Yacht Justice Sinks

MS,

Thanks for that link, and interesting photos from Cantata. The passage through buoys at Hook Sands is charted as 2m but we discovered this spring on the high spring tide in April that if the sands to the west of the pass are just exposed (from memory marked drying 0.2m) we go aground and we draw only 1.6m. The mud was very sticky, refused to let go of our (long) keel and we had to wait an hour for the incoming tide. A J133 draws 2.3m with a lead bulb on a fin. Low water Margate was at 0511 and 0.8m predicted. Anyone know how low the tide actually went this morning?
 
MS,

Thanks for the link to POL, just used it to check what really happened on 5th and 6th Dec as I struggled to get Sara Jane into Conyer and my paranoia was justified, helps a lot! Could be really useful in the future.

John
 
EastCoastChris said:
Are you having a pop at the RNLI?

If you look at MoodySabres link you can see the keel came off leaving a hole in the bottom.

Chris
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How could I?

Had I seen the photos: Not when I made the post.

I just wanted to know more.

It looks like the boat was pounding the hard sand and this damaged the keel causing the leak and moving the yacht caused the keel to fall of and capsize.

Looking at the photos it seems that the reports that the yacht sank were an exaggeration and the yacht was still buoyant and was allowed to drift onto the shore. I presume that there was some trapped air within the hull. It is a tragic end to a lovely yacht, I think it is a shame that it was not towed to where it could have been lifted instead of beaching.
 
Seven Spades said:
. It is a tragic end to a lovely yacht, I think it is a shame that it was not towed to where it could have been lifted instead of beaching.
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Not sure that towing a capsized yacht with mast/bits of mast is very practical, particularly in that area where it is so shallow, never mind getting into a harbour with it.
 
Seven Spades said:
How could I?...

It is a tragic end to a lovely yacht, I think it is a shame that it was not towed to where it could have been lifted instead of beaching.
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Well I wasn't quite sure, hence the question. :)

I agree it is a very sad end. I'm guessing it wasn't possible to safely salvage the boat without the keel given the reported sea state.

Chris
 
Seven Spades said:
It looks like the boat was pounding the hard sand and this damaged the keel causing the leak and moving the yacht caused the keel to fall of and capsize.
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I'm a wee bit surprised at how small the keel fixings look. None of it sees to be left, yet the hole in the hull at the top is remarkably small. Still big enough to let a lot of water in, and it's hard to see how it could have been moved controllably once the keel was gone.

I hope the boat was insured.
 
"It just fell over!"

Reminds me of a similar incident in the Crouch a few years ago, involving a Sigma 38 (I think) with four crew.
The Mayday call included a plaintive "It just fell over" when the keel fell off under full sail near Outer Crouch bouy. Two took to the liferaft and two sat on the hull which continued to float. Helicopter and lifeboat rescued all safely but there was some unseemly haste by fishing boats to get down from Burnham to get a line onboard and tow it in, still floating with mast and sails in the water.
I believe that they had been aground earlier on the Swallowtail and, wiggling to get unstuck, had loosened the keel fixings.
 
Having been the forumite on the spot, with as much local knowledge as anyone round here, met the skipper and crew and also one of the lifeboat crew, it's more interesting than usual to read all the forum comments!
Now then...
You are in Ramsgate on a transit to St. Kats from Cowes. Next leg is the final one. You plan to get to St. Kats for the 1300 HW locking-in. It's blowing hard from the NE and bitterly cold. You have one crewman.
You could stay put, or plan a well-buoyed route in deep water through the Princes Channel, or you could use the (very) slightly shorter 'Overland Route' as it's known locally, inside the Margate Hook Sand, past Reculver, and on across the shallows to the Nore.
You have chosen the latter.
It's 0500 on Jan 31st, it's pitch dark, blowing 6-7 from the NE and you are sailing westwards along the N.Kent coast in a very fast boat. You are approaching the shallowest section of the route. You are aiming for a very narrow swatchway which, as charted, at LW 'should' just about have enough water to get you through. And it's LW.
You approach the narrow gap between the buoys on a beam reach.
The yacht strikes and stops. You call a Mayday.
The lifeboat arrives, plus a helicopter. It's still pitch dark. Your boat is jarring on the sands with each passing wave. Somehow the lads on the AWLB get a line aboard and take the strain but suddenly you realise water is pouring into your boat. Seconds later, she capsizes, you are both in the sea. Later the lifeboatman described this moment to me as 'very dodgy indeed', with just a small hint of massive understatement.
The helo crew are onto the situation, and somehow they get you and your crew lifted off the stbd quarter of the capsized boat.
The lifeboat crew can't really do anything to save your boat without putting themselves and their own boat in grave danger in the shallows, so it's left to fend for itself.
You and your crew are alive and unhurt.
It's only a boat.
 
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Really sad sight and my heart goes out to the owners.
What really shocks me is what looks like a very very flemsy keel to hull attachment which seems to be the nowm nowadays, it looks like the keel would have came off with the least of knocks, what are designers thinking of when they come up with such a weak design?
So much for modern technology and sandwich core, doesent look like the boat structure was very strong in any respect, especially when one compares the abuse that a Beneteau which went on the rocks on Horse Island off Ardrossan a couple years ago and the little hull damage she sustained.
C_W
 
LittleSister said:
A rescue helicopter from Belgium?!?

Do we have none left?
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Read in the Guardian that it was co-ordinated by "the central command section in Kinloss, Scotland, that finds and allocates the nearest available rescue helicopter". Article went on to say that the Belgian was nearest at the time.
 
Cantata said:
Having been the forumite on the spot, with as much local knowledge as anyone round here, met the skipper and crew and also one of the lifeboat crew, it's more interesting than usual to read all the forum comments!
...
You and your crew are alive and unhurt.
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Thank you. Fascinating, and beautifully written. That account could be used in courses.

It's only a boat.
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Ain't dat de troof.
 
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