware this is a well found boat which should be able to look after itself and the crew in those conditions.
Also they seem to have had plenty of room to run off before it or to heave too.

The decisions about their destination they made can be criticised with perfect hindsight - but I don't see any glaring unforgiveable mistake given the information and conditions at the time. If going for a gentle cruise you might have opted for turning round and going back home earlier - but this was supposedly an experienced crew and a F7/F8 should not be too scary in a boat that size.

 

[Sgeir]

The shallowness of the area they were in probably helped the weather conditions to make their boat handling untenable. When you look at the US NOAA Chart 11555 it is a bit frightening when you realise that the soundings are in neither fathoms nor metres, but in feet.

http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/11555.shtml

I can't access that chart at the moment, but believe that is the correct URL.

 

[jonic]

It seems a bit strange to lose a seaworthy boat in a F7/F8. It may have been bloody unconfortable and rough(particularly when trying to head into it without sails and just under engine) but as far as I am aware this is a well found boat which should be able to look after itself and the crew in those conditions.
Also they seem to have had plenty of room to run off before it or to heave too.

The decisions about their destination they made can be criticised with perfect hindsight - but I don't see any glaring unforgiveable mistake given the information and conditions at the time. If going for a gentle cruise you might have opted for turning round and going back home earlier - but this was supposedly an experienced crew and a F7/F8 should not be too scary in a boat that size.

It's the seas that cause the problem there rather than the winds.

You have the Gulf Stream and the full force of the Atlantic rollers getting whipped up over some very shallow areas, so the waves get very steep with little gap between each one. Running to deep water is difficult as the shoals extend outwards a long way.

 

[ChrisE]

It's the seas that cause the problem there rather than the winds.

You have the Gulf Stream and the full force of the Atlantic rollers getting whipped up over some very shallow areas, so the waves get very steep with little gap between each one. Running to deep water is difficult as the shoals extend outwards a long way.

Yep, the delivery crew with our boat nearly lost our boat and themselves at the outset of the Atlantic crossing. They set out in a F6 norther against the advice of coastguard. They managed to get back in after losing the dinghy which was strapped to the foredeck, a fair part of the toe rail and half filling the bilge with water

 

[ChrisE]

It's the seas that cause the problem there rather than the winds.

You have the Gulf Stream and the full force of the Atlantic rollers getting whipped up over some very shallow areas, so the waves get very steep with little gap between each one. Running to deep water is difficult as the shoals extend outwards a long way.

Yep, the delivery crew with our boat nearly lost our boat and themselves at the outset of the Atlantic crossing departing from that neck of the woods. They set out in a F6 norther against the advice of coastguard. They managed to get back in after losing the dinghy which was strapped to the foredeck, a fair part of the toe rail and half filling the bilge with water.

 

[Uricanejack]

If you hire a profesional. Would you not expect the arrival of your boat in one piece to be the primary objective. rather than have it sailed through a storm to get there on schedule. Fortunatly they survived the boat can be replaced.

 

[michael_w]

What plonkers. Hattaras is a very nasty corner, not for nothing is it known as "The graveyard of the Atlantic". Why on earth didn't they take the ICW? Sure it would have taken longer, but only if you stop at night. If the journos have got it right, 8kts average out of a tub like an Island Packet is decidedly optimistic

 

[Mrnotming]

"Never be afraid to turn, back early" was sound advice I received from an old harbour hand in Wicklow,as I set out in sunshine.A contrary wind over strong tide,shelving bottom,sandbanks,soon had our strong motorsailer pounding itself to bits.Turning tail was easier with the kind words of advice still in my ears.Nothing worse than seas you can't either motor or sail in successfully.Poor guys, and brave rescuers.

 

[Seajet]

Sailing to a schedule is a sure route to disaster.