Western Australia Horror Boat Crash

[grantmc]

There's been an awful crash at the Kimberley Horizontal Falls, with 28 reported injured, many seriously.

I'm hoping that members will be able to see these:
Sky News url1
The West Australian url2
(if not let me know and I'll post an alternative.

The Horizontal Falls are amazing 'gaps' between cliffs with serious tidal flows.

[GordMay]

Both news links available, in Canada.
Thanks, Grant.

[Galumay]

Still unclear what actually happened, but tour operator says boat didn't capsize and no one went overboard.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-...dent/101107214

[JPA Cate]

The operator is quoted as saying the boat can get up on its side. If so, that would be enough to throw some out. Fortunate there weren't crocs around. It's a beautiful spot, and also, no loss of life--a good thing.

Ann

[Jim Cate]

Ahhh... what good is a "thrill ride" if there is not a risk of disaster (skillfully avoided by the intrepid driver). This unfortunate event will probably increase the patronage of the ride!

Jim

[Dave_S]

My understanding is they speared off and hit the wall but the news is only as good as the reporter

[Scotty Kiwi]

Sorry about the hurt people. Leg puncture wounds????

Plenty of spare anchorages. Why is it not a more popular cruising ground?

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Scotty Kiwi

............
Plenty of spare anchorages. Why is it not a more popular cruising ground?

Long way from nowhere.
Very large tides.
Zquillons of crocodiles.
No onshore infrastructure.
Hotter than hell.

Some cruisers love it, some not so much.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Long way from nowhere.
Very large tides.
Zquillons of crocodiles.
No onshore infrastructure.
Hotter than hell.
Some cruisers love it, some not so much.

Q: How many arms has a crocodile got?
A: Depends how far he has got with eating his dinner!

Q: What do crocodiles call human children?
A: Appetizers.

Q: What do you call a crocodile with GPS?
A: A Navi-gator.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by Scotty Kiwi

Sorry about the hurt people. Leg puncture wounds????

Plenty of spare anchorages. Why is it not a more popular cruising ground?

Originally Posted by Wotname

Long way from nowhere.
Very large tides.
Zquillons of crocodiles.
No onshore infrastructure.
Hotter than hell.

Some cruisers love it, some not so much.

To add a couple....

Not a lot of breeze to get you there or back,
canyon type walls with long motoring up rivers,
shallow water,
partly uncharted.
Bug's
Snakes

BUT...

Absolutely spectacular country.

[Retirement home]

Weather's howling here at moment.
About 400km south of above.

Maybe they scored that?

Weird here. Only place I've ever seen with a raging bush fire on one side of highway, a distinctive weather line parting the road, immediate wet monsoonal rain and enough wind to worry seamen.
Seen bushfire monsoon twice in same month.
Then this morning government sent people message to evacuate because of fire, rang boss, nope roads open, rain coming. Must have knocked the fire for six.
Usually lightning. Early in year average near there was 1 strike a second across 24 hrs.

Weird season should finish soon.
I probably had ADD reading government relay public directed mobile phone messages and got it all wrong. Just saying. Weather ain't that bad, ain't wet season weather. It'd be nice cruising out there under a hardtop or broadhat and oilskins. Only 1 cog down headwind in a truck night. Wet season down lots of cogs in truck just to make way.

[oceanshoretiga]

The news reports were pretty wild and many of the posts on this thread are a bit off the mark in terms of the Kimberley.

But, most consistent news is the boat hit the wall, did not capsize and no one was thrown into the water. The tide current could easily through a large boat off course.

For more information on sailing in this magnificent area go to the Kimberley Coast Cruising Yacht Club web site. https://kccyc.org.au/

[inspectr]

We were there a week later. The operator flies seaplanes to the area and runs RIBS through the narrower inner gap where there is a rock shelf sticking out on the western side of the opening. Apparently the boat hit the shelf at speed, dislodging the metal seats which cleaned up a number of the passengers, some of whom ended up in the water. 28 persons injured, some seriously, evacuated by seaplanes and 6 RFDS aircraft, all survived. There have been fatalities in the past
There are 6M plus tides in that location that flow through two narrow gaps into a pair of parallel basins.
Due to the incident, our cruise operator only took us through at near top of high water, with only a 1 Metre "rapid" through the larger gap