RNLI resues 'stranded yacht'

[oldharry]

http://www.ybw.com/news-from-yachting-boating-world/yacht-stranded-after-engine-failure-19272

Its a Yot. With sails. Why did it need 'rescuing'?

I've lost count of the number of times when I've had to turn back because of unfavourable conditions, gear problems or whatever. So the engine wouldnt start, and wind and tide were against him. Whats wrong with Newhaven or Brighton? Except they werent where he wanted to get to....

I dont blame RNLI. Until they are 'on scene' they can not be sure there is no actual emergency, and of course having turned out, there was no reason why they shouldnt give them a tow back in.

I once suffered engine failure in Portland Race, got the sails on and turned back, up to the entrance to Weymouth Harbour where an obliging passing boat gave me a tow in to a berth. Not even an emergency in my book. I would never consider calling out RNLI just for that unless things were turning a great deal more pearshaped. Just one of those things that makes life aboard more interesting and challenging. Holidays afloat dont run on rails!

Or am I being over critical? There may of course have been other factors not mentioned in the report; medical issues, fatigue etc all come to mind.

 

[savageseadog]

They probably asked for a very prescient radio check before they set off

 

[pmagowan]

Some people just have a different level of tolerance. For instance some are happy to wait in A&E for 4 hours because they want a fake nail removed! I am not sure how you can change that type of behaviour so perhaps it is best just to accept it and get on with life.

 

[Giblets]

Interesting that the report said they had no power so could not use the VHF but relied on a mobile phone to raise help.

 

[jonjo]

Interesting that the report said they had no power so could not use the VHF but relied on a mobile phone to raise help.

I recently called the CoastGuard via mobile, they deal with such a call in much the same way as VHF contact. In case any needs to know I was single handing and wanted to maintain visual contact with another boater I was assisting.

 

[jonjo]

Some people just have a different level of tolerance. For instance some are happy to wait in A&E for 4 hours because they want a fake nail removed! I am not sure how you can change that type of behaviour so perhaps it is best just to accept it and get on with life.

I have a low tolerance level with traffic jams on the M25, which emergency service should I ask for after dialling 999?

 

[Giblets]

I recently called the CoastGuard via mobile, they deal with such a call in much the same way as VHF contact. In case any needs to know I was single handing and wanted to maintain visual contact with another boater I was assisting.

I wasn't querying the use of the mobile more the fact that the yacht was reported to have no power for the VHF. One would think that a 32ft boat would have more than one battery so maybe his problem was more serious than the reported engine failure.

 

[prv]

I wasn't querying the use of the mobile more the fact that the yacht was reported to have no power for the VHF. One would think that a 32ft boat would have more than one battery so maybe his problem was more serious than the reported engine failure.

Most likely the core problem was flat batteries, so no engine failure as such but they weren't able to start it.

Can only speculate on their battery arrangements and how they all (if multiple) went flat, but I reckon there's a fair chance that a 1-2-both switch might have been involved

Alternatively there could have been some other electrical numptyism that meant they had power in the battery but were unable to use it.

Pete

 

[Robin]

Ihave twice returnedfrom cherbourg ( marina) totally under sail with a failed engine, once my boat and once one chartered by my then employers where I was skipper. In the case of my boat (busted camshaft on bukh 10)I sailed it right into poole and up to tie alongside Poole quay where the Bukh repair dealer was located., The charter one was sailed into Lymington River and to a berth in the yacht haven.

That said i was crewing for a friends deliver trip Brighton to poole when we picked up a pot line, flexible shaft drive joint sheared. We sailed (drifted with the tide) back to Brighton in thick freezing fog, zilch wind from just off te Owers Light, which we could hear but not see. we informed the CG but did not ask for help other than asking brighton marina for a tow into the marina. then the RNLI inshore boat arrived at full chat and it's wash crunched the marina launch against our boat as it took us in tow

So all things self help are possible. But then we had to ask french Cg for tow assisance after engine failure in the Raz de Sein and the tide had turned and was carrying us back towards the rocks. After a short tow by a huge trawler, the CG, trawler skipper arranged ( without my knowledge) for the Audierne lifeboat to come take us into Audierne 8 miles away. That tow cost 750 euros. It is a long stroryand I have told it here several times so will not repeat yet again, but suffice to say there ARE times when outside assistance is both justified and necessary. In our case we had lost all freshwater coolant could not find the leak point,, had no wind at all after having sailed 20 miles to that point invery light winds, big swell, fast running tide, too deep to anchor. The problem was solved in minutes once safely in harbour with me and an engineer working together to trace the leak which was from a hidden drain point behind the engine and invisible beneath the exhaust system.

SO NEVER say NEVER! I was severely embarassed by 'my' incident,' the only one in over 50 years, but as they say sh!t happens and I would do no different again but in any case It wasn't me that tasked the lifeboat anyway.


SO all the smugglies (not necessarily reply posters above, reading from comfort in armchairs) might like to think hard because not all things are as simple/stupid as they might first seem with only nooze reports to go by.

 

[johnalison]

We certainly don't know the circumstances, but just off Beachy Head with insufficient wind to drive them against the tide doesn't sound like severe conditions, so the problem would appear to be either lack of time, or a lack of confidence in their skill to make for a harbour safely. If they were heading for Eastbourne and the tide was adverse, they should have been able to make Newhaven within a few hours, so I think we are justified in questioning whether a lifeboat call was necessary or due to impatience, though I also believe it would be unfair to jump to a conclusion.

 

[Robin]

We certainly don't know the circumstances, but just off Beachy Head with insufficient wind to drive them against the tide doesn't sound like severe conditions, so the problem would appear to be either lack of time, or a lack of confidence in their skill to make for a harbour safely. If they were heading for Eastbourne and the tide was adverse, they should have been able to make Newhaven within a few hours, so I think we are justified in questioning whether a lifeboat call was necessary or due to impatience, though I also believe it would be unfair to jump to a conclusion.

A fair summary. In our case outlined earlier we had a Jersey race boat tie alongside us in Audierne whilst resolving our engine problem and got some patronising comments from their race crew about not needing an engine as they had raced their Sadler 35 from JY to Morbihan without needing one. Some weeks later there was a picture of that very same boat parked high ( very) and dry on a rock off north Brittany having gone the wrong side of a channel marker. I'm ashamed to say I laughed out loud and long.

 

[johnalison]

Schadenfreude is one of life's great pleasures.

 

[prv]

I think we are justified in questioning whether a lifeboat call was necessary or due to impatience, though I also believe it would be unfair to jump to a conclusion.

Also need to bear in mind that they might not have sent a distress call or asked for a lifeboat themselves. I've certainly heard calls from vessels calmly asking whether anyone nearby would be willing to give them a tow, answered by the Coastguard saying "we have dispatched XYZ Lifeboat to your assistance".

Pete

 

[Tranona]

Also need to bear in mind that they might not have sent a distress call or asked for a lifeboat themselves. I've certainly heard calls from vessels calmly asking whether anyone nearby would be willing to give them a tow, answered by the Coastguard saying "we have dispatched XYZ Lifeboat to your assistance".

Pete

Agree. Nobody calls the RNLI for assistance. The call is to the coastguard who then decide the best course of action based on their assessment.

It is all too easy to criticise when nobody knows the full story, particularly the exchanges between the skipper of the yacht and the coastguard.

 

[chrishelen]

I remember two old guys at my club telling me the tale of the time they were becalmed for two days in their folk boat (enginless and radio less) drifting back and forth with the tide outside cardiff waiting for the wind to pipe up, passed the time away fishing..different times

 

[Daydream believer]

So all things self help are possible. But then we had to ask french Cg for tow assisance after engine failure in the Raz de Sein and the tide had turned and was carrying us back towards the rocks. After a short tow by a huge trawler, the CG, trawler skipper arranged ( without my knowledge) for the Audierne lifeboat to come take us into Audierne 8 miles away. That tow cost 750 euros. .

Notice how conspicuous Sybarite is for his absence on these occasions !!

 

[Robin]

Notice how conspicuous Sybarite is for his absence on these occasions !![/QUOTE
John knows the tale well! Oh and I know my arse looks big in this...

[/URL]DSCF0461 by Robin and Theresa, on Flickr[/img]

 

[Sybarite]

Notice how conspicuous Sybarite is for his absence on these occasions !!

That probably involved about 3 hrs of lifeboat time or €250 /hour. I think that is good value as, in many cases you can claim against your insurance.

With the RNLI you pay in advance to such an extent that they build up to total funds of £745.3m but they nevertheless were able to spend £13.9m on lifeboats in 2015.

Since I started looking at their situation their reserves have increased by nearly 50%.

OTOH it's a bit idiotic to say that I am conspicuous by my absence for a thread that only started today. I have a life outside of the forum.

 

[johnalison]

I remember two old guys at my club telling me the tale of the time they were becalmed for two days in their folk boat (enginless and radio less) drifting back and forth with the tide outside cardiff waiting for the wind to pipe up, passed the time away fishing..different times

Circa 1981 we were joined in Dieppe by three old boys who had taken three days to reach there from Rye, which is probably a bit less than one knot average. As you say, different times. I remember them well because they were almost legless in the club bar at 11am, celebrating their eventual arrival.

 

[jonjo]

Notice how conspicuous Sybarite is for his absence on these occasions !!

What does Sybarite have to hide from, Robin's French experience is the model we should aspire to in the UK.

Their system results in a nation of more resourceful, self-sufficient and robust sailors who are better than their British counterparts. Meanwhile in France they focus their national resources where it counts such as as developing a national power system that will not have to have to black out cities in the next decade.

The number of city level blackouts we experience in the future depends on whether the French take pity on our situation and build us new nuclear power stations.