Pacific crossing boat "Niniwahini" - dismasting not whale

[Zonker]

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FWD EMERGENCY:
From: Christopher Dillard <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Mar 24, 2023 at 8:26 AM
Subject: EMERGENCY - niniwahuni demasted
To: <[email protected]>
I just got a text from Travis and shawna of SV niniwahini that they got demasted.
Last coordinates I got from them: 14 54N. 119 26W
That was 3/23 at 14:50 - said he was hove to.
Our coordinates are 15 54N, 115 10W
We need to figure out who the closest boat is. We were 330 miles away when he emailed those coordinates yesterday.

Let’s get these people! They have 3 young children aboard
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***UPDATE*** “Chris on SV BIRDSONG reported that USCG is aware of the situation, activated an AMVER, and a commercial vessel is en route ~6hr away from SV NINIWAHINI. In addition, the nearby vessels of the Pacific Voyage Group 2023 are informed and several are making way toward the scene”
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The Pacific Crossing Group suffers another issue. This boat is a Westsail 43 I think

Not so sure if they have to be rescued or if they need help with getting a jury rig erected.

Hmm 2 young kids and a baby aboard and mom and dad = no spare hands because baby needs pretty constant attention. That's tricky.

ITCZ CAPE INDEX

They were a bit further north than I'd expect but ITCZ is a bit further west right now. The pin coordinates are in upper left.

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FWD EMERGENCY:
From: Christopher Dillard <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Mar 24, 2023 at 8:26 AM
Subject: EMERGENCY - niniwahuni demasted
To: <[email protected]>
I just got a text from Travis and shawna of SV niniwahini that they got demasted.
Last coordinates I got from them: 14 54N. 119 26W
That was 3/23 at 14:50 - said he was hove to.
Our coordinates are 15 54N, 115 10W
We need to figure out who the closest boat is. We were 330 miles away when he emailed those coordinates yesterday.

Let’s get these people! They have 3 young children aboard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***UPDATE*** “Chris on SV BIRDSONG reported that USCG is aware of the situation, activated an AMVER, and a commercial vessel is en route ~6hr away from SV NINIWAHINI. In addition, the nearby vessels of the Pacific Voyage Group 2023 are informed and several are making way toward the scene”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pacific Crossing Group suffers another issue. This boat is a Westsail 43 I think

Not so sure if they have to be rescued or if they need help with getting a jury rig erected.

Hmm 2 young kids and a baby aboard and mom and dad = no spare hands because baby needs pretty constant attention. That's tricky.

View attachment 581702
ITCZ CAPE INDEX

They were a bit further north than I'd expect but ITCZ is a bit further west right now. The pin coordinates are in upper left.

View attachment 581703

Have some friends with two 11 year olds who just left Baja for the Marquesas a few weeks ago, so this hits a bit close to home. Hope they get help ASAP and that they can save the boat too!

 

[accnick]

Have some friends with two 11 year olds who just left Baja for the Marquesas a few weeks ago, so this hits a bit close to home. Hope they get help ASAP and that they can save the boat too!

These people are in real trouble. About 1000 nm upwind to San Diego, not much less to anyplace on the Mexican mainland. 2500 nm to Hawaii.

This really sucks.

 

[Zonker]

Me: kids, here is some candy. Sit there and fetch tools as I need them.

Mom takes care of the baby.

Get the whisker or spinnaker pole and/or the boom, and start jury rigging. They probably have a staysail you can rig horizontally.

If I have 2 poles I'm going to make an A frame or lash them one on top the other with an overlap.

Sail downwind to Tahiti or to Hawaii at 3 knots (harder because it's more of a reach)

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

These people are in real trouble. About 1000 nm upwind to San Diego, not much less to anyplace on the Mexican mainland. 2500 nm to Hawaii.

This really sucks.

The first time I did a big-ish crossing (Hawaii to Canada), about maybe 5-6 days N of Hawaii I remember looking at the life raft/ditch kit and being amused that it had a factory-provided mini-Bible in it. “Why?”, I wondered. Anyway, I recall thinking, “wow, downwind there is a whole lot of nothing for a very long way if something happens (and you had to decamp to a life raft) and you’re blown downwind past Hawaii…”

 

[accnick]

Me: kids, here is some candy. Sit there and fetch tools as I need them.

Mom takes care of the baby.

Get the whisker or spinnaker pole and/or the boom, and start jury rigging. They probably have a staysail you can rig horizontally.

If I have 2 poles I'm going to make an A frame or lash them one on top the other with an overlap.



View attachment 581722
Sail downwind to Tahiti or to Hawaii at 3 knots (harder because it's more of a reach)

Then, once you get where you are going, you have to figure out why you lost the rig, fix that, buy a new rig and get it to wherever you are, and get that into the boat.

Depending on why you lost the rig, there could be a lot of work to do on the boat before even thinking of putting a new rig in.

Good luck with all that. Yes, I know it can be done, but the cost in time and money may be overwhelming, whether or not they have insurance.

 

[SloopJonB]

What broke the rig?

 

[Zonker]

What broke the rig?

Gravity?

I suspect the fundamental reason 95% of cruising boat rigs come down is a busted wire or a busted chainplate. Not something dramatically wrong with the boat that is very fundamental and requires a lot of thought. Replace your rigging wire from time to time. Pull and inspect chainplates.

Never mind - and just like that they are going to get a trip to Japan. Let's hope sea conditions are moderate and no kids go for a swim.

 

[longy]

Those boats carry a lot of tankage - very possible it could motor almost all the way back to San Diego
I delivered a 43' ketch rig back, in the very rare weather system where Hawaii had NO wind for weeks. The owner called me & asked why we had not left yet - I said check the weather reports! Finally, motored out from Kaneohe bay for days, motored across the pacific high, motored towards the Ca coast. Almost ran totally dry of fuel, just barely made it to fuel dock in San Pedro. Ran thru a handfull of fuel filters! (ran each tank until engine died) Three separate fuel tanks.

 

[TheDragon]

Yikes, yet another boat floating around. I imagine bobbing around with no stability and a partially wrecked boat with kids was unappetizing.

Last season a husband and wife team were dismasted 1000 miles out of the Galapagos, with 2000 to go, losing all but a spinnaker pole. Guy was a windsurfer, so jury-rigged his largest sail and used motor with fuel and food transferred by various other boats coming up behind them. They got into Marquesas a week after I left and I heard he sourced mast, boom and some sails from derelict boats and kept going. I met three of the boats that helped them out. They never figured out what broke as they cut the rig away as fast as possible.

 

[Lark]

Counter argument: if you take your baby out in the ocean as a lifestyle choice, why is it somebody else’s responsibility to protect you from Darwin when things get fucked up? Man up. I won’t take the grandkids on a reservoir if I can‘t be confident I will provide a safe outcome.

 

[Zonker]

Counter argument: if you take your baby out in the ocean as a lifestyle choice, why is it somebody else’s responsibility to protect you from Darwin when things get fucked up? Man up. I won’t take the grandkids on a reservoir if I can‘t be confident I will provide a safe outcome.

Because as a moral choice taking your baby on the ocean is no different than driving on a highway up a mountain pass in winter. Or taking them hiking in the backcountry in a kid carrier.

We rescue people in both situations when something goes wrong. One might be more dangerous - but if you look at the numbers of people that die or are seriously injured in car crashes, I'm not so sure that sailboats are more dangerous.

Can only families with 18 year old kids sail across oceans in your mind? What's a reasonable cutoff in your mind?

 

[Zonker]

My wife saw on Facebook that mom & 3 kids were taken off. Husband stayed aboard and is going to try to get it somewhere by motoring (and maybe jury rig).

 

[lakeneuch]

I hope he can cope with the situation, that must be alot of stress and a very lonely passage... I think this is a reasonable choice, I just hope he will get somewhere safe reasonably fast. At least he knows that his family is safe!

 

[mckenzie.keith]

I hope he can cope with the situation, that must be alot of stress and a very lonely passage... I think this is a reasonable choice, I just hope he will get somewhere safe reasonably fast. At least he knows that his family is safe!

Yeah. This would not be an easy situation to be in. Whatever the outcome I will not be second-guessing the decision. I think it would be very difficult for me to abandon my boat mid pacific if it was still floating well and had food and supplies and such.

 

[mckenzie.keith]

What do we think of kites as an emergency (post dismasting) sail?

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

What do we think of kites as an emergency (post dismasting) sail?

Why a kite in particular, out of curiosity? Maybe you’re thinking that because it would likely be the largest —or only— sail most folks would have stored below, I.e., not lost with the rig in a diismasting?

(I’ve got a 100% hank on jib below [goes on Solent stay], as well as trysail and hank-on drifter, which is my light-ish air downwind sail…I own a regular symmetrical kite, but hard to fit it aboard, too, and I don’t enjoy all the fiddling to use it. Also have a very small staysail…which maybe is hanked on the stay and lost in a dismasting, Neptune forbid…. )

 

[seaker]

Why a kite in particular, out of curiosity? Maybe you’re thinking that because it would likely be the largest —or only— sail most folks would have stored below, I.e., not lost with the rig in a diismasting?

(I’ve got a 100% hank on jib below [goes on Solent stay], as well as trysail and hank-on drifter, which is my light-ish air downwind sail…I own a regular symmetrical kite, but hard to fit it aboard, too, and I don’t enjoy all the fiddling to use it. Also have a very small staysail…which maybe is hanked on the stay and lost in a dismasting, Neptune forbid…. )

I was thinking he meant why not a kite flying out in front of the boat. Not a Spin.

 

[mckenzie.keith]

I was thinking he meant why not a kite flying out in front of the boat. Not a Spin.

Yes. Some form of kitesurfing or traction kite.

 

[estarzinger]

What do we think of kites as an emergency (post dismasting) sail?

they work, but are cost and storage space for something which will get essentially zero usage, and you can almost always jerry-rig something which will get you somewhere