northwind
Well-known member
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2023/03/20/sailboat-hits-whale-pacific-rescue/
A new direction for Whale attacks?
A new direction for Whale attacks?
Sailboat crew rescued in Pacific after abandoning ship sunk by whale
- Thread starter northwind
- Start date
capnsensible
Well-known member
What a story. Very unlucky turns to extremely lucky.....
All I had when I took a yacht on that passage was an Iridium Go. . And it was a Bavaria.
Was highly aware about keeping it charged. If I remember right, it had a button to press daily to advise your updated position. We called it the 'not dead yet' button.
All I had when I took a yacht on that passage was an Iridium Go. . And it was a Bavaria.
Was highly aware about keeping it charged. If I remember right, it had a button to press daily to advise your updated position. We called it the 'not dead yet' button.
alan_d
Well-known member
I wonder why they bothered to tell us that the pizza was vegetarian.
Bajansailor
Well-known member
Raindancer appears to be a Peterson 44?
SailboatData.com - PETERSON 44 CUTTER Sailboat
They were very fortunate that the skipper managed to cut the painter that attached the liferaft to the yacht before it got dragged under.
Maybe they would not have sunk so quickly if they had a full watertight bulkhead forward of the engine, rather than a passageway to the aft cabin?
SailboatData.com - PETERSON 44 CUTTER Sailboat
They were very fortunate that the skipper managed to cut the painter that attached the liferaft to the yacht before it got dragged under.
Maybe they would not have sunk so quickly if they had a full watertight bulkhead forward of the engine, rather than a passageway to the aft cabin?
westernman
Well-known member
Liferaft painters have a link which will break before a sinking yacht can drag the liferaft under.
capnsensible
Well-known member
Are you thinking of a hydrostatic release that releases the liferaft cannister to float to the surface?
Wandering Star
Well-known member
Got to ask why the Thread heading is ”Sailboat crew rescued in Pacific after abandoning ship sunk by whale” and the press release clearly reads “we hit a whale and the ship went down.” yet your comment potentially implies it might be a whale attack? Sounds far more likely to have been an accidental whale collision - something that unfortunately happens on occasions and which small boat sailors crossing oceans have always accepted could happen to themselves.
capnsensible
Well-known member
Every day a school day. I now know this:
- That an inflated life raft that has the inflation lanyard tethered to an item (boat or aircraft) that sinks, will break away? The inflation lanyard (tether) has a 500 lb. break-away point on the life raft. Do not rely on this breaking point. If the lanyard is connected to the vessel and it starts to sink, you should either have a knife ready to cut away, or you should be holding the line. (It is connected to the boarding ladder with a halyard clip). Although the lanyard is supposed to break-away, you should not rely on this. Things happen. The lanyard could loop around something and prevent the break-away. It's best to not connect to something that is going to sink. Have all crew members hold the line instead of tying to vessel (sinking aircraft or boat).
Wandering Star
Well-known member
Me too - that’s a useful article and I wasn’t aware of the “weak link” in the lanyard, lesson learned!
westernman
Well-known member
No.
There is a weak link designed to break before the sinking boat can pull the released and inflated life raft under.
Check you liferaft documentation.
RunAgroundHard
Well-known member
Very lucky people.
The boat looks as if it has an encapsulated keel fro the drawings, maybe partially encapsulated with a bolt on ballast at the bottom. The aft bit of the keel is a weak area, and in groundings it can easily cut through. I wonder, because the vessel lifted up at the stern, if this area cracked and failed. On my own boat with an encapsulated keel, it is just a fairing, quite a deep sump, and other owners of the same boat place balsa or foam in there and glass over to give an added degree of protection. Just musings.
I checked my Ocean Safety ISO Liferaft manual and it doesn't mention that the painter is weak link, it clearly states that it needs to be cut. My recollection from various sea survival courses is that helicopter life rafts have built in weak links (green area on the line) but that the vessel life rafts do not. They have to be cut, and I do not recall the instructors advising that an alternative weak link exists. My own boat is fitted with a Hydrostatic release.
The boat looks as if it has an encapsulated keel fro the drawings, maybe partially encapsulated with a bolt on ballast at the bottom. The aft bit of the keel is a weak area, and in groundings it can easily cut through. I wonder, because the vessel lifted up at the stern, if this area cracked and failed. On my own boat with an encapsulated keel, it is just a fairing, quite a deep sump, and other owners of the same boat place balsa or foam in there and glass over to give an added degree of protection. Just musings.
I checked my Ocean Safety ISO Liferaft manual and it doesn't mention that the painter is weak link, it clearly states that it needs to be cut. My recollection from various sea survival courses is that helicopter life rafts have built in weak links (green area on the line) but that the vessel life rafts do not. They have to be cut, and I do not recall the instructors advising that an alternative weak link exists. My own boat is fitted with a Hydrostatic release.
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RunAgroundHard
Well-known member
Just have, new 2 years ago, Ocean Safety 8 Persons, ISO compliant. No weak link stated. I can imagine that the force of wind on a life raft would easily exceed 500 lbs. Happy to be corrected and maybe it is part of the ISO standard but not mentioned in my documents.
capnsensible
Well-known member
Check post #8
westernman
Well-known member
Sandy
Well-known member
Any news on the whale?
jac
Well-known member
Had mine serviced last month ( still in there now) and Ocean Safety specifically showed me where the weak link was but did say to cut it rather than rely on it.
RunAgroundHard
Well-known member
Queried with Ocean Safety and they stated that the ISO standard does not require the weak link feature. The painter attachment point on the liferaft, a patch of material that allows connection to the top tube, may fail under tension without damaging the tube, but that is not guaranteed, with the redundancy coming from the second tube, which is not attached to the painter. It was just a conversation, not a detailed analysis of the build.
Kelpie
Well-known member
Re: weak links
When I worked on coded commercial boats the MCA guy told us to fit weak links one year. I don't know if it was a rule change or just a personal mission he was on.
My Hammar hydrostatic release has one built in.
When I worked on coded commercial boats the MCA guy told us to fit weak links one year. I don't know if it was a rule change or just a personal mission he was on.
My Hammar hydrostatic release has one built in.
RunAgroundHard
Well-known member
Okay, can you describe it, and state your life raft model, curious.
jac
Well-known member
It' a lifeguard ORC 6 person liferaft. the painter attaches to a small bridle near the entrance and one end of the bridle is basically velcroed to the liferaft. The velcro ( not sure if it is actually velcro or a tougher version) is the weak link.
IIRC from my sea survival you should save as much painter as possible as it may be useful in a MOB situation or to secure any other flotsam ( e.g. grab bag or water containers) to the liferaft.