Delivery ends up in nightmare
What a terrible night!!
Yesterday in the afternoon I left of Lavagna delivering a classic yacht with her owner to Piombino.
We first followed the coastline heading East to La Spezia. There where strong gusts from the mountains, but when we passed La Spezia by night the sky cleared open and the wind was back to a steady 20 knots in open sea. We had a good run for a few hours under engine and unfurled jib. When the Gorgona island doomed up in the night at around 01.00 the wind and waves started to build.
At the point we had the island to our starboard we saw more than 40 knots on the windmeter, peaking 50's with nasty waves hitting the underwatership and seawater getting into the yacht. With a handheld GPS I could estimate the distances to Piombo, 45 miles or Livorno, 15 miles beating. The waves where getting bigger and with more water getting in the boat we decided it was safer to head upwind to Livorno.
Making little progress with me on the helm and the owner pumping the bilges, at a certain stage, the seawater infiltrated the yacht very quickly and we couldn't find where it was coming from. When the owners boots full of water and the floorboards floating around in the boat we called for help on the radio.
We prepared everything to abandon the ship, sending our position over the radio and shot off 2 flares. About 20 minutes later we where taken of the yacht by the Guardia Costiera. By this time the boat was already very unstable with the water mass in her hull. The fire department was called to try keep her floating and tow her to port. We were transported to the shore where we got into an ambulance to the hospital. The owner suffered Hypothermia and needed to be checked up.
About an hour and a half after we abandoned the ship, she lost all stability and eventually sunk.
An ugly experience. A sad owner. A confused me.
The yacht was lost, but both of us made it without any injuries.
I would like to stress that the owner of the boat and me made our decisions together and that there was never at any point any panic. Regarding the meteo, we both saw forcasts reading no more than 25 knots of wind.
The owner thinks of a structural default. Hopefully insurance will at least cover some of the expenses, I know the emotional value is the biggest lost.
I am sorry for him.
Yesterday in the afternoon I left of Lavagna delivering a classic yacht with her owner to Piombino.
We first followed the coastline heading East to La Spezia. There where strong gusts from the mountains, but when we passed La Spezia by night the sky cleared open and the wind was back to a steady 20 knots in open sea. We had a good run for a few hours under engine and unfurled jib. When the Gorgona island doomed up in the night at around 01.00 the wind and waves started to build.
At the point we had the island to our starboard we saw more than 40 knots on the windmeter, peaking 50's with nasty waves hitting the underwatership and seawater getting into the yacht. With a handheld GPS I could estimate the distances to Piombo, 45 miles or Livorno, 15 miles beating. The waves where getting bigger and with more water getting in the boat we decided it was safer to head upwind to Livorno.
Making little progress with me on the helm and the owner pumping the bilges, at a certain stage, the seawater infiltrated the yacht very quickly and we couldn't find where it was coming from. When the owners boots full of water and the floorboards floating around in the boat we called for help on the radio.
We prepared everything to abandon the ship, sending our position over the radio and shot off 2 flares. About 20 minutes later we where taken of the yacht by the Guardia Costiera. By this time the boat was already very unstable with the water mass in her hull. The fire department was called to try keep her floating and tow her to port. We were transported to the shore where we got into an ambulance to the hospital. The owner suffered Hypothermia and needed to be checked up.
About an hour and a half after we abandoned the ship, she lost all stability and eventually sunk.
An ugly experience. A sad owner. A confused me.
The yacht was lost, but both of us made it without any injuries.
I would like to stress that the owner of the boat and me made our decisions together and that there was never at any point any panic. Regarding the meteo, we both saw forcasts reading no more than 25 knots of wind.
The owner thinks of a structural default. Hopefully insurance will at least cover some of the expenses, I know the emotional value is the biggest lost.
I am sorry for him.
