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Shanty said..

Sectorsteve said..

tarquin1 said..
Yes make sure when you buy a EPIRB it is the GPS type. Again the majority of people don't understand their safety equipment and how to use it.
They can get a much more accurate fix off your telephone than an EPIRB. Words from a RORC safety officer. EPIRBs are for giving a rough idea of where you are in the middle of the ocean. Not great for coastal stuff unless it is the GPS type,GPIRB.
Is there a link to the video you guys are talking about.

Why didn't he just call on the phone or vhf.

Phone would probably be out of range. Doubt he would of had a sat-phone. You would think that he would have a VHF but there are some loons around these days.

I'd give the bloke a break as we don't know the circumstances.
eg. No sight of land due to weather to get position,
GPS -To crook to go below .
VHF - above or does not have dsc or GPS so what does he say to them. "I'm somewhere off Mooloolaba "
Seasick .
Best option set off epirb and they will know his position and that he needs assistance.

When the guy is being towed at the entrance of the channel the boat looks really low in the water. When i saw that i thought something else might have happened

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Hey Bananabender said..

Shanty said..

Sectorsteve said..

tarquin1 said..
Yes make sure when you buy a EPIRB it is the GPS type. Again the majority of people don't understand their safety equipment and how to use it.
They can get a much more accurate fix off your telephone than an EPIRB. Words from a RORC safety officer. EPIRBs are for giving a rough idea of where you are in the middle of the ocean. Not great for coastal stuff unless it is the GPS type,GPIRB.
Is there a link to the video you guys are talking about.

Why didn't he just call on the phone or vhf.

Phone would probably be out of range. Doubt he would of had a sat-phone. You would think that he would have a VHF but there are some loons around these days.

I'd give the bloke a break as we don't know the circumstances.
eg. No sight of land due to weather to get position,
GPS -To crook to go below .
VHF - above or does not have dsc or GPS so what does he say to them. "I'm somewhere off Mooloolaba "
Seasick .
Best option set off epirb and they will know his position and that he needs assistance.

You are right. I don't mean to call him a loon. If he didn't already have vhf then I'm sure he will have one connected now! Supposedly the jib was stuck down as said earlier. He may not be able to head upwind. He had already snapped his anchor. Probably doesn't have sat phone (for small day trips around moreton bay you don't really need one). Sets off EPIRB nothing wrong with that. He is sick, the boat Has a possibility of ending up on the beach.
PS I mean there are loons who are sailing offshore without basic VHF communication.

After watching the video I would say Bananabender is close and the guy did the right thing. So difficult to tell.
At the end of the day he and the boat made it back so he made the right call in the given situation and the CG did a great job of saving him.
Small boats dig down when towed at speeds that exceed there hull speed. And yes there is probably quite a bit of water in the bilge after all that.
Any way of contacting the CG and getting a copy of the report?

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Bananabender said..

Shanty said..

Sectorsteve said..

tarquin1 said..
Yes make sure when you buy a EPIRB it is the GPS type. Again the majority of people don't understand their safety equipment and how to use it.
They can get a much more accurate fix off your telephone than an EPIRB. Words from a RORC safety officer. EPIRBs are for giving a rough idea of where you are in the middle of the ocean. Not great for coastal stuff unless it is the GPS type,GPIRB.
Is there a link to the video you guys are talking about.

Why didn't he just call on the phone or vhf.

Phone would probably be out of range. Doubt he would of had a sat-phone. You would think that he would have a VHF but there are some loons around these days.

I'd give the bloke a break as we don't know the circumstances.
eg. No sight of land due to weather to get position,
GPS -To crook to go below .
VHF - above or does not have dsc or GPS so what does he say to them. "I'm somewhere off Mooloolaba "
Seasick .
Best option set off epirb and they will know his position and that he needs assistance.

He was on a 20mile passage. You should know your position constantly. Towing a dinghy. Excessive Windage. Not looking at weather forecast. Not knowing where you are etc.
I met people up north that bought reasonable boats and ended up in trouble . As if by buying a boat and spending x amount of dollars everyyhing will be fine.
Example.
I know this lady worked as an executive for exon mobile in the USA. Big $,.
Retired early with massive payout and ongoing salary.
Her and Yankee hubby bought a massive expensive yacht in Pittwater. They thought that spending 1milion dollars would equate to them being OK at sea with no experience.
No.
So they went out near lion island and suffered a knockdown. This is in a 54 foot yacht.
They sold the boat asap after that.
I'll just never understand why people won't work themselves up to a level before putting themselves out there. It's the only way imo.
Gotta crawl before you can walk etc...
Two dogs from here was my greatest teacher from this site. By simply saying "test yourself"
Or " on calm days you'll **** it in" to be more accurate.
This means go out in horrible weather. Learn to heave to. Practice with that sea anchor/radio/ check weather. Bar cams blah blah. The resources available to us are many.
Having said all that. Lately I've been thinking that many if these mishaps /rescues are the result of ones mind. It could happen to anyone out there alone but with prudence and practice you may fair better.
Still though. This weather was in the forecast so why was he out there?

Maybe he was with Vodafone or batteries flat so had no phone or vhf. Epirb doesn't give a pan pan option or perhaps he was just to ill to speak ? With relatives awaiting his arrival there was going to be some angst.
We are increasingly seeing reports of Epirb activation and rescue, that aren't from our point of veiw are mayday situations. ( but we aren't there)
So maybe further devopment of the modern excellent Epirb will have a pan pan function as well as mayday.

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Sectorsteve said..

Bananabender said..

Shanty said..

Sectorsteve said..

tarquin1 said..
Yes make sure when you buy a EPIRB it is the GPS type. Again the majority of people don't understand their safety equipment and how to use it.
They can get a much more accurate fix off your telephone than an EPIRB. Words from a RORC safety officer. EPIRBs are for giving a rough idea of where you are in the middle of the ocean. Not great for coastal stuff unless it is the GPS type,GPIRB.
Is there a link to the video you guys are talking about.

Why didn't he just call on the phone or vhf.

Phone would probably be out of range. Doubt he would of had a sat-phone. You would think that he would have a VHF but there are some loons around these days.

I'd give the bloke a break as we don't know the circumstances.
eg. No sight of land due to weather to get position,
GPS -To crook to go below .
VHF - above or does not have dsc or GPS so what does he say to them. "I'm somewhere off Mooloolaba "
Seasick .
Best option set off epirb and they will know his position and that he needs assistance.

He was on a 20mile passage. You should know your position constantly. Towing a dinghy. Excessive Windage. Not looking at weather forecast. Not knowing where you are etc.
I met people up north that bought reasonable boats and ended up in trouble . As if by buying a boat and spending x amount of dollars everyyhing will be fine.
Example.
I know this lady worked as an executive for exon mobile in the USA. Big $,.
Retired early with massive payout and ongoing salary.
Her and Yankee hubby bought a massive expensive yacht in Pittwater. They thought that spending 1milion dollars would equate to them being OK at sea with no experience.
No.
So they went out near lion island and suffered a knockdown. This is in a 54 foot yacht.
They sold the boat asap after that.
I'll just never understand why people won't work themselves up to a level before putting themselves out there. It's the only way imo.
Gotta crawl before you can walk etc...
Two dogs from here was my greatest teacher from this site. By simply saying "test yourself"
Or " on calm days you'll **** it in" to be more accurate.
This means go out in horrible weather. Learn to heave to. Practice with that sea anchor/radio/ check weather. Bar cams blah blah. The resources available to us are many.
Having said all that. Lately I've been thinking that many if these mishaps /rescues are the result of ones mind. It could happen to anyone out there alone but with prudence and practice you may fair better.

There's different ways at looking at this situation. The PROPER seamanlike way would be to know your vessel, your capabilities, not exceeding those capabilities and learning everything about your boat. Sometimes going outside of those most seamanlike morals is needed. Taking calculated risks, this guy has picked the short straw on this occasion If he had made it in would we be talking about him at the moment? I don't think so. He had made a mistake and has (hopefully) learned from it. As said above, he made it in no one was hurt hopefully he will be more aware of his situation next time.
Regards,
Mick

Whilst he put himself in that situation, he did do some things right.
His NoK knew of his journey and an approx ETA.
He had an EPIRB.
He used that EPIRB when he felt in need of assistance.
His bum was relatively clean (unlike the last few news pressers)
He did more stupid things than right things, but none of us are perfect and we don't know the full story. A result where the crew and boat are home safe is a great result, with a huge dollop of assistance from the Coast Guard.

I have a good friend who is a Commode of a VMR station. I'm going to drop in and buy them a lunch next week. Which seems a paltry thank you, considering the conditions that these guys go out in, let alone their reward being hours of punishment coming home under tow.....respect.

Edit: He needs to toss that bimini/solarpanel thingammy.It looks like it was almost maliciously designed to act like a dirty great wind brake. That whilst beating and towing a rib....ugh.

Shaggy, ask your friend if he can get or how to get a copy of the report of the incident. These are great to learn what went wrong and why. More importantly how to avoid it. Its usaull a knock on effect of a small problem.

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tarquin1 said..
Shaggy, ask your friend if he can get or how to get a copy of the report of the incident. These are great to learn what went wrong and why. More importantly how to avoid it. Its usaull a knock on effect of a small problem.

Good idea Tarquin, I like the lessons learnt idea.
Thanks.

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tarquin1 said..
Shaggy, ask your friend if he can get or how to get a copy of the report of the incident. These are great to learn what went wrong and why. More importantly how to avoid it. Its usaull a knock on effect of a small problem.

I found out his genoa was ripped, he was badly seasick, when coast guard spotted him he was about 80m away thats how bad visibility was. He was so sick he couldn't go up to bow to catch tow line, coast guard was contemplating transfering a crew member over to his boat to help him but it was just to dangerous. He eventually found some energy to get up to the bow to catch and tie up tow line. But stayed at the bow while being towed back untill calmer waters, over halve an hour of waves crashing on him. He also had mild hypothermia
I Cant emagine being that sick that you cant crawl back to cockpit
It was a great outcome for all involved

Thanks for the update , Sunny

gary

Thanks.
There were a couple of things in the vid. They were in no rush to rescue him and he was in no state to help himself.
He was at anchor and OK.
They didn't send a crew of the boat or a chopper to pick him off the boat.
Some people get sea sick and some are completely overcome by it and cant move.
Was there ever VHF contact with him?
Personal AIS is not expensive and if you cant afford AIS on your boat can be activated in a situation like this and they will know exactly where you are once in VHF range.
Pay a visit to your local coast guard and ask a couple of questions.
Mobile phones are great as well. Just make sure they are waterproof. There are cheap waterproof bags out there.
Make sure the info you have filled in on the EPIRB form is up to date with the correct mobile number and they will find you. Google always knows where you are!!

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shaggybaxter said..
Whilst he put himself in that situation, he did do some things right.
His NoK knew of his journey and an approx ETA.
He had an EPIRB.
He used that EPIRB when he felt in need of assistance.
His bum was relatively clean (unlike the last few news pressers)
He did more stupid things than right things, but none of us are perfect and we don't know the full story. A result where the crew and boat are home safe is a great result, with a huge dollop of assistance from the Coast Guard.

Well put, Shaggy.

And then thanks for latter posters that provided real data on the incident. Although I see no problem with speculating (and sometimes I learn from pages and pages of others' speculations) it's great to eventually end up with the real reasons for a specific case.