Just heard on the radio a yacht was rescued after suffering from engine failure and dismasting on their way to Lord Howe. Are they 'our' guys? Everything ok otherwise?
MB & crew were planning on leaving Sydney on Tuesday & getting to LH by Friday Saturday according to their plan a couple of months ago, to get to the BBQ on the 17th.
There has been storms out to sea, over the horizon off Pt Macquarie, on Tuesday & Wednesday nights, posiibly Thursday night & last night, with the lightning flashes just about all night.
Hope everyone is ok.
No doubt there would be many of the yachts would be leaving from Pittwater, but all the info is lining up that it could be our guys.http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/latest_releases?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGZWJpenByZC5wb2xpY2UubnN3Lmdvdi5hdSUyRm1lZGlhJTJGNDk4MzIuaHRtbCZhbGw9MQ%3D%3D
Thankfully all aboard are OK.
Most unfortunate thing to happen
Hope there all ok and they can retreve the boat later
Hi Guys,
Here's a link, they mention the name of the boat is Avocet?
www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-14/three-men-rescued-from-stricken-boat/6940748
Regardless of who it is, I am really glad they're safe and well.
I actually wandered down to the bay at lunchtime when I saw this thread and saw Morning Bird (the yacht) was gone but the tender was there.
That's all I can confirm, hope all is well...
Was on the news last night. The guys were ok. They got dismasted about 3am 2 metre seas about half way to lord Howe. Then they tried to start engine with no luck. (Bloody inboards-!!) they called the cops who took about 10 hours to get to them. was 2 dangerous to tow the boat. She's left drifting.
Its a shame to have lost a yacht from here, but at least we can take comfort that they are all safe. Hopefully the insurance companies comes to the party.
I wonder what would have happened if they had an outboard spare to whack on after realising inboard engine trouble...
ive never done any big trips like that, but if i did, i would have an outboard mounted on the stern, just in case. Def would have 2 engines. 1 primary and 1 back up. Really good pliers to cut rigging(thanks for that Tip SirGallivant) if need be. A small effort that could possibly save you, your yacht and your crew.
THe link below is a great movie called 180degrees south. a story about some surfers/rock climbers travelling by sail boat around patagnonia, south america and to easter islands. They surf some great waves and theres great footage on this movie. THe impressive thing was when they became dismasted in the middle of nowhere and sorted it out. THey spent hours retrieving the mast, getting the mast back on deck and stowed , where they reinstalled on easter islands at anchor.
there might be a few pop ups. persevere and delete them. the movie will run.
putlocker.is/watch-180-south-online-free-putlocker.html
Select to expand quoteSectorsteve said..
I wonder what would have happened if they had an outboard spare to whack on after realising inboard engine trouble...
Need a lot of petrol to motor 150 miles in those conditions? Probably better to rig up some sort mast?
Think I would ponder over the possibilies a bit longer before confirming a rescue. Can't see the insurance covering the replacement valuse of my yacht. Likewise, it would not be reasonable to expect the Police to tow her for that distance against those conditions.
Talk about having a bad day!
Inboards, if well installed and looked after, are very reliable. Mind you, 'Murphy's Law' often comes into play when making a passage.
Anybody know what type of yacht these gents were sailing or what caused the motor failure?
Engine problems in rough weather and Mr Murphy
Here is a thread I posted a while back. www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Sailing/General/Diesel-Tank-Draw-Pipe/
Some maybe better off not considering a major jurney till they have the experience and knowledge of how to. A better way to gain that knowledge is to listen rather than post on incidence they have idea on.
Question remains, does anyone know the boat? Good news to hear the crew are all safe.
Yes I know the boat well. AVOCET is a citation 34. A solidly built fibreglass yacht by Biddlecombe. I was the second owner. John is the third owner.
I bought her in 1992 and then based in Sydney, sailed to Lord Howe and back, then Hobart and up to Whitsundays then back down to circumnavigate Tassie then sold her to the current owner in 1999.
Last time I saw Avocet (about 2 years ago), she was on a mooring at Bayview with the mast out
In regard to engine failure, Avocet in my time, had a 20hp Yanmar and a 50 litre tank. She was a bit under powered for her size. I don't know what improvements were made on the propulsion side of things in the last 16 years but Its not uncommon for an engine to be fired up when there is a bit of confusion or panic about. A rope or wire around the prop is all it takes for failure.
There is no way she could be propelled by a backup outboard motor!
Wayne
Thanks Ambler. Citation 34s are solid old boats. I guess if they had the mast out/riggining checked or replaced only a coupe of years ago they were unlucky. I agree that it would have been easy to foul a prop in their situation.
We just got back, midnight last night into Pittwater. We arrived at LHI on the Saturday morning so didn't experience the weather these guys did but over the whole voyage we had everything including the southerly change on Friday night that gave us 50kt gusts. As a side note; You know your alive at 0230 on your own in the cockpit in that weather, and it isn't fun.
I had a rigger go over MB the week before departure. Necessary insurance for those waters I believe.
Engine reliability and the ability to fix it is also necessary out there. The bloody currents are diabolical and a lot of engine time is needed if you want to get there and/or back on time. We used 65.9 hours going and 48 coming back. All combatting up to 4 kts of adverse current with little wind to assist. Fortunately I rebuilt MB's engine so know it well and had Cisco onboard so if it had caused problems he could have fixed it. It performed without incident.
We had 15 yachts booked for moorings. 11 made it, one with no motor and another two with broken rudders.
Welcome back, glad it went well.
I bet you wern't planning the next trip during the 50 knot gusts at 2;30 
Well, I will admit I didn't see this coming. Quite a surprising end to this story: news.navy.gov.au/en/Dec2015/Fleet/2547/HMAS-Darwin-finds-yacht-adrift-at-sea.htm
I hope she will sail again and maybe, one day, successfully complete the original voyage.
Thanks for that knight,
Just from the photos it isn't dismasted, but I guess there must have been some unrepairable problem with it
I don't understand why they declared an emergency and abandoned a clearly floating and not in danger boat. I can't see any major rig breakage but even if there was this boat was capable of being jury rigged and sailed. Another example of yachties putting other people at risk due to their own incompetence. Disappointing!
Select to expand quoteMorningBird said..
I don't understand why they declared an emergency and abandoned a clearly floating and not in danger boat. I can't see any major rig breakage but even if there was this boat was capable of being jury rigged and sailed. Another example of yachties putting other people at risk due to their own incompetence. Disappointing!
Far too many people just stepping off yachts off the coast here! Well done the navy for doing the salvage.
Select to expand quoteSandS said..
the mast looks good !! it was supposed to have been dis-masted ... ?????
good old media tell you any thing
Select to expand quoteHG02 said..SandS said..
the mast looks good !! it was supposed to have been dis-masted ... ?????
good old media tell you any thing
yes , media cannot be trusted .......ever !!!!........
Select to expand quoteSandS said...HG02 said..SandS said..
the mast looks good !! it was supposed to have been dis-masted ... ?????
good old media tell you any thing
yes , media cannot be trusted .......ever !!!!........
Allan Jones rules 
Gee there is a lot of speculation (and accusations) in this thread without any first hand information.
Select to expand quoteCrusoe said...
Gee there is a lot of speculation (and accusations) in this thread without any first hand information.
What more information do you need? The boat is afloat and the mast in place. To call for help and abandon the boat is grossly poor seamanship. They failed themselves and those that came to their rescue.
People who go to sea sometimes do need help due to circumstances beyond their control. These guys didn't.
in the majority of cases , where people abandon their S/V . The week link in the systems is the crew . If the crew had the same strength, as the yacht............................... there would be no problem.
We are after all , only human , we tire easily , we break , we bleed and after many hours of hard work we sometimes just say , xxxx it cant do this any more .
if there is a way out of a heavy difficult situation , most people will take it.
