I have been thinking about this in light of the threads meanderings so my thoughts..........
Looking at Marine traffic, I have seen a regular stream of yachts depart from Port Phillip and head across the paddock to Sydney and further north since May. Some stopping along the way at Refuge Cove, Port Welshpole, Lakes Enterance or Eden. About four did the journey in the three weeks before this latest series of lows. All have picked the weather window and while i'm far from experienced I am of the opinion a Compass 28 would have made it no problem if it had gone at times when the other yachts went. Most are newer, larger boats around 40 feet, and all equipped with AIS obviously. Of the yachts without AIS, I have no idea.
But the sea is a great leveller and in rough to extreem weather, will expose any weakness in crew or craft,inspite of the size of the yacht.
Because i will head out there one day in the not too distant future i have been doing a bit of google reading over the years, as well as sailing on others yachts who have more experience. I have a folder on my puter full of Bass Strait stories and info so have dug up this one.......
An interesting case study is the sinking of the Inseption, a Beneteau 50, during the 2012 Queensclif to Port Fairy race.
It makes facinating reading.
The Beneteau 50 yacht, Inception, with a crew of 6 sank shortly before
midnight. It appears that Inception took on water forward resulting in a bow
down trim. It is believed that this initial flooding forward may have led to an
escalating sequence of events, allowing more water to enter the yacht and
overwhelm efforts to clear it. In the final phase of this sequence the flooding
was very rapid, causing the boat to sink in approximately 20-25 minutes after
water was noted flowing into the main cabin from forward.
2.3 Having lost their life raft overboard sometime earlier in the storm, Inception’s
crew was left with no option but to inflate their Personal Flotation Devices
(PFDs) and step into the sea as the boat sank.
The rescue:
www.mysailing.com.au/news/report-on-textbook-rescue-of-six-crew-after-yacht-sinks
.......more good reading for those who want good info.
Inquiry into Marine Rescue Services in Victoria:
In the enquiry The Rear Comodore of the Port Fairy Yacht Club tells it how it is from his perspective including details of the Inceptions rescue........a great read about how things have changed in his observations.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:d42OAwVxgCkJ:www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/ediosisc/marine_rescue_services/Transcripts/2014.04.15_32_Morgan_Corrected.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au
And the ORCV's internal Inquiry
a rather long read but section 4 on the chronology of events that led to the sinking is well worth it.
www.yachting.org.au/sport-services/safety/major-incident-reports/port-fairy/
Thanks for posting that Guitz .what a read. Having been an active participant in ORCV races and encounted rough weather in that area in a Melb. To Portland race my heart was going faster as I read the accounts.
You never stop learning.
Nice read Guiltz .Thank you for posting the link
I have a couple of brass fittings on my water cooling pump on my bukh. I looked every where for bronze hose tails could not source them . Ill change them to stainless from a good local stainless company
Last night a 45 footer called Wind Spirit went through Port Phillip heads about an hour before slack water, flood. She is now between Skull Rock and Rodondo Is, a bit north of forty foot rocks. To my mind she arrived at the heads at just the right time to get fairly still water and avoid the rough water caused by wind against tide as would happen after slack water during the ebb. Also planning the journey to arrive at the Prom in daylight is very sensible as I would not feel safe navigating around the prom in the dark. In the 90's I sailed with a mate in his S&S34. We left Cape Wolamai at dusk and approached the Prom at dawn. The lights at Cape Patterson then Cape Liptrap where always in view and it was a comfortable night time sail. We arrived at Refuge at around 10am.
I saw a yacht go through the heads this morning at 9am on the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse webcam. She went through the rip an hour after the tide turned with the assistance of the current but a rather bumpy ride because of the SW at about 15 knots. If going east via the prom then they will most likely arrive after dark.
Yes it was a good read it still amazes me though.
1 -how yachts can loose can their life rafts ,aren't their painter lines conected or do they have a hydrostatic realise conected .
2 - what happened to plotting on a chart to know exactly where you are instead of making judgments from chart plotters , I am sure before the race they would have to produce a chart to meet safety inspection , perhaps they need to scrutinise a bit off chart work prior to raceing.
Yes bass strait get rough but so does every bit of ocean when the wind builds at some time ,it is the sea if you go out you have to respect it and prepare for the worst .
Like everything in life it comes down to preperation
Hindsight is a wonderful thing
We can all learn from this I feel. When to leave port on a good weather window with enough time and planning and should not cloud when to set sail. with other commitments or reasons.
This I feel can contribute to some thing going wrong . I need to get there is not a good reason to leave port if bad weather is looming .
We should all remember to try and have a clear mind when choosing and determine our choices more to the weather window and not for some other reason to set sail .
I feel sorry for the loss of his boat and hope my weather windows come with a clear mind and not for some other reason that I need to get to some where.
This couple were in no hurry HG. They went for a weeks sail and came back 16 years latter. I hope the link below works for their story.
www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2723778/Adventure-lifetime-Married-couple-set-week-long-sailing-trip-return-16-YEARS-later-having-visited-51-countries-clocked-51-000-nautical-miles.html
^That's so cool, I'd love to just up and run off to sea, kind of like the old, 'I'm just ducking out for milk and cigarettes'....
Good stuff Toph hope that works for me when this old boats ready . its a little harder on a H28 bit tight for room have to squeeze a little bit more in a smaller boat.
I do feel for the man in trouble, but have a bit of trouble understanding why it was a Wiliamstowon police rescue boat and a Torquay unit ended up responding when he was apparently off Wonthagy which my atlas says is in the opposite direction from where he was.
The two units could not have been further away from the scene if they tried. ????????