On Tuesday the 12th May our mast fell down. For this blog entry I am going to let the
pictures do the talking, as it is still hard at times to order all our thoughts
and impressions about it clearly.
Mast base seen through a saloon hatch - not quite right! |
First break - we assume it broke on impact with the deck |
Dan working on getting the boom away from the mast. |
The boom with the sail under it - not the way around it should be! |
The saloon hatch closest to the mast stbd side, dented on the outside and the kids found this crack on the inside |
Paige did a great first aid job on the hole in the bathroom. Stuffed it with a towel and plastic bags to stop water coming in. |
We had several of these little birds come and land on the boat during all of the drama, think they may have been blown out to us |
End of Day 0, tied to the dock at Kiama Harbour, two sections of the mast still hanging off of the side. |
Start of Day 1, Rylee using spanner and allen keys to get the track cars of the main sail |
End of Day 1, boom stowed along the side deck |
Top two mast sections on the dock waiting to get back on board |
Rigging lines and halyards all piled up together |
End of Day 1, all three mast sections back on board, and sails (main in two pieces!) |
Things we are thankful for.
No one was injured at the time, (but 24 hours later we were
finding bruises, scraped knuckles, sore muscles and broken nails!)
Division II was still right way up and we still had a place
to live and sleep
That we were close to land and that we were able to get
assistance and the readiness of people for wanting to help
That the kids were ready and able to help and that they did so well. They were able to tidy away lines, get tools when asked, Paige packed a bag of food! Oliver started taking photos and movies. And they all seem to have taken it in their stride as another day on Division II.
That the kids were ready and able to help and that they did so well. They were able to tidy away lines, get tools when asked, Paige packed a bag of food! Oliver started taking photos and movies. And they all seem to have taken it in their stride as another day on Division II.
The lower part of the mast landed on the deck where there
was a bulk head under it, which we believe stopped it from caving in it deck.
We have managed to recover all of the rig, very battered and
not all of it will be able to used it
gives us more options than if we had had to dump it.
Hole in bathroom from spreader tip well above water line
Genoa seems to only have small rips, which we think will be
repairable
We were able to keep all the hardware from mainsail
The Mast Coming Down, By Paige (written as we were being
towed into Kiama Harbour)
It started at around 11.50am. Mum, Dad, Oliver and I were
having something to eat.
Suddenly there was a gust of wind and Dad went to put in
third reef.
Then everything went in slow motion and I saw the mast fall
down.
Later they told me I screamed.
We tried to get out a VHF call but the antenna was on the
top of the mast and without it we couldn’t get a signal out, so we called 000.
We got the right info to the right people and got to work on
the mast.
I took charge of the phone.
I went to check that no water was getting into the bathroom
and found a big hole that the spreader made so I stuffed a tea towel and some
plastic bags in it to prevent splashes coming in.
A nice man (called Josh) came out on a jet ski from Surf
Rescue whose friend had called him because he had seen our mast disappear and
thought we had capsized. He had a hand
held VHF and talked to the rescue Westpac Helicopter for us.
Then the Police tow boat came and Josh had to go so they
could tow us into Kiama Harbour where they allowed us to tie up to a dock.
2 comments:
So sorry to hear guys but glad to hear that you're all ok, I have been following you on Marine Traffic and it has been showing you're position still from where the mast came down on Tuesday. What happened? If there is anything I can do from my end give me a call on 0408547083.
Take care
Craig Yasawa
Thanks Craig. Will do.
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