Loss of S/V Raindancer (KP44)

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

Holy crap, what a story. Thanks, I hadn't read it before.

These accounts are pushing me into the "multihulls are safer" camp. I don't like the whole sinking thing one bit.

Not so fast. Remember the recent Atlantic 46 catamaran whale encounter ? That’s a hell of a story…(especially wanting to be rescued from your rescuers, a dodgy Chinese fishing boat with young crew that hadn’t been ashore for months…no one would ever know if an unscrupulous crew or captain decided to dump you overboard…as crew sometimes are on those boats, according to the investigative journalism book, “The Outlaw Ocean…)

The pics and selfies that Raindancer took of themselves in the life raft and dinghy they salvaged are instructive…how long do you wanna spend on/in one of those in the ocean? I’d guess that a tough(er) boat, however defined, (maybe a full keel, heavily laid up glass boat like a Westsail 32? Maybe a metal boat? Maybe a heavily built wood hull, like cold molded?), and not necessarily a multihull, may have made the difference in a whale collision? But, really, who knows…..

 

[socalrider]

Not so fast. Remember the recent Atlantic 46 catamaran whale encounter ? That’s a hell of a story…(especially wanting to be rescued from your rescuers, a dodgy Chinese fishing boat with young crew that hadn’t been ashore for months…no one would ever know if an unscrupulous crew or captain decided to dump you overboard…as crew sometimes are on those boats, according to the investigative journalism book, “The Outlaw Ocean…)

The pics and selfies that Raindancer took of themselves in the life raft and dinghy they salvaged are instructive…how long do you wanna spend on/in one of those in the ocean? I’d guess that a tough(er) boat, however defined, (maybe a full keel, heavily laid up glass boat like a Westsail 32? Maybe a metal boat? Maybe a heavily built wood hull, like cold molded?), and not necessarily a multihull, may have made the difference in a whale collision? But, really, who knows…..

The Atlantic 46 story confirms my hypothesis - they eventually had to abandon ship, but only after several hours once rescuers had arrived. They weren't about to sink, they just couldn't make headway and were 1500nm from land. RAINDANCER and the J/World J/120 sank in minutes - a much much much more dangerous situation where survival is dependent on a liferaft.

Not saying that the Atlantic 46 situation was a bed of roses! But I'd certainly rather that situation than the other two!

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

The Atlantic 46 story confirms my hypothesis - they eventually had to abandon ship, but only after several hours once rescuers had arrived. They weren't about to sink, they just couldn't make headway and were 1500nm from land. RAINDANCER and the J/World J/120 sank in minutes - a much much much more dangerous situation where survival is dependent on a liferaft

True that. But - the boat was massively damaged by the whale…I’d wager that a strong monohull could survive the impact. But, again, who knows. A catamaran is out of my budget anyway…

 

[mckenzie.keith]

I’d guess that a tough(er) boat, however defined, (maybe a full keel, heavily laid up glass boat like a Westsail 32? Maybe a metal boat? Maybe a heavily built wood hull, like cold molded?), and not necessarily a multihull, may have made the difference in a whale collision? But, really, who knows…..

Exactly. We don't know. That is why it is so important and urgent that we do the research and testing.

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

Exactly. We don't know. That is why it is so important and urgent that we do the research and testing.

Hence the chicken gun. The world eagerly awaits the cutting-edge research…

 

[socalrider]

I want to be a whale gun operator when I grow up.

 

[tane]

Non-starter. Don't like the color.

regs, AFAIK

 

[J the landlocked dreamer]

I’d guess that a tough(er) boat, however defined, (maybe a full keel, heavily laid up glass boat like a Westsail 32? Maybe a metal boat? Maybe a heavily built wood hull, like cold molded?), and not necessarily a multihull, may have made the difference in a whale collision?

I want to be a whale gun operator when I grow up.

Given your design brief, I'm pleased to introduce you to your next monohull. This LAV will love you and keep you safe forever. She even comes with her own pepper-spray for the whales. She has beautiful, (sort-of) sleek lines. Her electronic, navigation, night-vision, and range-finding packages are top-notch. She is powered-up enough to easily do her hull-speed. Low-tides and bottoming-out are worries of the past. She has an incredible presence in any anchorage; people will flock to you for sundowners. But in the spirit of full disclosure, be warned that she does have one strong aversion: wooden bullrails .

Photocredit: Camp Lejeune's Facebook page

 

[DDW]

At least is has the equipment to deal properly with bull rails. Those are a far greater threat, generally, to cruisers, than whales.

 

[climenuts]

You're not a real man until you tie to a bull rail after surviving an attack from a bull whale.

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

At least is has the equipment to deal properly with bull rails. Those are a far greater threat, generally, to cruisers, than whales.

Following the sage advice of this forum, we’ve started to remove them at our marina, kilometre by kilometre (those are Canadian miles to y’all down southways)…

 

[DDW]

Actually those are French miles. I'm surprised they aren't on strike.

 

[Zonker]

I want to be a whale gun operator when I grow up.

My father in law died a few weeks ago. As a 16 yr. old teenager he was a whaler and cut up whales on Vancouver Island. Later he became a logger for most of his life.

He said only the really experienced old guys got to operate the harpoon gun.

 

[Boats13]

My father in law died a few weeks ago. As a 16 yr. old teenager he was a whaler and cut up whales on Vancouver Island. Later he became a logger for most of his life.

He said only the really experienced old guys got to operate the harpoon gun.

Queequeg, etc al...

 

[accnick]

My father in law died a few weeks ago. As a 16 yr. old teenager he was a whaler and cut up whales on Vancouver Island. Later he became a logger for most of his life.

He said only the really experienced old guys got to operate the harpoon gun.

I'd be careful out there if I were you. Whales can read, you know.

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

Actually those are French miles. I'm surprised they aren't on strike.

I remember a general strike (as in country-wide) that took place in Denmark maybe 20 years ago. It was the result of unions demanding 6 weeks annual paid holiday and the government agreeing to only 5. Americans have much to learn from the Europeans, but the corporate masters run the show.

 

[DDW]

I (and my boats...) are a product of electronics startups. The expectation is 12 hr days, 6 1/2 days a week, no vacation, and the real possibility of no pay. Kind of like gambling your future on Double Zero. But perhaps we stray too far into Political Anarchy.

Back to whales. If they were French whales, they may have been pissed about having to work an extra two years? But maybe there aren't any French whales, after the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior.

 

[sculpin]

Given your design brief, I'm pleased to introduce you to your next monohull. This LAV will love you and keep you safe forever. She even comes with her own pepper-spray for the whales. She has beautiful, (sort-of) sleek lines. Her electronic, navigation, night-vision, and range-finding packages are top-notch. She is powered-up enough to easily do her hull-speed. Low-tides and bottoming-out are worries of the past. She has an incredible presence in any anchorage; people will flock to you for sundowners. But in the spirit of full disclosure, be warned that she does have one strong aversion: wooden bullrails .

View attachment 581357
Photocredit: Camp Lejeune's Facebook page

Having probably built some of the aformentioned electronics in the pictured vehicle, I'd agree - excellent vehicle. But this is a SV-Seeker class BSO in that any wave would wash over the driver's face... Running aground - not a problem.
Excellent choice, no whale worries.

 

[mckenzie.keith]

My father in law died a few weeks ago. As a 16 yr. old teenager he was a whaler and cut up whales on Vancouver Island. Later he became a logger for most of his life.

He said only the really experienced old guys got to operate the harpoon gun.

By analogy with the chicken gun, I THINK the "whale gun" is actually a piece of test equipment. The device under test (DUT) is a boat. The "whale gun" fires a synthetic whale projectile at the DUT so its seaworthiness can be evaluated per the test criteria. We are not harpooning whales here. We are trying to figure out how to save them by adding crumple zones to our boats. And save the boat too. If two cars crash and one has a crumple zone, that protects the occupants of BOTH cars.

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

At least is has the equipment to deal properly with bull rails. Those are a far greater threat, generally, to cruisers, than whales.

Speaking of statistical likelihood, it’s at least somewhat interesting to note that there have been about “1200 reports of whales and boats colliding since a worldwide database launched in 2007” (according to Kate Wilson, a spokeswoman for the International Whaling Commission). That’s an average of 80 per year.

I’d have thought it was much rarer. Maybe not quite as rare as having this accident, but still rare.