by Pam Graham
November 2010
On Friday 5 November the intrepid Commodore set off early for this memorable TCBYC cruising weekend, and enjoyed a peaceful night at Kauri Creek. The weather forecast was not particularly ominous, but with soft rain and a vague promise of a storm, the rest of us departed on Saturday morning. Here in the Sandy Strait one can never be sure what “storm” actually signifies. It can be a strong wind, wind gusts, thunder, thunder and lightning or all of the above. Tucked up snug in a safe anchorage it is usually of little consequence. Ha! Ha!
Saturday, 9.30 am
The day dawned a bit drizzly but with no wind, but we all set off. Pam and Len with Julie and 8 year old daughter Teena on Kapalua II, Nick and Amy on their trailer-sailer Shima, and later, Shaun and Dinnie on Sole Bay. We motored into a slowly building northerly breeze and we motored and we motored ... AGH! … until we reached the old loggers jetty near the Bluff on Fraser Island.
12.30 pm
We dinghied ashore and spent a very enjoyable hour or two making sandcastles, drawing sand pictures, supping good food and drink, and throwing “Boules”. (Shaun and Dinnie won.)
The first indication of trouble came when we looked at the sky and noticed storm clouds gathering in the north west. We had been keeping an eye out and reckoned the storm would pass as it appeared to be heading directly towards Tin Can Bay! However, it gradually changed direction and mutual agreement saw dinghies loaded and returning to their respective boats. By the time we reached the boats, the wind was blowing and Sole Bay, anchored nearest to the beach, started dancing closer and closer. Monique B (Commodore Bruce’s other new barge) quickly took up anchor and headed for Inskip Point, with the rest of us in line astern.
3.00 pm
Suddenly, the wind piped up much stronger and although Kapalua only had a
handkerchief of genoa out, it pushed us over and made it very difficult for Len to
get the genoa in at all, but he managed it eventually. By that stage, a total white
out resulted in almost nil visibility and we navigated by GPS waypoints. This was a
bit scary.
As the storm passed over, we discussed the situation and decided it would be safer to head back to TCB, but a call to the Coast Guard left us believing that the worst was over and we would probably have no more trouble. The sky cleared, everything looked rosy, TCB had had only rain and a little wind, so our weather was very local indeed.
5.00 pm
Monique B and Sole Bay were inside Pelican Bay and offered to lead Kapalua and Shima in at 5.45-6.00pm when there should be enough water to negotiate the channel. With Shima rafted alongside, Kapalua hosted a buffet dinner and settled down for the evening.
5.30 pm
The first indication we had that all was not well with the weather gods was when we heard heavy rain drops on the cabin top. Before anyone could go on deck to check things out, we were hit by a strong wind gust, later identified as at least 60 knots, which laid Kapalua over on her side where she stayed for several minutes (it seemed like ages!) The buffet dinner slid onto the floor—a first in Kapalua’s travels—and some very frightened people were huddled below.
Nick and Len bounded up on deck to save Shima who had dived beneath Kapalua. In assessing the situation, Len saw we were dragging between two other boats … miraculously we missed them. As the squall continued, both Len and Nick saw the plight of poor Shima, now below Kapalua’s waterline. They both fended her off and tried to bring her upright, but the wind continued with the same intensity.
Down below, we could see masts passing us in rapid succession—someone was dragging. The wind appeared to come from more than one direction and moving around the boat was difficult. Pam went on deck, switched on the engine, preventing a collision with a red yacht, but in the process, Shima’s brand new stern line snapped and she surged underneath Kapalua’s bowsprit … where Len just happened to have his thumb! A silly place to put it, eh?
A contributing factor to the situation was that Kapalua was being held by the tide, therefore, the wind caught her beam-on. The anchor could be heard scraping on the sea bed which sounded for all the world like a coral bottom. Is there any coral in the Sandy Strait? We thought it was mostly sand and mud. Another boat seemed drawn to us as if their anchor was wrapped around Kapalua’s, but after rafting alongside, they took up their anchor; we were not tangled at all. By this time, Amy was on deck and moving fenders around, while Julie and Teena were clearing up the mess below as best they could, then Julie came up to help.
6.30 pm
Nick and Amy decided to head for TCB having sustained damage to their pulpit, navigation
lights and stanchions. We raised our anchor with difficulty—it was well dug in—and followed.
We’d had enough excitement for one day!
By now it was a very dark night. Even though we had a chart and our GPS, we had never
navigated Tin Can Inlet at night, and so were glad to have Julie aboard, identifying the
various navigation beacons along the way and keeping us on the “straight and narrow”.
8.00 pm
Thankfully, Jon, Nick and Amy met us at our berth and we all went below for a
very welcome Rum Punch—Kapalua style!
Lessons to be learned:
1. Never put your thumb between two boats.
2. Always believe the worst in the weather forecast.
3. Give up boating????
The next day a good friend of ours gave Len some rather poignant advice: “If a boat near you should linger, use a fender NOT a finger!” Very good advice. Here’s to the next cruise … maybe!
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