Loss of S/V Raindancer (KP44)

[Boats13]

The crew has been recovered by S/V Rolling Stones in co-ordination with other vessels using, in part, Starlink. Captain stated in an email on the KP44 mailing list (run by Jeff Stander) that the whale was a Sperm Whale and that the impact seemed to be mainly from below and slightly to port.

 

[Cisco]

speaking to people just a few hours ago that knew the boat/people having met them in Panama. Seems the boat sank in 15 minutes.

 

[Kenny Dumas]

Orca teaching Sperm Whales new tricks.

 

[Zonker]

Having encountered a pod of about 30 or more sperm whales.... they act very odd compared to other whales. They were all on the surface slowly swimming along. They totally ignored us and passed on either side of us. Close enough that my wife grabbed the kid and brought her away from the rail. So I could see just not noticing a sailboat or whale and they collide quite easily.

 

[Zonker]

I think the screenshot order got muddled about here

 

[Zonker]

 

[Zonker]

 

[Zonker]

 

[Zonker]

 

[Zonker]

Well done to the crew of Raindancer and condolences.

Big thanks to the crew of Rolling Stones. For all you people in the S.Pacific this year, try to make sure they don't have to buy a drink at the bar.

 

[giegs]

Thanks for the screenshots.

 

[Zonker]

I figured a few people might learn something - like stay calm, gather all the rum you can, get off before the damn thing is sinking under you...

(NA lesson here - when the boat has very little waterplane area and is sinking, it can sink FAST)

Boat on left is intact hull, big waterplane area. On right, hole in the boat and water inside. Not much actually keeping it afloat.

 

[mckenzie.keith]

I figured a few people might learn something - like stay calm, gather all the rum you can, get off before the damn thing is sinking under you...

(NA lesson here - when the boat has very little waterplane area and is sinking, it can sink FAST)

Boat on left is intact hull, big waterplane area. On right, hole in the boat and water inside. Not much actually keeping it afloat.

View attachment 580369

One of my to-do list items is to put a bulkhead forward of the rudder. Before I do that I will of course start a thread about it. No need to comment on it now in any detail.

 

[Zonker]

The tricky bit is making it truly watertight. Well above the level of a DAMAGED stern which will sit low in the water. Wires, hoses through it all have to be sealed.

For example the KP44 underbody looks like this. DWL is the black line. Green line is typical overloaded cruiser waterline. Blue line is the damaged stern waterline (very roughly)

This boat would be tricky because you need to have a watertight connection where the prop shaft passes through. That is a headache. You could do a very loose gap. But in case of sinking, the gap is filled by an inflatable donut collar already pre-fitted.

That is the way one commercial shaft seal deals with failure.

 

[Boats13]

Zonker is right.

I think that on a KP44 it would be nigh on impossible to incorporate a watertight bulkhead to a meaningful height. The bed is right there.
Cool heads prevailed in the midst of catastrophe. His description of the damage seems to indicate that the entire full skeg structure was catastrophically compromised well ahead of the rudder post. He could see sections of the propeller shaft through holes like "caves" along the skeg... Normally, there is just enough shaft showing for a zinc in the prop aperture. I don't believe that the aft Engineroom bulkhead (even if it was watertight like an Amel) would have saved her. I think that prop shaft is 9ft. I bet she was cracked through to the Engineroom. Violent and significant lateral or vertical movement of the shaft would compromise any bulkhead seal. The commercial annular inflatable ring that Zonker referred to along with watertight aft Engineroom bulkhead and the "hobbithole"hatch... wow, the $$$$$$...

Has anyone found any recorded attack on a boat by a sperm whale, besides the Essex?! It begs the questions: Were there mating whales around? Was Raindancer mistaken for a rival or predator by a rutting bull sperm whale? (I am pretty sure that eating homemade pizza can't be mistaken for harpooning) I just can't wrap my head around a Sperm whale NOT detecting a KP44 hull as he is ascending. Nor can I fathom a deliberate attack without provocation.


This is from the KP44 mailing list.:

Hey everyone. This is Rick, captain of Raindancer.

I’ll start be saying I still believe I couldn’t have been in a better boat. I have so much confidence in Raindancer and her strength and have seen it first hand. Even after the hard impact, my first thought was “this boats solid, there’s no way we are taking on water”.

Had the impact come from the bow or even leading edge of the keel I think she would have held up. It was the angle and location of the impact that was extremely rare and unfortunate. The area hit seemed like the skeg, rudder, propeller aperture all at once. Sort of from the port side but mainly underneath. It was an incredibly strong impact, which makes me think it was an attack. Especially because the boat lifted up significantly on impact.

I loved that boat as much as anyone can love a boat. KP44s are a special breed, and I’m convinced and lesser of a boat would have sunken much faster or had rudder ripped clean off.

We are currently on a Leapord 45 that picked us up and are on our way to French Polynesia. They have Starlink on board which has allowed us to make contact with the outside world before our arrival.

Rick
S/V Raindancer KP44 1976 #118 RIP

 

[toddster]

And that looks pretty fricken robust compared to a spade rudder and naked prop strut.

(Spade rudder = handy whale back-scratcher...)

Every boat is different, but over years, I thought out plans to build an aft crash box on Arcturus. The penetrations were always going to be the tricky bit. Still getting to know Wild, but the engine is aft of the aft bulkhead. I think the aft 1/3 might be sealed off, with maybe some drop boards for the head and cabin doorways. And a new bilge pump sump for that section.

 

[Zonker]

Yeah but sperm whales sleep VERTICALLY. It could have been just under the water and the boat came down on his head as the whale moved in the water circulation of a swell (poor whale). An attack seems less likely

 

[toddster]

Yeah. The Essex really, really, REALLY had it coming.

 

[Russell Brown]

I've had so many close calls with whales (including a sperm whale) that I've come to think that they don't always know we are there.

 

[estarzinger]

I've had so many close calls with whales (including a sperm whale) that I've come to think that they don't always know we are there.

We had a number of close encounters. Sometimes they were very aware and interested in us, and others where there were asleep or just totally uninterested. I could easily imagine one doing some significant damage just being surprised awake in a collision and thrashing around a little. But we never encountered any aggression.

The tricky bit is making it truly watertight.

Yes, exactly. We put 'watertight' bulkheads in Hawk (both forward and aft), and It was also part of several big boat refits I project managed. There are always more things that need to go thru the bulkheads than you expect, and you (usually) need separate bilge pumps (or manifolds) for the compartments. And it can make replacing wires and hoses in a later refit more complicated. It is worth doing if possible, but often simply more complicated than one expects.

The RINA commercial standards for 'water tightness' were surprisingly lax, which opened my eye to the fact that there is quite a wide range of possible objectives - from 'air tight' to 'significantly slows the inflow'.

For a rudder shaft, there are options - including putting in a tube surrounding the shaft, with a bunch of local hull reinforcements and gussets to well above waterline, and a potential 'crumple zone' of the bottom of the rudder blade (I have mixed feelings about this - Van De Stadt recommended it, but I did not do it) - all to make it so that if the rudder hits something hard it might softly crumple and if it snaps off it will not tear the hull open and the tube will hopefully still be above the water line, and if not there are ways to plug it with nerf footballs. This is often easier than a full bulkhead, but still a significant project depending on the steering system and autopilot installation.