Astro and AI to the rescue

As usual I spent Easter camping and yak fishing at Cape Hillsborough with my two sons along with several other (dysfunctional) family groups. Have to state straight off the bat that the fishing was crap. However the weather was really conducive to high speed trolling due to the relatively high winds we got for most of the time. We had a range of water craft at our disposal including a sit in kayak, wind surfer, catamaran and of course my AI. The cat was deposited on the beach by a friend who didn't camp, but just visited most days. 

On our second day I spent most of the morning sailing with the kids on the tramps having a ball in the wind and waves. After a while the kids got cold so I came in and then let a friend take his daughter out for a sail and I went up to get the fishing gear ready. At this point B1 and B2 (names suppressed to protect the guilty) took the cat out for a sail with the permission of its owner. Well in the winds B1 & B2 made great time and once they had their act together (in their minds) set out offshore. They were flying and obviously having a great time being both experienced sailors however they only had one PFD between the two of them.

By the time I got back to beach with my fishing gear in hand my AI was back and I set about getting it back in the water for a quick troll around the headland before lunch. Looking out to sea I can't find the cat anywhere and was informed that it had capsized. No problem I thought as I had seen the owner right it by himself so 2 guys would have no problem getting it up right again so off I went. Sailing out I was expecting the see the cat upright at anytime but it didn't happen. As I reached the headland where I planned to troll I made the decision to go and investigate why the cat wasn't upright.

Since I had planned to be no more then a couple of 100 metres from the shore I had no safety gear with me (flares, radio, first aid etc) only my PFD. I paused for a minute to consider turning around but headed out anyway still hopeful that all would be well. As I headed further offshore concern started to creep into my mind that maybe something had gone seriously wrong. With a heightened sense of urgency I headed in the general direction of where I had last seen the cat.

Given the conditions and swell/chop it was impossible to see the cat but after 5 minutes or so I saw one of the hulls in the air as B1 & B2 tried to right it. Now that I had a bearing I sailed out in full haste making about 10 - 14 k/h. after a total of 40 minutes sailing I reached the cat about 6 ks offshore. When I arrived both B1 & B2 were close to exhaustion and starting the chill down in the wind. By that time the mast had dislodged from its mount and was hanging from the stays making righting the boat a difficult proposition. However B1 & B2 were determined to get it upright and continued to try righting it without success. During this I sailed around offering encouragement until some birds started diving close by so I headed off for a quick troll only to spot a shark about 150m away from the upturned cat.

Cancelling my trolling plans I made a beeline back to cat and keeping quiet about the grey suit I strongly suggested they leave the cat and sail in with me. The idea of leaving the cat was too much at that point so it was decided to try and tow it. To achieve this they had to get the mast up and after much effort were able to secure it to the up turned hulls. Attaching a tow rope to the rear aka I set sail but after a short time realised we were not making any headway. I then set up the tramps and got B1 & B2 to swim over to me (about 3metres), when they were safely on board I divulged the information about the shark. Now I could make a little headway towing the cat, but not enough to counter the sideways drift created by the wind on the upturned hulls. 

The direction of travel would see us all end up on the rocks but still B1 & B2 still didn't want the cut the cat loose. My comment 'when your sense of self preservation kicks in let me f#@%^&* know' made B1 & B2 rethink their priorities. So to avoid everyone ending up on the rocks we cut the cat free and made for shore.

Now the AI can sail with 3 fully grown men on it but it is hard going, with me in the cockpit, one on the windward side and one behind me we were able to slowly make headway. The conversations we had revolved around: hating to leave the cat out there; how lucky they were; how quickly things can go from good to bad and finally me piling on the shi…err…criticism. The one topic of hot discussion was the fact the boys found it impossible to tack into the wind and had to jibe. Miss timing the manoeuvre they flipped instantly. They did manage to get the cat 90 degrees a couple of times and completely flipped it once. When the mast dislodged they really lost all hope of getting it up without cutting it away since it now acted as a big anchour.

By the time we got back, about 3 hours from when I set off for that ½ hr fish there were quite a few concerned people in the camp. B1 & B2 by this stage were very cold and worn out, I actually had a little nausea that quickly went away after eating some food. As soon as we hit shore B1 tried to source a motor boat to go and collect the stricken cat, unfortunately no-one was able to assist so the cat was let drift away. B1 called the VMR to report the incident so that it didn't generate a search had the cat been found by someone.

As you can imagine this event created much discussion around the camp and for myself really reinforced the safety message about sailing offshore regardless of experience and capability. My decision to head out straight away without safety gear was both positive (i found them and we all got back safely) and negative (if we did require assistance I had no way of doing so) and I will now travel with full safety gear even if I am well and truly in my comfort zone. 

The owner of the cat was upset, as you can imagine, he and others spent a lot of time searching the beaches for it without success. They even headed out in a little tinny to search the headlands on the some second hand information of a boat being washed up on some rocks. In my eyes the owner needs to take a hefty amount of responsibility for leaving the cat on the beach and giving us all permission to use it. B1 & B2 now have a very strong appreciation for water safety something I felt they didn't have in the past.

In conclusion this all ended relatively well and I strongly doubt any of those involved will put themselves in that situation again without being better prepared, including me. Whilst glad to be there and get the guys back, I wasn't happy to have to be there in the first place. On the up side I got a lot of great sailing in over the 4 days and had a fantastic time playing in the wind and waves which at times got up to 2 metres and 20+ knot winds.

This video has mostly the sailing part of the 4 days, but starts with seeing the boys trying to right the cat.

By Carl Holland

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