Uncharted Reef ! (?)

[fusion40]

Australian TV news reports that yacht which sank two days ago hit an UNCHARTED REEF !! aprox 550 miles north east of Mackay (Australia) they were on passage to Noumea New Caledonia.

Can't wait to read official reports !!

[JeanneP]

Here are links to the stories I found for this:

Cruise Ship rescue

Rescued sailors relax in luxury

Neither mentions that the reef was uncharted. I've found here in the US that TV news reporters (actors, really, IMO) go for the most drama in their reports. "yacht sinks on uncharted reef" has more interest appeal than just "yacht sinks"

Peter and I have been known to start yelling at the TV when the reports are too over the top. (no, we know it doesn't change anything, except maybe our blood pressure).

Addition: This news report gives a little more information about the reef: Report from UPI So maybe the TV news reporter was not overly dramatic after all.

And another one, stating that the boat hit Boronia Reef more info OR, maybe, the reef was just not where the charts based on a 30+ year old survey said it was. We've found that these old surveys, before GPS, can put land as much as a mile away from where the GPS says they are.

[fusion40]

Originally Posted by JeanneP

And another one, stating that the boat hit Boronia Reef more info OR, maybe, the reef was just not where the charts based on a 30+ year old survey said it was. We've found that these old surveys, before GPS, can put land as much as a mile away from where the GPS says they are.

A quick look at the charts, (or even Google Earth/Google Maps) shows that MAYBE Mackay is not the best departure point, further south, (Bundaberg?) and a little east in your course maybe better.

[JeanneP]

It's always a hard beat from Oz to New Cal, and the weather can really do one in. I can imagine an exhausted crew just not paying enough attention. Though with four people on board, they should have been okay.

I wonder if the boat and crew couldn't stop in Oz and were, instead, coming from PNG or the Solomons. A Kiwi friend of ours, when checking out of Cairns back in '94 to join us in Papua New Guinea, was told that his wife, who carried a UK passport, had overstayed, and therefore could not enter Australia for two years ! The weather getting back to NZ was just horrible, and they had to beat their brains out to New Cal for a rest before continuing on to NZ.

A lot of speculation, it will be interesting to hear the full story.

[fusion40]

Originally Posted by JeanneP

I wonder if the boat and crew couldn't stop in Oz and were, instead, coming from PNG or the Solomons.

A lot of speculation, it will be interesting to hear the full story.

They departed Mackay, having picked up a French couple as extra crew, (boy were they lucky !!!)

Oz customs and immigration have been dishing out terrible treatment to cuisers (including Oz flagged yachts!) all Howards fault of course, ( "be alert but not alarmed" !!)

Pete

[seaescape]

Fusion have you got some inside info on this. I haven't read that they left from Mackay. I'll go to the marina tomorrow to get some background.

I read in one of the links above that a life raft was dropped to them from a New Cal plane. I was wondering were their raft was and why they didn't use it when they had time to have a beer and do a video of them sinking.

Regards

Kevin.

[fusion40]

Originally Posted by seaescape

Fusion have you got some inside info on this.

Regards

Kevin.

Kev,

My info is courtesy of 7 news Sydney, I also want to know who was on watch, were they drinking beer before the accident as well ???

Be well,

Pete

[seaescape]

Arh I thought you may have been from Mackay also and maybe linked to the Fusion assembly factory here in Mackay. Seen a Fusion gettting built in Marmong Point 18 months ago while I was doing some major work on my boat. It was amazing to watch it going together.

Have you watched the ABC news video on one of the above links where they've got a video of themselves sinking.

See Ya

Kev

[MMNETSEA]

It would be useful to have an accurate latitude/longitude for this specific reef ( degrees, minutes, seconds & ad decimals of seconds)

[fusion40]

Richard,

Suggest you contact Commanding Officer, P&O vessel Pacific Sun, this ship carried out the rescue.

Cheers

[BigAlNZ]

Originally Posted by fusion40

Richard,

Suggest you contact Commanding Officer, P&O vessel Pacific Sun, this ship carried out the rescue.

Cheers

From rescue sources in NZ I got coords of:

The coords are at : 22'22"00 S and 159'22"00 E

This puts it well south of Bellona Reef by about 29nm.

Stories at:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article....jectid=10544584

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4769642a12.html

Regards

-Al

[BigAlNZ]

Just got the exact coords from a very reliable source and they are:

21"22.258 S

159"22.560 E

It plots on the bottom of a reef called Recif Desmazures. (Part of Bellona)

Updated pic attached.

-Al

[mico]

At the risk of sounding a lil paranoid - there seems to be an awfully large number of 'uncharted reefs' cropping up of late (tongue firmly in cheek)

[fusion40]

looks as though it is very well charted !!!

Cheers all

Pete

[JeanneP]

While running up and down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) this past year, I watched accuracy of our charts and GPS very carefully - I use the computer as a chartplotter; the 17" screen provides very good resolution and I can see just how far "off" we are relative to chart and GPS. The charts I used were downloaded from NOAA just a month or two earlier and had the most current corrections. Even so, many, many times channels defined by fixed daymarks (as opposed to floating buoys) were not where the charts said they were. Though perhaps only 100 to 300 feet off, if one were navigating strictly by chartplotter rather than using one's eyes to verify the position of the marks, one could run aground or smack dab into one of those daymarks!

Here's a reasonable short guide to Using Nautical Charts with GPS