24th August
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| Salvaging "The Spirit of Nyami Nyami" a week after the storm |
An unusual High was positioned to the
East of NZ, and formed a ridge which stalled the normal westerly flow of lows
passing over the country. Two such lows merged and combined to produce a storm
which many Kiwis regard as the worst they have seen in 50 years.
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| Day 2......the worst was over |
It produced very high winds (50-90knots),
heavy rainfalls and flooding, and road wash aways. About 40 boats dragged on
their mooring blocks. Two yachts dragged their blocks, and ended up being
pounded, and sunk on the Marina Breakwater. Numerous other boats were damaged,
as they thrashed around on blocks with inadequate swing room between them.
Given the extreme tidal currents, keelboats swung one way, while cats and power
boats reacted more to the high winds.
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| Sala and Nyami Nyami sank on the breakwater |
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| Blown over in a nearby boatyard |
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| Sala being raised and towed to the yard |
It also produced a degree of ducking
and diving by Marina, club, Provincial,
and Insurance officials, of truly Olympic proportions, as everybody tried to
pass the buck, and pass everything off as “an act of God”. All I can say is that
the bad taste left in my mouth, when all is said and done, had nothing to do
with “an act of God”! Don Walker, had rented a 4 ton block
from the Opua Cruising Club, and believed that his boat would be safe.
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Divers operating in zero viz.......note spotlight and video
camera on helmet |
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| Stern damage |
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Nyami Nyami finally reaches the yard after 9 days
on the seabed |
At about
5pm on the 8th July, when the wind was gusting 50-60knots, Don
called the Harbour Master for assistance, as he became aware of a power boat
caught between his mooring line and bow.
In fact “Spirit of Nyami Nyami” was dragging its 4 ton block, and had collected
the power boat in its path. It also took the yacht ” Salo” and before too long,
they were all being smashed up on the breakwater, with “Spirit” still connected
to his 4 ton mooring block.
Don was eventually rescued from the
breakwater by Nick, the South African Ashbys Boatyard manager, with only his
briefcase, and the clothes he was wearing. He was uninsured. He was made to
sign over his boat to offset salvage costs. He lost everything. The club took
no responsibility for the block dragging, and in fact sent him a letter asking
him when and how he was going to put their block back in place!
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| What a sad sight! |
Every mooring block is privately
owned, but the exact positioning, and the size (weight/length) of boat permitted, and the
maintenance , is all controlled by the Northland Council. They too, take no
responsibility for the failure of any block to ensure the safety of boats moored
to them.
They do however have a public
liability insurance cover, which was utilized to proceed with the removal of
the “wrecks”, which now posed a navigational hazard. The Insurance company involved are trying to
pressure Don to make good their costs!
I helped Don, together with his
daughter and other local friends try to salvage some of his personal effects
from the mud filled boat, when it was finally lifted, and it was a very sad
affair. The costs being charged by all concerned parties far exceed the salvage
value. Don is walking away with nothing.
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Don with the carving of Nyami Nyami
rescued from the yacht |
“Sheer Tenacity” was also moored on a
4 ton block, rented from the OCC. During the fiercest first night, our block
never budged. Our Air X Marine windgen blew itself to pieces as the resistors
popped and the blades delaminated, making a frightening noise all the while. In
the early hours, the sound of waves bashing our sides changed to the extent
that Mary looked out the cockpit, and discovered that we were being attacked on our stern, by the big wooden barge “Glyn
Bird”, which was lying 180degrees to ourselves. We started the engine, and
spent the next few hours trying to power our way clear of “Glyn Bird’s” movements,
mostly with success. We damaged our drogue chain plates, stern rails, the
braai, and some paintwork.
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Glyn Bird with our vacated mooring ball in
the foreground in the calm after the storm |
At first light we abandoned the
mooring block, and moored up on the inside of the breakwater, beam on to the
wind and waves, but at least safe from the barge which could easily have sunk
us. We have a transom hung rudder which was extremely vulnerable. Fortunately,
it had a few scrapes but was intact.
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| Safe but very uncomfortable |
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As the tide changed we would trap debris
between the breakwater and the hull |
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| ........From dead cows to trees, snails, spiders etc |
We advised the OCC that there was insufficient
swing room on buoy 470, and that we would not be returning to it. They refused
to refund the months mooring rental, saying it was not club policy.
It now transpires that the Northland
council have knowingly allowed a 20% overlap of swing areas, in an effort to
fit in more mooring blocks, to meet demand. They believe all boats swing
together! Ask any keelboat skipper that question, and he will tell you all
about Cats and Power boats behaving very differently!
A couple of questions beg to be
asked. Where does the buck stop?
1)
Has a boat owner the right to expect
his rented, “hurricane” class mooring block to keep him secure in a storm?
2)
When Mooring authorities deliberately
position blocks with an overlapped swing room, is any damage really “an act of
God”, or, rather, someone’s stupidity?
3)
When nearly 40 4 ton blocks drag, should
not the design of the blocks be questioned?
Given the number of meetings and
debates that are ongoing, Opua has clearly not seen the final outcome of this “wake
up call”. One can only hope that sensible lessons have been learnt, and policy
changes implemented.
E.G. Any boat wishing to rent a berth
in the Marina must have insurance. If they do not have insurance, they are
required to take out inexpensive short term daily insurance, mainly to protect
3rd parties. Why then does the same not apply when renting a buoy?
On a more positive note, it should be
noted that every mooring block is lifted from the seabed, and inspected every 3
years, by one of 3 certified operators. Any worn tackle, chain, shackles, anti-chafe
protection, is replaced. To the best of my knowledge, no mooring tackle actually
broke during the storm.
