Dignity Dismasted

Sam, Peter and Dignity have arrived safely in Brisbane, Australia after a major incident out at sea. In our previous blog, I wrote that Dignity left Fiji on Monday 13th August and was making good progress to Australia. On Thursday 16th August, Christina, Peters wife contacted me to let us know that Dignity had dismasted early that morning. As one can imagine it was a terrible shock for us. Fortunately Christina also informed us that both Peter and Sam were unhurt and coping well with the situation.

This is the report Peter sent to us.

He was on watch when the incident happened. Their weather situation at the time was light to moderate, with south-east winds at 13-15 knots true. The sea state was also calm to moderate, with 1 meter south-east swells. They were averaging 6.5 knots under full sails. They were sailing cautiously throughout the voyage and took all steps to sail safely. The spare halyard was even tied to the port forward cleat to assists in supporting the rig and with loading.

For no apparent reason, the port back-stay snapped inside the lower swage and the mast fell across the deck and into the water on the starboard side. After raising Sam our son, he inspected the situation and started taking steps to try and salvage the rig. After 5 minutes of realizing the potential risk to them and Dignity, he decided to cut the rig free.

The damage to the hull and deck are minimal, however we lost the whole rig – mast, boom and sails.

Peters experience as a qualified composite and wooden boat builder, with 14 years of around-the-world sailing experience, including over 50,000 miles at sea, confirmed that nothing could have been done to prevent the situation. He dealt with the situation the best possible way which resulted in no injury and minimal damage.

He had inspected the rigging and hull before departure. No cracks in the rigging wire, swage, toggles, or rigging turn-buckles were evident. Unfortunately it is not possible to check inside a swage for wire condition without x-ray. Also, the rig being only half its expected life, he did not expect any problems. It is only 5 years to date.

The nearest landfall from where the incident took place was New Caledonia nearly 300nm away. There was plenty of fuel stored on the boat so Peter and Sam were able to motor to New Caledonia and arrive there in just under three days.

Once safely in NC, Peter started extensive research to find the best options for the repair of Dignity.

There were only two options really. The first was to stay in New Caledonia, import parts and have the repair done in Noumea. This could take 4-6 months to complete and result in high costs of berthage and high labour costs and all the difficulties of communicating in a French speaking country. Also the completion date could carry on into the cyclone season and involve additional risks.

The second option was to motor to Brisbane, Australia for repairs. This was a realistic option, but did have some risk like running out of diesel due to head winds and having engine problems. However both Peter and our insurance company preferred this option. Peter felt the risks would be quite minimal. We had two brand new engines so had back up and he would only run one engine at a time. They would also carry more than enough fuel to see them safely to Australia. Also a perfect weather window was opening up for motoring with light winds and low seas for many days. Even so Steve was very reluctant to let them go but was finally persuaded to do so.

We are so happy and relief that they have finally arrived safely into Australia. It took them eight days which is pretty good.

This has been a bit of a disaster and not what we wanted at the moment. However I continue to count my blessings.

We were so fortunate in having such a knowledgeable and experience Captain. Peter has more than proven our confidence in him. We are so grateful to him for bringing Sam and Dignity safely to us.

It is a strong possibility that we will have to sell the boat and return to the UK. The positive side to this incident is that the import duty will be much cheaper because of the damage to Dignity. However once the repairs have been done I am sure buyers would be much more tempted to buy a boat with brand new rig and sails.

I am also blessed with the most amazing cousin. Sarah, her husband Russ, children Chris, Jack and Ros could not have done more to support us. They have become very special to us and I am so glad we have had the opportunity to get to know them well.

I am thankful for our friends Janine and Brian who have lent us their spare car all this time. It has made life so much easier for us especially during treatment time going to and from the hospital.

I am grateful for my wonderful family and friends all over the world. For their help in dealing with issues for us whether it is in the UK, USA or in Brisbane. I thank you all.

Also for all the people who continue to offer us help and send us words of encouragement. We truly appreciate it.

Finally I am indebted to the doctors and nurses at Monash Medical Hospital for Steve’s life. If he had not started his treatment when he did, he would probably not be alive today.

We are indeed fortunate.