Rescue off Western Australia, crew ok, boat lost.

[olaf hart]

In the late eighties our boat was abandoned south of New Caledonia, fortunately it wasn’t scuttled.

Towed in by the French Navy, repaired, went on to complete another circumnavigation and make a number of new owners very happy.

It’s not all bad news out there.

[Pleasure II]

The skipper is a shipwright amongst his many talents and I know him from his days working in Cairns. He was attempting a solo circumnavigation of Australia in his 34 foot S & S when he hit a heavy swell with steep seas off South West Cape W A about 150 k out.

His yacht was falling of the back of these steep seas and crashing down the back of the waves. The result was that the 30 year old mast broke near the spreaders and he had difficulty cutting it away.
The broken mast then punched a hole below the waterline and he was unable to stem the flow.

The rest is as per the AMSA report.

As he had been at sea for 17 days before his yacht sunk, he was lucky enough to be able to convince the W A authorities to let him return to Queensland without requiring him to do 14 days quarantine in W A.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Pleasure II

The skipper is a shipwright amongst his many talents and I know him from his days working in Cairns. He was attempting a solo circumnavigation of Australia in his 34 foot S & S when he hit a heavy swell with steep seas off South West Cape W A about 150 k out.



His yacht was falling of the back of these steep seas and crashing down the back of the waves. The result was that the 30 year old mast broke near the spreaders and he had difficulty cutting it away.

The broken mast then punched a hole below the waterline and he was unable to stem the flow.



The rest is as per the AMSA report.



As he had been at sea for 17 days before his yacht sunk, he was lucky enough to be able to convince the W A authorities to let him return to Queensland without requiring him to do 14 days quarantine in W A.

Thank you for the background info. I guess lucky is relative, but yeah, being hit with quarantine fees on top of that ordeal would have been rotten. Glad he avoided that.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Pleasure II

The skipper is a shipwright amongst his many talents and I know him from his days working in Cairns. He was attempting a solo circumnavigation of Australia in his 34 foot S & S when he hit a heavy swell with steep seas off South West Cape W A about 150 k out.

His yacht was falling of the back of these steep seas and crashing down the back of the waves. The result was that the 30 year old mast broke near the spreaders and he had difficulty cutting it away.
The broken mast then punched a hole below the waterline and he was unable to stem the flow.

The rest is as per the AMSA report.

As he had been at sea for 17 days before his yacht sunk, he was lucky enough to be able to convince the W A authorities to let him return to Queensland without requiring him to do 14 days quarantine in W A.

Excellent first post Pleasure II.