Sad pictures of the loss of a yacht...

[pvb]

On 5 July, a Hallberg Rassy 42 was wrecked entering Dunbar harbour.

The Dutch owner said "The yacht Noblesse was lost in the entrance of the harbour of Dunbar 40 miles east of Edingburgh. In addition to the given information on the website the time was 1h 30 minutes before low water and the swell outside was about 0,2 - 0,3 m. Windforce 3 beaufort. The big swells only appears at the direct entrance ( last 30 m ) once every 4-5 minutes so cannot be seen in advance. The charted depths on the detail Imray chart C27 2003 and new pilot( eastcoast scotland 2003) in front of the entrance(2 m) and in the entrance (1m) are not correct. Subtract 1 m at least. Also Macmillan Reeds give 0,9 m in the entrance but there is notso much water. With the rise of tide there should have been 3.5 m at least at the place of fondering but there was not. At low tide by normal springs the locals tell they can walk through the entrance without getting wet knees. The local yachts and vessels enter in the line 132 degrees after halftide and wait untill the three big swells have past and then enter the harbour. Also the charted depth in the harbour ( 1.6 m) is 1 m less. As there is no warning in the pilots please be verry prudent ( 4 yachts are lost here in the last 5 years) The HR42 Noblesse is totally lost. The only thing we could take abroad were our passports and credit card."

Dramatic pictures of the whole sorry episode are on the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.dunbarlifeboat.org.uk/Shouts.htm>Dunbar Lifeboat's website</A> - click on "2003" to see them. A sad reminder of the power of the sea.

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[Rob_Webb]

It's very late and I am very tired but if I read this correctly isn't this truly appalling in terms of the pilotage guides being wrong?

If so, this is absolutely scandalous and surely the poor chap who experienced this crisis after consulting the guides should have a case against them?

Imagine if you were entering a foreign port and followed the advice of McMillan only to find this happen to you......

Horrible. Really horrible. Poor chap.

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[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

Extreemly sad state of affairs

and one of the worst designed websites I have ever seen

makes it very difficult to follow the sequence

On second thoughts I think this is the domain of an over excited photographer, could you imagine if this was your pride and joy, and some git on the cliffs starts clicking off shots, I wonder if he offered the CG any help when the crew were being lifted up the clifface.....grrrrrr like rubberneckers...
<hr width=100% size=1>Julian

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk/Honda_00.html>Honda Formula 4-Stroke racing</A><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Jools_of_Top_Cat on 25/07/2003 01:26 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[PerL]

Wasn't it one of the life boat crew members that took the pictures? I don't want to sound paranoid, but why did he start taking pictures already when the yacht was approaching?


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[brianhumber]

Re: Sobering Pictures

Really really sobering post and site.
My sympathy to the skipper/owner.
On the question of Charts/Pilot books my exprience now tells me these are always to be treated with caution especially when going into a port with a ground swell at low water and as the pictures show, an unfamilar skipper would not be able to see the breakers or the extent of the swell on the rocks until the last minute. The skippering decision I am most proud of over the years is to abandon entering Lazderiuex in over 45kts wind at the last minute and go back out to deep water. I was not confident in spite of all the books/charts telling me it was safe and deep enough in all weathers - we rode out the storm and docked in St Malo the next morning knackered but both crew and vessel safe and sound but it was very tempting to carry on the approach as we were all tired, wet and cold.

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[pvb]

Good question...

It does seem strange that an RNLI crew member should take so many pictures as the yacht approached the harbour - almost as if they expected the yacht to be wrecked. Wonder what attempts were made to warn the yacht of the known danger?

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[rex_seadog]

Re: Good question...

Presumably with local knowledge the RNLI crew member did expect problems and hence took the pictures. I hope and assume all efforts were also made to warn the Noblesse that she was running into danger but those few shots before the grounding would likely have taken only a few seconds.

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[ParaHandy]

there's a small but perhaps significant difference in the reported time the yacht foundered relative to low water between the two accounts ...

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[jimi]

Yes I noticed that as well! It looks as if the chap thought he was entering 1:30 before LW whereas he was in fact entering 30 minutes before ... correction for BST perhaps not done?

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[vyv_cox]

I'm not too sure about his reported swell height and what I see in the early photographs. It's very easy to misjudge this from a yacht.

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[Romeo]

RNLI report swell of 8' whereas the skipper reports it at less than 1 meter. RNLI look to be nearer the mark. In teh troughs it is not surprising that he was 1m nearer the bottom than he was expecting.

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[Romeo]

RNLI report swell of 8' whereas the skipper reports it at less than 1 metre. RNLI look to be nearer the mark. In the troughs it is not surprising that he was 1m nearer the bottom than he was expecting.

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[charles_reed]

Pilot Books

My experience of Pilots (19 in total, mainly RCC/Imray ones) is that all have errors which are proportional to their age.

You'll get <5% in those of 1 - 5 years old, rising to about 20% in those of 5+ in age.

The most accurate have been those updated by Annie Hammick.

With regard to swell - 1m in deep water will soon transform to 2.5m in a shallowing and narrowing entrance.

Having read the (unofficial) CG reports it appears clear to me that it was "pilot error", as most AIB findings are.

Ther but for the grace of God....

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[charles_reed]

Pilot Books and Pilots

My experience of Pilots (19 in total, mainly RCC/Imray ones) is that all have errors which are proportional to their age.

You'll get <5% in those of 1 - 5 years old, rising to about 20% in those of 5+ in age.

The most accurate have been those updated by Annie Hammick.

With regard to swell - 1m in deep water will soon transform to 2.5m in a shallowing and narrowing entrance.

Having read the (unofficial) CG reports it appears clear to me that it was "pilot error", as most AIB findings are.

Ther but for the grace of God....

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[Bergman]

Very sad story, you're right it is a salutory tale.

I tend to go with the RNLI version rather than the owner though. I was in Nth Shield on the day this happened and the sea north of the Tyne was reported as 3-4 meter swell. I know its a long way from Dunbar but the swell was nth - nth east. Certainly the early photos in the RNLI series would appear to me to show a swell in excess of 1 meter, looking at waves breaking around the offshore rocks.

The RNYC pilot book shows a reading of 1 meter on the south side of the entrance and says "depths on south quay vary from 0.5 to 1.5 meters" and "The bottom is sandy and the depths vary but there is usually 0.7 meters"

I have the greatest sympathy for the man but I do not feel he can blame the pilot book.

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