Woopsie!! June 15, 2014

So, there we were, minding our own business.  We'd just left our friends in Tuao (a local family) and began motoring for the pass.  We were planning to anchor at the pass to snorkel there as we've heard it's some of the best ever.  I forgot my popcorn pan onshore, we hadn't gone far, so I loaded into the dinghy and ran back for it while they sort of heaved to in the big boat while Intrepid and I raced back.  They had it all loaded up and ready for us when we returned.  So we were back to the big boat in short order and moving on.  Cassidy was up the main on the spreader watching for boomies.  I was in the salon with the kids preparing for quiet time.  Courage was at the controls.

Boom!  Scrape, scrape, And BOOM!

What was that??

Then the boat stopped (fortunately we'd been going slow), lifted up about a foot, let out one final loud SCRAPE, and settled down.

Somewhere in that process, Courage had put us in neutral. I ran to the cockpit to see what had happened, only to see a boomie (coral reef protruding in the middle of nowhere) off the starboard stern with pieces of debris floating backward in the water.  For those of you who are not boaters, this is NOT good!!  

We'd had the afternoon sun shining almost directly at us and the visibility was significantly better behind us rather than in front of us.

We thought for a moment, we could be taking on water, we need to get the boat somewhere stable so it doesn't drift into another reef.  So we motored a little and set anchor.  Courage and I, then Innocence and Cassidy, dove in to size up the damage.  There were only minor scrapes along the inner side of the starboard hull, through the bottom paint, but not through the fiberglass.  But, the back rudder was hurting!  That's where the debris was coming from.  Chunks of foam chewed off of it by the coral.  The shaft was bent, the bottom of the shaft and the feathered pieces inside of it were exposed.  It was jammed up into the hull. 

Apparently the shaft was bent below where it comes out of the boat and the fiberglass tube it sits in wasn't damaged.  Where it was jammed into the hull, those of you familiar with our boat might remember, that we were supposed to have kick up rudders.  We didn't want the hydraulic system since it was just another system that could break, so we filled in the back swim steps where it had the crease for the rudders.  This patch was exactly where the rudder hit us.  So this area was isolated from the main portion of the boat and the least critical place possible to have taken damage.  The scrapes on the hull aren't too deep, so when we haul next, we can address that.  So, in general, the damage could have been a whole lot worse, the boat is not taking on water, this is the prop already damaged by the log we hit, the rudder already had a crack in it from our stern anchor in Hiva Oa with an underwater epoxy patch, and the rudder hit our boat at just the right place to cause minimal concern/damage.  So, we are grateful for the reminder to increase awareness without sustaining debilitating damage.  We finished our journey with Cassidy in the dinghy in front of us looking back so the sun was behind her, not in front of her, spotting for us and are safely anchored.  Tomorrow we may dive on that boomie a) it looked quite colorful and interesting b) we'd like to see where the rest of our rudder is c) we’d like to know what, where and how we hit.

Then we may dive in the pass, and then head to the "false pass" on the other side of the island, depending on what time it is that we'd be ready to leave.  If we hook up with our buddy boats tomorrow, we can send out our emails.  If not, this'll sit in the to-go pile until we do.

This event did not go unnoticed by all onboard, more accounts of events to follow!

Shannon