Sailboat "Witch of Endor" almost gets grounded
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- čas přidán 3. 05. 2013
- During a late season North Wester in May of 2013 in Grand Cayman a sailboat, for whatever reason, did not move to safe harbor. Its mooring line snapped and it almost ended tragically on the rocks with two people onboard. At literally the last second the captain powers up and saves the vessel!
- Zábava
'Witch of Endor' was a ship in one of CS Forrester's 'Hornblower' books.
Anyone who sails has had they're own near misses, me included, and we all play it back in our minds a thousand times to make sure we get the full benefit of the education out of the incident. The takeaways here are probably (not knowing the full story):
1. When in doubt, get out.... and don't wait to see if it gets worse.
2. Don't wait to start the engine when your mooring gets dicey. If you don't end up needing it, then it was an opportune time to charge up the batteries with the alternator.
3. Close to shore moorings are fun right up until they're not. Doubly true when that shore is a carnivorous boat eating type rather than a sandy shore.
Good job pulling out out in the clutch skipper.
Thought it was over when the rudder was on the rocks.
Absolutely amazing! No point in buying a lottery ticket... he’s used up all his luck
Heavy winds and seas on a lee shore with rocks, and no purchase on the ground. Every skipper's nightmare.
We know of this vessel... She is a very fine sail boat - 35' foot Island Packet. Our friends who use to own her took very good care of her and had many awesome sails.
This captain was very lucky with this incident. Unexpected events can happen. She has many good sails left in her. I hope the captain realizes she will be very good to him.
Watching this video is difficult...
That rudder grounding was hard, shook the entire vessel. Very lucky to escaped, hope there was minimal damage. IP's are tough boats.
I think that what happened is that after the line failed and the boat was pushed to shore the keel kept dragging the bottom in the wave troughs and therefore could not turn because it was being grounded. Eventually however after hopping to shore on the back of the wave peaks it found a channel deep enough and could motor out.
Thats what I was thinking after i realised his engine was running. his rudder got a badh, even the shrouds vibrated.
good explanation
Engine failure.
The guy had tons of time. Cant rush a good beer. Once he hit those rocks, THEN it was time to get out of there. He had it timed perfectly.
One hell of a way to get the barnacles off the bottom!
cant believe he actually got out of that one. He was aground at one point and was then lifted off!
Could almost imagine the crunch at 2.05 when it mounted those jagged rocks. Couldn't have done the hull and rudder a lot of good.
Oh my gosh, that was very hard to watch. If this is the same Witch of Endor I think it is...we sold this boat to the current owner about a year ago. Thank goodness they made it through...after all it is an Island Packet! One tough boat!
Debbie Whiteaker Oh dear, that would make it very hard to watch. Such a relief to see it pull away
Island Packets are the nokias to the sailing world.
what do you mean by that ?
Ah, so glad my old boat did not get bust apart on the rocks! (well, my parents' old boat). Nice to see her again.....
I was thinking the same thing.
Did it really belong to your family Erin? Must have been trippy for you to see it on youtube bouncing around
in the water like that.
Looks like they were cranking the engine trying to get it to fire the whole time. I kept watching for the water coming out the exhaust and there never is a solid stream. Once he finally got the motor fired he made some steam getting the hell out of there!
I'm not so sure......the starter panel is to the rightof the helm looking forward, I saw nobody at the helmet area until they hit the rock's. The exhaust had pulses of water flowing for a good while before they hit the rock's which showed to me the engine was at least at idle. It took a long time for someone to actually get to the helm, the chap that did grab the helm only came up from the saloon when they hot the rock's........I wonder if he was trying to make safe something below not realising the predicament they were in.
Credit to the skipper for saving the boat. Looks like he had no time to drop the anchor and they had trouble starting the engine perhaps? HOWEVER- staying on the mooring boy in the those seas was dead stupid and he should have left the anchorage before the boat started to pound up and down like that. Better off out at sea. The boat will have to be taken out of the water and inspected before it goes anywhere far now.
There was zero skill involved in the recovery from this incident. Only pure luck
Looks like an Island Packet sailboat. The hoit boom at the inner forestay. Full Keel, skeg hung rudder, prop fully protected. Surely it was scraping the bottom reef. Waves at that height usually indicates depth of water is same as height from trough to peak of wave.
Sooo close!! finally they start the engine!
High fives all around after that save..
I was just a boy of 14 when I started commercial fishing in Shelikof straight in Kodiak Alaska coming from the fishing village of Clifton Oregon. Grew up in a boat!! Some people should be in boats!
Something happened between moment when the boat was on mooring and next footage. Looks to me it is a part of mooring lines on the port side. The rest could be around the prop. That could explain why the engine, which was always running is such ineffective at the beginning. About mooring: guys, if it is unknown place, put on mask and check the mooring! Some time your anchor could be more reliable. This particular mooring does not match the weather.
Looks like an IP-360. Damage may have been minor. The rudder is protected by a skeg which is why it did not break off and remained usable, hull is solid fiberglass, thick and tough. It would be very interesting as to why they let that happen, remaining on the mooring was not an option, that was clear after they cut the tender loose, if there was engine problems there was wind to sail, anchor was never deployed....must be quite the story there.
Step one. Drop the anchor! Duh. This will slow down your progress to shore...give you some valuable time to get the motor started...and evaluate the predicament (pull in all those hanging lines). It will also point your bow into the oncoming surf, so at least you are pointing in the right direction to make an escape. Even if you drag the anchor, its better than just floating adrift into the rocks.
+jutubaeh You must precisely time your escape with OB Wan's shut-down of the central tractor unit....
May the Yanmar be with you.
+4speedfunk so you are advocating that a crew member should have gone to the bow to drop the anchor in those conditions?
Captain "get up there and drop the hook."
Me "Fuck you, I'll man the helm, you go up and drop the hook."
+krionic Absolutely! It's called "PERIL", and it is the most basic of all sailing rules. Clip-in... run to the bow...drop the hook...and risk a MOB in 10 feet of water (then walk to shore)...or uselessly fart around at the helm on a floundering boat until you eventually drift your $300,000 IP into the rocks (which is exactly what happened).
+4speedfunk you are failing to take this event in to context. That boat was on a mooring ball right before it snapped that line. I don't know about you but when I'm at anchorage the only thing I'm doing sipping a cocktail or passed out drunk. I'm not going to have my all weather gear at the ready. time elapsed from mooring failure to hitting rocks? 30 seconds? If you can get your gear on, clipped in and run to the bow to drop anchor all the while holding your footing with waves throwing the bow up 15 feet and back down below water line then you have far better agility than me or anyone I have ever sailed with. Now, why this captain and crew remained moored in conditions like that is beyond me. That was the error. As for your nonchalant MOB in "10 feet of water" comment. Everyone knows the most perilous event (outside of capsize event) in boating is MOB. I would not want to get bucked off the bow of that boat even in 10 feet of water. You can drown in 10 inches of water. Throw in a 20,000 lb out of control boat and 10 feet of surf.... yah, I don't want to be in the water ANYWHERE near that boat in those conditions and I consider myself top 10% swimmer. I would NEVER risk crew to save a rudder or keel or even the whole boat. Safest place there was on shore or on the boat. I'd rather be hung up on a reef than have killed my buddy in an attempt to save my keel. Fiberglass can be repaired.
4speedfunk why not ask him to get out and push? Do you think it would’ve been easy to set anchor in those conditions? How much scope do you suggest he let out? Do tell!
Just glancing at the comments... come on people, hoist sail? Take a stopwatch, and in those conditions... Good job getting the motor started and manning the helm! Great job captain! Good save! Hope your damage was minimal. Everyone is Hank Aaron on deck (spectators), but not always at the plate when it counts. In the time it takes to write the comment, it's over. Kudos to you! I bet a little more choose about anchorages now?
You do your batting before you ever get to the plate!
Still, not sure why he didn't make any headway against the surf, the engine appeared to be running.
@@3vdad exactly
Glad they made it . I was looking at the flow of water coming out the exhaust it didn't appear that he was on the throttle . He must have been having engine problems ?
A good example of how much windage roller furling has.
Yes Island Packet, sturdy boats made in Largo Fl.
+Jon Campbell -- yes they do...
I offer a standing salute to that skipper!
Lucky to get any prop fetch at all in that foam... man, that must have been one scary time!!
Not when you have more than an inch thick keel. This boat can take serious beating...
The skipper knows his stuff
An unbelievably lucky guy!
way to go skipper. I may be wrong, but looking at the waves..he broke a mooring, dragged over a dand bar into a channel. Motored up the channel, turned starboard at the end of the channel and got out. Nice work!!. I was worried about the lines over the port side, but in seas like that, crew up front would be a safety hazzard. I would guess he didnt know his furling lines or whatever were over the side.
Nice of you to make such a comment … But who are we to judge ?…
+vincent7520 fellow cruising skippers.
;))
Sailboat crash
I don't think I'd be calling bouncing the keel along the bottom and putting the rudder on top of the rocks qualifies as "Nice work!!" The awesome part was the propeller still worked after all that.
things were bad from the beginning. The boat shouldn't been there with waves and strong wind from the open sea. Thought in the beginning that there was nobody onboard and therefore the boat in this misfortune. But surprise, surprise, suddenly the came out from the bunk.
its an island packet 350, probably scratched the anti foul paint off and bust a load of rocks!
A pretty solid build. More than an inch material on a keel. Balance ratio almost 50%, enterior better that 90% of rest. What to wish for as a cruiser. And the price is pretty ok for used one.👍
Armchair Skippers Know All - News at nine. "He shoulda. He coulda. I woulda." Go sailing and see for yourselves our CZcams reserve of ready captains. Short of hands and steep of sea. Sometimes things happen that make you pee. The Skip saved his boat. Drinks all around.
oh.....derrrrrrrr
That was closer than close!
I'd bet he didn't manage to save his shorts! Needed a fresh pair after that!
It appears at 39 seconds that they altered course, which means the engine was running. Most likely they just couldn't gain enough forward speed to turn the boat into the waves/wind. This video demonstrates which full keel boats with keel hung rudders are preferred for true blue water boats. A spade or skeg rudder would have popped off when the boat hit the rocks. Still hard to believe that he saved that boat. It's a testimony to the construction of Island Packets.
Of course, they don't turn well. And that was the big problem wasn't it?
Why? Why is it more likely a "blue water boat" is more likely to end up knocking its keel into the rocks?
@@adambrickley1119 This model can take some serious beating on the sea and shore🤣. No honestly, this boat has a keel that is more than an inch thick. In fact, this model as a 35ft is pretty cheap and it's balast ratio is almost 50%. Here the specs,enjoy reading.www.practical-sailor.com/sailboat-reviews/used_sailboats/island-packet-350
@@The_Touring_Jedi the reason it needs such a high ballast ratio is because it is a shoal keel. I believe the draft is less than 4.5 ft. Which means it has a smaller righting arm. It just what it is. Doesn't mean it's better than a boat with 40 percent.
@@badbobtn Well, they really like going with the flow. But if your engine is powerful enough, you can turn them quite well because the rudder is directly in the prop-stream!? hence it has more control authority even at a standstill.
Wow! One lucky sailor.
How did they manage to sleep all that time while the boat was doing 180s in the wash.
E' difficile per noi che non eravamo sulla barca, indovinare il vero motivo di questa disperata avventura, per fortuna finita bene.
In ogni caso, anche se inizialmente non avesse messo in moto il motore, come mai sono rimasti attraccati alla boa nonostante il mare si stesse alzando così forte?
Avrebbero dovuto abbandonare la boa al primo segno del peggioramento del mare.
Per me il motore non metteva in moto ed è per questo che erano sottocoperta e solo dopo sono usciti in pozzetto, ma mi viene difficile immaginare il perchè non abbia comunque accelerato e diretta la barca verso la salvezza prima di finire sugli scogli.
Sono contento che alla fine ha salvato la sua barca.
I believe this boat used to belong to a one armed vietnam vet in the florida keys.That guy was quite the character and could entertain you with jokes for hours.Looks like he sold the boat to retired captain "Hazlewood".Obviously went down below to get a drink only After the mooring broke.Got ur done did he not!I would have soiled my linen.
He made it but I bet he was bouncing on the bottom of the shore....
now we know why sail boats have motors..shew, brave crew hung in there and saved this one !
GREAT JOB !!!
I wanna know why he waited until that point to start the engine. Would the engine not start?
Why was he there in the first place .?
Anchor in a surf like that is stupid .. he must have been alerted at the first waves .
Well done he got that nose into the wind and powered out,close call,
I don't understand why he didn't put the boat in gear and push the throttle forward immediately after starting the engine. You can see the coolant coming out with the exhaust slowly for a long time prior to the boat grounding its keel and rudder. I was watching this yelling, "Hammer down, turn the wheel to the right all the way and hammer down!" What was he doing, waiting for the engine to warm up? Geez! Not sure that heavy, slow-maneuvering, full-keel boat would have been able to pivot out of there under its own power even if he did put the throttle to her. Fortunately, he got lucky that the breaking waves pivoted the boat out to sea when the keel grounded. Then he finally seems to give her some throttle and the heavy boat slowly accelerated out of danger.
A lighter boat with a fin keel and spade rudder should have been able to pivot on a dime and squirt out of there well before wallowing sideways in the rocks like with this vessel. Actually a lighter boat may not have snapped her mooring line in the first place.
spot on, failed to throttle on!
Damn right!
Lucky those lines did not foul the prop.
i,m happy for them the save the boat and there live,s every one makes mistakes.
where is the key?
If you look at the beginning of the video you will notice that no one is on deck, had someone been alert and watching,.. the motor could have of been started and they could have of had a less exciting day. My guess is that there was rudder damage at the least. In the end they will have a story to tell their family and I'll bet it will be more embellished over the years. The force 12 storm we weathered on the "Witch of Endor", Uncle Bob did a great job saving us all, please pass the mashed potatoes.
Imagine what the skipper’s heart rate would have been 😳
miracle
Send the deckhand to get those damn lines back on board. Just what you don't need!!
Hard to watch this... sheesh that was close.
The salvage guy's must have been gutted if they were watching ..how the hell did that get away from us ..it's just cost us thousands and thousands of easy dollars....
What material would be best for surviving a reef grounding if weight is important and money is no object? I was thinking carbon fiber construction of most of the vessel with a sacrificial bottom plating of either aluminum or UHMWPE or both.
Aluminum
Aluminum hulls like Ovni or a Garci. Although you can't touch a decent one for less than 100k
I suspect carbon fiber is too rigid and brittle. It has excellent strength to weight, but typical carbon fiber hulls don't deform very far before failing. Aluminum or steel or maybe titanium if money is no object seem better able to have elastic deformation to absorb energy without total failure.
whoa..!!! that was close call for sure......I wonder why the crew decided to stay at mooring ??? maybe they didn't know the storm was coming....figured they could ride it out..??? well regardless that was scary to watch and the crew.....wow.....I bet they were relieved to get the motor working for them.....once they got control wouldn't it be a good idea to let some jib out to help keep it moving forward..?? thumbs up to a great save..!!! ;-)
You just gotta keep trying!!! Awesome.
that mooring rope was last inspected after this happened
Lucky as hell
This an advantage of long keel sailboat.
If you've put yourself in a bad position I guess it would be difficult not to panic. It's easy to yell the right advice from the sidelines. Clearly they're at the mooring when they shouldn't be and that's the issue. Perhaps it's possible the stray mooring line fouled the prop, hence no engine until the end after I assume the prop was miraculously unfouled by the rocks. Just a guess.
Was that an Island Packet?
If I was that captain, I would have grabbed the snapped morning line and dove in with morning line in mouth and swam her through to saftey....but he's not me
@Kaptain Kid it was a joke you dimwit....🙄
It grounded but they saved the day more luck than judgement
He's lucky he had an Island Packet. They are built tough and probably had only a few scratches.
They are the nokias of sailing.
I guess we could call that a lucky escape. He cleaned off a few barnacles!!!!!!
Some people are not supposed to have a boat!
almost?
Bet he wishes he paid the marina charges now. No way would I have sat there, you can see by the motion of the yacht and the way it is snatching in the big waves that something's gonna give.
There's no way I would have put a foot on that boat.
Island packet 40 maybe but the rudder on those are tied in with the keal so the rudder shouldn't be bent. Though from working on them i wouldn't be surprised if the fiberglass split.
jonwilly2 No, the rudder is a post rudder, the shoe betwen the rudder and keel is a kelp shoe. To keep stuff off. The rudder would most likely have been damaged, but the IP's can take a pounding.
Most comments from people who never spent much time at sea
I see that comment a lot, especially on Facebook. Time at sea is just hours on a clock. Storms weathered, hard times drifting, groundings, ficing mistakes on the hard, sharing knowledge with old salts all add up to knowledge.
"Almost" gets grounded?
I have heard that many sailing yachts are under powered. Just for future reference, what is the horse power and the displacement of this vessel?
I would say these specs are pretty solid for 35foot yacht. Keel is like more than an inch thick. This deep see cruiser can take a lot of beating.
Here, enjoy reading www.practical-sailor.com/sailboat-reviews/used_sailboats/island-packet-350
@@The_Touring_Jedi What do you mean by the keel is one inch thick? Ours is almost 12cm at the thinnest point. Do you mean material thickness or overall thickness?
Lee shore nightmare
I don't understand why he was there. That is the most uncomfortable place to be. Even if he was waiting to gain entry to a harbour anchoring 100yds off shore would have been more comfortable than sitting in the surf. It real was only a matter of time before his line broke. I once had a boring line chafe through in 4 minutes in a marina in a storm.
Brand NEW outboard Honda would have prevented that. Moot point.
Looked to me like the Captain got things under control in about two minutes. That is got on deck, started engine and got out of there. Good job. The line parted at about 25 seconds at 27 they are headed for shore at 1:30 they may be cranking the engine or it could be just sea water draining from the exhaust. and not until 2 or 2:08 is the engine really spitting which is when he is sitting on the rocks. Once he is back in the water he gets moving. The way the boat is bouncing around he was moving as fast as a person can. Once again, good job skipper. Don't be caught in a place like that again. Eh.
Real close.
look out...:34
i don't think that boat's brakes are working!
Япона мама! Чего так близко к берегу в шторм стояли?!
almost?? it actually did touch bottom..... good job those IP's have a keel extension protecting the base of the rudder... most other boats (spade rudders) would have been rekked as the rudder hit those rocks... great boats.... best blue water cruisers ever :)
I anchored in such surf and nylon ropes melted at knots (not broken) from heat of streaching
really in the water they melted?? how much heat must have been produced
Not under water across deck terminated at mast was 5/8 nylon maybe 1” preferable in such conditions
My heart was beating in my trhoat....happy for the sauvage of this nice boat.
Just curious why the video says "Almost Gets Grounded"? He grounded, no doubt about that but did a great job of saving his vessel before it could have gotten completely destroyed. Just saying.......
Captain.....balls of steel, mooring ball, not so much.
I'll be buying a boat soon even though I know nothing about sailing. Reading the comments from some of
the experienced sailors here is teaching me some things. Thanks!
Bet the engine wouldn't start until the last second. That was one lucky captain there. Looked like the rudder did hit the rocks though. The boat appeared to bottom out a couple times too. Hope all is ok withe everyone concerned. Pete
Why someone didn't get those mooring lines dragging in the water is a very ordinary demonstration of boating skills, as those could get wrapped around the prop or tangled with something in the sea. Also why not pull on a bit of sail to generate power because at first it didn't look like a motor was running
+Antipodean33 So, you are saying pull the main halyard while the bow is pointing downwind and towards shore? Something tells me if you were captain you'd have parked that boat on those rocks. Now, why the captain was tied to a mooring ball in an anchorage with those conditions is a topic for debate. Whipping out the main to generate power while pointing downwind and towards rocks is not debatable.
krionic I'm talking about pulling some sail on before he got into that position
+Howard could've just furled out the headsail a little... Easy enough
+Howard
And if the anchor doesn't grip you can't escape no matter what.. I guess he did the right thing after all, im glad ecerybody and the boat is ok
Wow. I can't believe he got it out after the rudder started hitting those rocks. I'll bet he didn't need to piss after that was over. Scary to even watch. I wouldn't have wanted to have been there. Not on my boat anyway!
Ghost ship
He was lucky he was able to get rounded up into the oncoming waves and that the rudder wasn't ripped out or began leaking.
Probably should have anchored in deeper water. But guess that wasn't an option.
Feel bad for the owner. I would have her pulled out and looked over after that rudder hitting like that. Great job getting her back out!!
No need to, it had probably only couple of scratches. Keel is more than an inch thick, this boat is pretty solid build. It has even reinforced frame.
The_Touring Jedi Do you know the make of this boat?
Some have a God that looks personally after them !…
this is very very true lol I say they are touched by God Rob Dyrdrick the skate boarder is one
The least he should have done was throw out all 3 anchors at first sign of a problem to buy him some time to make better plans.
+robert orzech: I'm no sailor but that was my first thought.
A better plan is to start the engine
You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about.
He had all the opportunity in the initial opening moment to assess the situations and execute
safety procedures, but to some strange reason, he waited for,....for, ....for what? before finally,
responding. it was a blessing the waves eased off for,a moment. otherwise, it could have been
worst.
I’m 61 been sailing since 5 I have a lot of knowledge and experience from what I see this guy don’t
I would have unfurled my staysail as well as start the engine. And the diesel had enough power to move the boat as you saw at the end of the video
All it takes is money to buy the boat
Takes brains to operate it safely
Exactly what I thought.
What kind of boat is that and how big is it?
+thomaspc2 -- 35' Island Packet; she is a strong sturdy vessel.
+Kyra Brosnahan (Lady) she's a beauty I like a ship like that
+thomaspc2 also the captain of the boat is a tough as nails
yes...
what the f..k was he there in the first place ?
CREO QUE DEBERIA HABER FONDEADO EL ANCLA Y LUEGO TRATAR DE PONER EN MARCHA EL MOTOR.- LLEGARON PELIGROSAMENTE HASTA LAS ROCAS .
FUE UN FINAL FELIZ . CREO QUE DEBERIAN LLEVAR EL BARCO PARA REPARAR LAS POSIBLE AVERIAS QUE SEGURAMETE SUFRIO EL BARCO AL SER GOLPEADO EN LAS ROCAS.-