There is no way Id sail this time of year on my boat along that coast line

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/

Bananabender said..
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.

Yes the article about the textbook rescue in mysailing.com.au had me on the edge of my seat. As a kid my father who was born in Port Fairy took me to Lock Ard Gorge and always had a story of the many shipwrecks and local fisherman's tales along that unforgiving coast. It's the last place I would want to be in a storm floating in the sea around midnight teathered to my mates!

Certainly a good read, lots to learn from that.
Thanks for posting that Guitz

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.

frant said..

Guitz said..
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.

The boat that left "this morning" departed Geelong earlier on delivery to a new owner in Sydney. The skipper has many thousands of sea miles as a delivery skipper. The boat had been extensively overhauled prior to departure including dropping the rig and replacement as required.

For coastal sailing I prefer night sailing as the various Navigation lights actually make night navigation easier as the lights can be positively identified byt their characteristics. Same with entering a strange port, although when it comes to final anchoring you must rely on chart plotter as close range distance perception is trickier.

Good to know. Thanks frant. The night time distance perception has surprised me a few times this year. Hope i didn't come across as a know it all, just thinking out loud and checking how others do the journey as a learning experience. I reckon I should offer to crew for an experienced delivery skipper on the journey as a good way of learning the ropes

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.

^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'....

What's the ladder for?

That's a good one Sands or perhaps tidal places with high sheet piling warfs.

southace said..
Or tieing jerrys cans or inspect the rigging! Haha

Ladders are for climbing up heights you guys, thought you would have know that goodness me

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. ????????

Toph said..
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 is what I dream of doing!!! Just sailing out one day and never coming back till I feel like it!!... Added bonus would be with some good company.

frant said..

spiggie said..
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

The elephant in the room with the foundering of Inception is not so much as how did the liferaft come to be washed away, but given that the life raft had washed away how was it seen fit to continue racing.

If you actually want to read the report, you'll see at 7.1.3 that Inception had stopped racing. They had advised before they got into problems that they did not want to run downwind to a port. The ORCV report also notes that after TryBooking rescued the crew she was advised to continue to Port Fairy, indicating that no decent refuges could be found any closer.

There is no elephant in the room.

EDIT; some boats that retired went back to Melbourne but I haven't checked the times they entered the Rip and whether this was also an option for Inception. Other retirees plugged on to Pt Fairy.