RAINMAKER DISMASTED OFF HATTERAS IN GALE

[MauiPunter]

So, you're the skipper of RM and you've been dismasted, suffering damage to the port side of your enclosure, both engines temporarily not available and waves are entering the cabin through the smashed windows. The owner looks at you with a determined look and says, "we are going to save this vessel, and YOU are going to tell us how."

My quick effort (albeit based on scant experience, and from the comfort of my dining room table with cup of tea) is the following.

Assign crew (with owner) to ensure that lifejackets are on and ditch kit available/augmented/documents secured. First mate assesses boat status, while I establish coms and alert authorities of PAN PAN, vessel adrift, and to create contact sched to better inform and make decisions while coms available. Owner's son is to make hot water for tea/coffee/hot meal for thermos while still power and use of stove. First mate whips out brake fluid and cleans up last of hydraulic fluid on deck and a bit in the cabin.

After assembling the crew in the starboard (dry) hull, and with a bit of food and tea, the idea for a sea anchor off the starboard hull is proffered, and thanks to a remembered thread on SA, anchors and settee cushions are used resulting in easier motion, fewer waves entering cabin from port abeam. Rear enclosure fabric, screws from toolkit and a rechargeable drill are used to (?temporarily?) seal port windows.

The longer range problems are now, rescue or salvage? And if a tow, how do you make a strong point for the towing cable? Jury rig or motors? Implications of the weather. How to seal off the port hull, given inability to close the sliding hatch. First mate not pleased by the lack of support for the longeron, either.

Ideas?

And then two days of hurricane force winds and high seas break the boat up and all five aboard die.

JFC. There's a ringing endorsement.

 

[Trickypig]

So, you're the skipper of RM and you've been dismasted, suffering damage to the port side of your enclosure, both engines temporarily not available and waves are entering the cabin through the smashed windows. The owner looks at you with a determined look and says, "we are going to save this vessel, and YOU are going to tell us how."

My quick effort (albeit based on scant experience, and from the comfort of my dining room table with cup of tea) is the following.

Assign crew (with owner) to ensure that lifejackets are on and ditch kit available/augmented/documents secured. First mate assesses boat status, while I establish coms and alert authorities of PAN PAN, vessel adrift, and to create contact sched to better inform and make decisions while coms available. Owner's son is to make hot water for tea/coffee/hot meal for thermos while still power and use of stove. First mate whips out brake fluid and cleans up last of hydraulic fluid on deck and a bit in the cabin.

After assembling the crew in the starboard (dry) hull, and with a bit of food and tea, the idea for a sea anchor off the starboard hull is proffered, and thanks to a remembered thread on SA, anchors and settee cushions are used resulting in easier motion, fewer waves entering cabin from port abeam. Rear enclosure fabric, screws from toolkit and a rechargeable drill are used to (?temporarily?) seal port windows.

The longer range problems are now, rescue or salvage? And if a tow, how do you make a strong point for the towing cable? Jury rig or motors? Implications of the weather. How to seal off the port hull, given inability to close the sliding hatch. First mate not pleased by the lack of support for the longeron, either.

Ideas?

And then two days of hurricane force winds and high seas break the boat up and all five aboard die.

I though you were a fan of the GBs?

 

[6924]

the boat had a perfectly seaworthy RIB with a massive Outboard on davits

 

[furr_ball]

And then two days of hurricane force winds and high seas break the boat up and all five aboard die.

So much for the "global cruising" seaworthiness then? That storm did not get anywhere near the point that it would have sunk a well-found vessel.

It got to the point that two of the well founded salvage vessels decided that $500,000 was not worth the pounding that they were taking, and turned around and headed back to port.

You do your defense / argument no good with the various statements / facts you drop out.

So there was a salvage attempt?

If the boat cannot stand up to these sort of conditions why were they there?

Oh yes, they were going to outrun it........with their disruptive technology.........but they did not.......case in point.

Then something broke on a so well prepared vessel, above in the thread somewhere I think 'crew" (friend of yours?) points out an item about a turnbuckle?

Now boat is not up to the conditions.

Comes across repeatedly as...... 'it was not my fault.....'

It was the fitting, it was the storm, it was the freighter, it was the hurricane winds coming..........

Maybe it was just the decision to leave.

 

[Trickypig]

the boat had a perfectly seaworthy RIB with a massive Outboard on davits

Prefer a helicopter.

 

[Rawhide]

My apologies if I missed this, having never thought this thread would go this long I skipped a few pages. But a couple of questions, presumably they did they have storm boards to cover or partially cover those huge expanses of glass/polycarbonate? This then must not have occurred to anyone as a possibility?

As an engineer we always undertake a risk assessment as part of the design process and try to design out as many hazards as possible and if not possible, minimize them and devise procedures to deal with the remaining consequences. This is probably over the top for most builds, but at $2m, RM is not most builds. I wonder whether this type of safety in design process is undertaken by GB. Maybe it was and no one expected anyone to actually take them to sea in winter.

 

[fastyacht]

On the 2nd Feb the at South Hatteras sea buoy (NOAA) sustained winds peaked at 18 m/s (gust to 22 m/s) and sig wave height topped out at 6 m. The gale on the 5/6 Feb was less than that. on the 11th the storm was 23/28 m/s and 10.4 m sig wave height...again this is to be expected in those waters in the winter.

So then Jaybird, you saying that a Gunboat 55 is expected to founder in 6 meter sig waves (that means 12 meter every hour or 2, roughly)?

Because if that is the case, that boat would definitely have no business being out in the WNA. Because these are conditions to EXPECT they are not extreme or unusual, not in the least...

plot of significant wave height sorted through all data points past 45 days. You should notice that the conditions during the abandonment are not "tails" in the data...evidently the captain/crew deemed that she really wasn't seaworthy. Which one would certainly hope the loss of a rig wouldn't take you to that point. Some bum luck really, but why and how?

 

[phillysailor]

I've got to admit, Jaybird, that it does seem a weakness you'd mention to Commandor's service if you can't trust this boat to stay afloat in strong winds and waves. They come up with a route for a boat, and vary that plan based on your boat to maximize safety, right? So what instructions are proper to Commodore's for a GB 55?

I actually don't think that the RM would have sunk that quickly, or become fragments in two days, although it is a possibility. My question isn't whether the captain and crew of RM made a good decision, but if you decided to stay and salvage, how would you do it?

 

[Ishmael]

I've got to admit, Jaybird, that it does seem a weakness you'd mention to Commandor's service if you can't trust this boat to stay afloat in strong winds and waves. They come up with a route for a boat, and vary that plan based on your boat to maximize safety, right? So what instructions are proper to Commodore's for a GB 55?

I actually don't think that the RM would have sunk that quickly, or become fragments in two days, although it is a possibility. My question isn't whether the captain and crew of RM made a good decision, but if you decided to stay and salvage, how would you do it?

Deck cargo?

 

[furr_ball]

That's quite funny.....

 

[joneisberg]

And then two days of hurricane force winds and high seas break the boat up and all five aboard die.

JFC. There's a ringing endorsement.

Speaking of ringing endorsements...

If a storm is unavoidable, safety is derived from the ability to surf sideways. With daggerboards up, the round bottom hulls will skate sideways along waves, and the long high bows offer tremendous reserve buoyancy. We believe mega catamarans are the safest platform for surviving the worst weather.

...

Johnstone says he’s navigated through 70-knot gales in the North Atlantic by hauling down the sails, closing in the mammoth salon and pulling up the centerboards that help the boat track straight through the waves. When a rogue wave hits from the side, he says, the Gunboat just skids sideways with it, instead of absorbing tons of water on the deck like a monohull.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2014/09/11/on-a-gunboat-catamaran-you-can-have-your-martini-and-30-knots-too/

...

CB: I’ve sailed about 30,000 NM on Gunboats in winds up to 65knots, and always come through. We were extremely careful in our preparations and felt ready for anything, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take a Gunboat into that forecast again.

 

[captpiratedog]

So, you're the skipper of RM and you've been dismasted, suffering damage to the port side of your enclosure, both engines temporarily not available and waves are entering the cabin through the smashed windows. The owner looks at you with a determined look and says, "we are going to save this vessel, and YOU are going to tell us how."

My quick effort (albeit based on scant experience, and from the comfort of my dining room table with cup of tea) is the following.

Assign crew (with owner) to ensure that lifejackets are on and ditch kit available/augmented/documents secured. First mate assesses boat status, while I establish coms and alert authorities of PAN PAN, vessel adrift, and to create contact sched to better inform and make decisions while coms available. Owner's son is to make hot water for tea/coffee/hot meal for thermos while still power and use of stove. First mate whips out brake fluid and cleans up last of hydraulic fluid on deck and a bit in the cabin.

After assembling the crew in the starboard (dry) hull, and with a bit of food and tea, the idea for a sea anchor off the starboard hull is proffered, and thanks to a remembered thread on SA, anchors and settee cushions are used resulting in easier motion, fewer waves entering cabin from port abeam. Rear enclosure fabric, screws from toolkit and a rechargeable drill are used to (?temporarily?) seal port windows.

The longer range problems are now, rescue or salvage? And if a tow, how do you make a strong point for the towing cable? Jury rig or motors? Implications of the weather. How to seal off the port hull, given inability to close the sliding hatch. First mate not pleased by the lack of support for the longeron, either.

Ideas?

And then two days of hurricane force winds and high seas break the boat up and all five aboard die.

It's not a Hunter.

Shame Shame Shame on you! what would Warren or Steve say?!Don't be Knock'n those Hunters now....Besides those HC 50's weren't bad

 

[Boo-Yah]

almost done!

Is that the real story or the press release announcing renewed partnership between SA and Gunboat? Which will Ed demand first the Chicken or The Egg?

 

[MR.CLEAN]

Crowley, Crowley, Crowley....hey don't we know a Crowley in the shipping biz? Maybe if we didn't ban him he could shed some insight? Just a thought.

right, that's just what he'd do!

It was a good press release though, wasn't it? Would love to see the close-up pic after the prang

So Master Clean, a massive spinning prop completely exposed in 10-15 foot seas on a laden ship with 26 foot sdrft just misses the GB by feet, and your response was what again? What was your quote? I know you are not a journalist, but you do claim to be a former Master of various 3rd world snorkeling picnic boats. With that vast seagoing experience, what is your opinion of that claim? With your vast admiralty law experience, do you think the Crowley ship was negligent somehow? What is wrong with their press release ? Did you call them to get their version of the 'prang'? Or Cap Kid's version who still thinks a tanker hit him?

You should take some journalism classes. You're clearly good at the first part of it!

 

[MR.CLEAN]

JPD sailed 2650mi with no keel in the 2012-13 Vendee Globe and finished 4th in his IMOCA 60.

This one time, at band camp...

 

[MR.CLEAN]

My apologies if I missed this....Maybe it was and no one expected anyone to actually take them to sea in winter.

They definitely did not do any practice dismastings to see what would break

Without further ado...

http://sailinganarchy.com/2015/03/01/the-last-of-the-rainmaker/

 

[Jaybird]

On the 2nd Feb the at South Hatteras sea buoy (NOAA) sustained winds peaked at 18 m/s (gust to 22 m/s) and sig wave height topped out at 6 m. The gale on the 5/6 Feb was less than that. on the 11th the storm was 23/28 m/s and 10.4 m sig wave height...again this is to be expected in those waters in the winter.

So then Jaybird, you saying that a Gunboat 55 is expected to founder in 6 meter sig waves (that means 12 meter every hour or 2, roughly)?

Because if that is the case, that boat would definitely have no business being out in the WNA. Because these are conditions to EXPECT they are not extreme or unusual, not in the least...

plot of significant wave height sorted through all data points past 45 days. You should notice that the conditions during the abandonment are not "tails" in the data...evidently the captain/crew deemed that she really wasn't seaworthy. Which one would certainly hope the loss of a rig wouldn't take you to that point. Some bum luck really, but why and how?

What about the 31st of January and the first of feb? I believe that was when the front was passing through the area that Rainmaker was located. I am not trying to convince you all that a Gunboat 55 is the boat for you. I have sailed thousands of miles with the crew members of Rainmaker over the past seven years and have a great deal of respect for their abilities, and their assessment of the boat. One of them has already done another offshore delivery on a 55 and the others have no qualms about going offshore on one again. That is good enough for me, I was originally asked to deliver Rainmaker when the departure was before Christmas, however the refit wasn't complete. I would not hesitate to deliver a 55 if the opportunity arises again. You are all entitled to your opinions, and conclusions, I just wish that you would base them on facts rather than speculation. Maybe part three will change your tune, probably not, most of you have entrenched your opinions in your posts by now and it will be difficult to walk them back now. It is easier to call CB a liar to support your opinion rather than to admit you reached the wrong conclusion using incorrect assumptions. Oh I almost forgot this is SA so fuck off you bunch of douchebags.

 

[furr_ball]

My apologies if I missed this....Maybe it was and no one expected anyone to actually take them to sea in winter.

They definitely did not do any practice dismastings to see what would break

Without further ado...

http://sailinganarchy.com/2015/03/01/the-last-of-the-rainmaker/

Well, talk about an anti climax....

 

[fastyacht]

Turn of the month max sig wave ht at that buoy I referenced was only 4.4 meters.Max winds 17 gusting 20 m/s.

I have no doubt yuo'd go offshore in a GB 55. That's not what I'm asking--nor what many others are asking. We are wondering would you go offshore in the WINTER? Because that is not the same thing. Not even remotely the same thing. I don't think some people fully appreciate the difference in conditions.

For your elucidation compare the plot I gave previously, for the past 45 days, to a 4 month summer plot, June through Sept. Very very different statistics...

You should notice that the 80% highest waves are over twice as high in winter as in summer. So instead of 4 foot waves, you have 12 footers....and that's run of the mill....more or less like the conditions when RAINMAKER lost her rig...

 

[furr_ball]

Not sure CB is doing any favours linking Michael with cowboys either.

Hope he asked him if he was happy being named....