Sinking of Melinda Lee, 3 deaths
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Alan Nixon) writes: : According to the Miami Herald, the wife said that she had been on : watch when suddenly this big cargo boat appeared and bore down on : them. : : This seemed like a rather strange statement to me. : It sure does! : Ships don’t "suddenly appear." : –scott
I spoke with a friend who (enroute from Rarotonga) was caught in the same storm as the unfortunate family, and he said that at times visibility was ****ZERO****. Having done a lot of sailing in NZ waters, I can attest to the fact that some of their storms are *violent* in the extreme and zero visibility is not uncommon. In those conditions (my friend said he was hove-to for 8 hours), even if you can see the big guy, in all probability you would not be able to alter course fast enough (or safely) to get out of his way. You have to rely on radio contact and hope he can alter course a couple of degrees. I can also attest to the fact that of all the commercial shipping I’ve encountered on the high seas, the majority seem to have either no watch at all or, at best, a highly incompetent one. Some of those big guys can take 10 minutes to answer repeated calls on VHF16!!!! With a sad heart, Brian Cleverly
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According to the Miami Herald, the wife said that she had been on watch when suddenly this big cargo boat appeared and bore down on them. This seemed like a rather strange statement to me. It sure does! Ships don’t "suddenly appear."
I retract this statement. In the conditions at the time of the incident (middle of the night, howling wind, high seas, alone on deck) it is quite possible that ships "suddenly appear" out of nowhere. One hopes that one’s vigilance prevents such occurances, but they DO happen. –scott
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According to the Miami Herald, the wife said that she had been on watch when suddenly this big cargo boat appeared and bore down on them. This seemed like a rather strange statement to me. It sure does! Ships don’t "suddenly appear."
To those who are saying this, Thank your lucky stars that you have obviously never been in a such as storm. DSS DSP Systems 29 Touro St.,Newport, RI 02840 (401) 849 1905 voice (401) 848 7540 fax
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Brian Cleverly’s comment about ships not maintaining proper watch is correct. Many ships have no one paying attention on the bridge once they are on the high seas. Often have radar turned off. Lots of less reputable shipping lines employ less than top of the line crew, including drunks, goldbricks and incompetents. When you sail, as when you ride a motorcycle, you should assume nobody sees you, and if they should happen to, that they will try to hit you. Paranoid? Yes. Prudent? Also yes. Incidentally, if you haven’t experienced a storm on the high seas at night, you can’t understand how easy it would be to fail to see a huge ship bearing down on you. I also suspect that human nature played a part in the tragedy: in three years of night watches nothing has happened, so probably nothing will happen. On this miserable cold night, it will be okay to huddle down in the cockpit and maybe catch a few winks. You curl up out of the raging wind, get comfortable, doze off–and the hand of God, in the shape of a 10,000-ton freighter, sweeps out of the sky and smacks you ass-over-teakettle. That’s the way the game is played. Keith Pennington
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: The report in the Seattle papers indicated that winds were blowing : about 50 knots. In such weather, waves are likely to be : in the 25 foot range. Pitch black, 3:00 AM, 50 knots, 25+ foot : seas, probably raining but certainly the wind blowing the tops : of waves off. When you’re on the top of a wave, they’re in : a trough. It doesn’t surprise me too much that you could be : surprised suddenly by a cargo boat. In addition to that, it’s incredibly hard to see if spray and rain is blowing into your eyes. In high winds it’s almost like being hit in the eyes with blunt needles. You have to look up, take a quick look and then shut your eyes within about a second while you let the pain subside. Then you do it again. Only happened to me once. I have had goggles around ever since but I have never had to use them. B.S!
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I have spent a lot of time crusing in private vessels throughout the world. I recently had my first oppertunity to visit the bridge of a large freighter in port. I was terrified to learn that you had to look forward more than a mile before you could even see the water ahead of you. As far as radar is concerned. To see a small radar reflector in seas over 25′ with rain would truly be imposible. Anyone who has ever been at sea in a storm ( and this sounds like a pretty good one) understands how difficult it is to see even the next wave sometimes. It would be very easy to not see a freighter. I recently almost collided with the entire state of Florida while trying to come back in poor conditions. I think what happened is everyone’s worst nightmare and no one could find alot of fault anywhere. Greg
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Folks As a ‘net user, I hate the soapbox and never use it. However, there’s always a first time…. (IMHO – flame away) I know that we boaters are given to looking critically at the actions of others – we watch our neighbours when they fluff it coming into the slip, we all goggle at each other’s sail trim. It’s comes with the community…. But, let’s remember that we’re all in this together. Let’s remember * That three other boaters have died in a tragic accident * That *someone*, we don’t know who, made a mistake that night * This was an accident – no one would make this happen intentionally. I consider myself to be an experienced boater and I’ve made plenty of stupid mistakes. By the grace of God, I’ll live to make quite a bunch more – it comes with the territory. By all means, let’s be sure to learn what we can from this, but let’s leave judgement for the court of enquiry. Dave — Dave Robertson Applied Information Technology Program, Capilano College Vancouver, BC
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Ships don’t "suddenly appear." –scott
I bet to differ… There is reason to believe that visiblity was reduced in this instance (by rain, high-seas, and spray). If visibility is reduced to 1/6 mile and the cargo ship was cruising at 20 knots – there would be all of 30 sec. to: a) see the ship b)judge the course and bearing of the ship, and c) manouver your boat out of the way. All this assumes that the ship wasn’t approaching from behind the sails, where it would not be seen for even longer. If visibility were reduced to 150 yards – there would be only be 15 seconds to do all three steps. It simply wouldn’t be possible in a boat that only goes 4-6 knots. I would say the ship "suddenly appeared." You also don’t seem to be placing much blame on the *ship’s* crew. Sailboats suddenly appear about as often as ships do. It takes two boats to make a collision – there is plenty of blame to go around. If it were up to me, I would say that the faster moving ship is *always* to blame in a collision in reduced visibility. Specifically, if you cannot see, say, 2 minutes ahead of yourself – then you are not giving enough time for *others* to avoid a collision with you. Therefore, you are taking full responsibility for any accident. You need to either slow down or trust your radar/lawyers. IMHO, Terry Schell
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – : According to the Miami Herald, the wife said that she had been on : watch when suddenly this big cargo boat appeared and bore down on : them. : : This seemed like a rather strange statement to me. : It sure does! : Ships don’t "suddenly appear." : –scott
If you have 50 kn of wind, it is dark out, and the waves are 20 ft.+, perhaps this would allow your imagination to picture a ship suddenly appearing where none were before! LarryD.
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I think there was an article in Cruising World last July (?) by or about them. I can’t lay my hands on it now.
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According to the Miami Herald, the wife said that she had been on watch when suddenly this big cargo boat appeared and bore down on them. This seemed like a rather strange statement to me. Fritz — Dr. Fritz Zaucker Phone: (305) 361 4405 NOAA/AOML/OCD Fax: (305) 361 4582 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway Miami, FL 33149
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’d expected to see something about this by now, but since I haven’t, I’ll start with a summary. All of my information is from reports in the Los Angeles Times (the people involved were local to my area), so there’s a frustrating lack of nautical details. I’m also working from memory, so please forgive any minor errors. A 47-foot sailing vessel, the Melinda Lee, was run down and sunk near New Zealand in the past few days. The yacht was crewed by a husband Does anybody have more details on this incident? Was there something one might do to avoid this sort of thing, or is this just one of those unlucky happenstances that strike the best-prepared, sort of like having a drunk driver pick your car to drive into? — stayed out of the water?
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According to the Miami Herald, the wife said that she had been on watch when suddenly this big cargo boat appeared and bore down on them. This seemed like a rather strange statement to me.
The report in the Seattle papers indicated that winds were blowing about 50 knots. In such weather, waves are likely to be in the 25 foot range. Pitch black, 3:00 AM, 50 knots, 25+ foot seas, probably raining but certainly the wind blowing the tops of waves off. When you’re on the top of a wave, they’re in a trough. It doesn’t surprise me too much that you could be surprised suddenly by a cargo boat. Also, in that weather and those seas, you don’t have a ton of manoeuverability. As I’ve mentioned several times on this net, in my experience the commercial cargo boats RARELY have their radar turned on, if they have it at all. Bob
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The latest reports this morning (30/11/95 NZT) state that Judith Sleavin was on watch and "heavily dressed" which helped her to survive the 40 hours. The yacht was hit on it’s port side and filled with water within 20 seconds. The other two members of the family were only clad in light clothing and succumbed to the cold within a few hours. The inflatable dinghy had been tied onto the forward deck of the Melinda Lee as was being dragged down by the sinking yacht when the securing rope broke and it floated free. Judith Sleavin is still in hospital and is expected to remian there for some time with exposure and two broken vertabrae. The Melinda Lee sank at 0212hrs on Friday morning NZT, 30 miles NE of Cape Brett (at the entrance to the Bay of Islands). Australian maritime inspectors are expected to board a Russian freighter this morning, when it docks in Melbourne. There were several ships in the area at the time. However the newspaper report states that "the Australian authorities were not awaiting any instructions from New Zealand and no New Zealand investigation of the ship was planned at this stage. We are getting information on all ships that passed through that part of the Bay of islands at that time." (quote from the acting direrctor of the NZ Maritime safety Authority. Richard Gladwell NZL
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I think there was an article in Cruising World last July (?) by or about them. I can’t lay my hands on it now.
I believe that one of the LA Times articles quoted a sentence from the article. It may have been in their brief "passage notes" section. I haven’t looked for it myself. — http://www.cs.ucla.edu/ficus-members/geoff/
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: If they were indeed that well prepared, there is little you can do. With : the possible exception of a collision alarm on an operating radar, I : cannot think of anything else to further the safety of open ocean : cruising. I believe it to be somewhat like getting car jacked, hit by a : drunk, and so on. Life is always a gamble. It just depends on how hard : we fight the odds, and on how much we want to decrease those odds of : survival. I don’t entirely agree. On the open ocean, the only reasonable assumption to make when sailing a small boat is that one is invisible, and will NOT be seen by the crew of a commercial vessel, and that it is therefore incumbent upon the crew of the sailboat to see the ship and take whatever action is required to avoid it. Now, certainly there are conditions of visibility in which it would be difficult to see a ship in time to avoid being run over, but that *IS* one of the purposes, if not the primary one, of maintaining a person on watch. There has been recent magazine coverage of active radar transponders which create a very noticeable blip on a radar screen of an approaching vessel, but, again, it’s effectiveness is dependent upon there actually being someone on watch on the ship, an assumption that experienced open-ocean sailors know is questionable. This certainly was a tragedy, and I don’t know if it was avoidable, i.e., whether the watchstander could have seen the ship and avoided it. Sometimes there are situations which even a prudent and careful mariner cannot avoid. — Stealth Paddler "If you didn’t see me, it’s not because I wasn’t there!" "Gene Police! You – Outta the Pool!"
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According to the Miami Herald, the wife said that she had been on watch when suddenly this big cargo boat appeared and bore down on them. This seemed like a rather strange statement to me.
It sure does! Ships don’t "suddenly appear." –scott
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– Internet ProLink NZ New Zealand’s Professional Internet Service phone: +64-9-302-3352 fax: +64-9-302-3341 modem: +64-9-302-2507 Geoff, Here in New Zealand, the story has been front page. Has certainly touched the people. However, not too many details as yet. Accident is being investigated by NZ Maritime Safety Authority. It was thought they had been hit by a Russian freighter leaving Auckland for Melbourne, Australia. Ship later broke down three days out of Melbourne. However, ship has been intercepted and boarded by Australian Govt (evidently routine inspection as one engine dead). They ‘cleared’ boat from involvement in collision. Our Government says they are still investigating all ships which were tracked in area. The boat was 30 miles NE of Cape Brett, on the eastern edge of Bay of Island, popular cruising area. Amazing that dinghy drifted to shore and that she was discovered on fairly rugged coast. It is an amazing and horrible story. One child lost when boat sunk. She, her husband and another child clinging to semi-inflated tender (not a life raft). Husband tries to rescue child who was swept from boat and both lost. Inflatable had been tied on fore-deck and started to sink with boat, but broke free and floated to surface. Reports are that Mrs. Sleavin in Whangarei Hospital where she will be "for quite some time." I may try to update this story when all is known. Hope this helps,
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I grew up with Mike Sleavin in Tacoma WA. I lost track of him after high school. I remember him as a really nice guy with lots of enthusiasm for life. This is such a sad way of finding out about him. Fair winds and following seas Mike…. Joe Petrich
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I’d expected to see something about this by now, but since I haven’t, I’ll start with a summary. All of my information is from reports in the Los Angeles Times (the people involved were local to my area), so there’s a frustrating lack of nautical details. I’m also working from memory, so please forgive any minor errors.
Our link has been inoperative for a couple of days, so apologies if someone else has posted additional details. The wife was on watch, but apparently fell asleep, and was awakened by the collision. There were five freighters in the area. Calls to four of them on a hailing frequency elicited no response (indicating sloppy, or no watch being kept?). I saw a PTV program last year on life aboard a container vessel. These are being run on very limited budgets, with skeleton crews. The first officer on this one had a difficult schedule–the program showed him falling asleep every time he sat down. One should not assume a vigilent watch aboard commercial vessels–don’t fall asleep in shipping lanes! Dean of Library Services (208) 885-6534 University of Idaho Library "With all this horse manure, there Moscow, ID 83844-2371 must be a pony here somewhere."
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: According to the Miami Herald, the wife said that she had been on : watch when suddenly this big cargo boat appeared and bore down on : them. : : This seemed like a rather strange statement to me. : It sure does! : Ships don’t "suddenly appear." : –scott
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If they were indeed that well prepared, there is little you can do. With the possible exception of a collision alarm on an operating radar, I cannot think of anything else to further the safety of open ocean cruising. I believe it to be somewhat like getting car jacked, hit by a drunk, and so on. Life is always a gamble. It just depends on how hard we fight the odds, and on how much we want to decrease those odds of survival. – S/V Priority Won
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| I’d expected to see something about this by now, but since I haven’t, | I’ll start with a summary. All of my information is from reports in | the Los Angeles Times (the people involved were local to my area), so | there’s a frustrating lack of nautical details. I’m also working from | memory, so please forgive any minor errors. | | A 47-foot sailing vessel, the Melinda Lee, was run down and sunk near | New Zealand in the past few days. The yacht was crewed by a husband | and wife, Michael and Judith Smeavin (?), of Santa Clarita, California | (near Los Angeles), who were on a 5-year RTW trip with their two | children, Benjamin, 9, and Anna Rose, 7 (?). Judith was on night | watch in heavy seas when a motor vessel, probably a cargo ship, | collided with them abeam. (The vessel has not yet been identified.) | It is theorized that Benjamin was killed in the collision. The life | raft was also lost when the Melinda Lee went down. Judith managed to | awaken her husband and daughter, and they launched and boarded the | dinghy (an inflatable, I believe). They were washed overboard at | least once and reboarded, hanging on to lines to try to stay aboard. | After about 8 hours, Anna Rose began to lose her strength and was | eventually washed overboard. Michael swam after her and never | returned. | | After drifting for about two days, Judith landed on a coast. | Meanwhile, a search was initiated when the family failed to arrive | according to plan, and Judith was found relatively promptly, suffering | from exposure and two cracked vertebrae. | | I don’t know what to say about this. From the news reports, the | Smeavins did everything right. They had EPIRBs and a life raft. They | were both experienced sailors (Michael took up sailing in his college | days; Judith had crewed on a one-year offshore passage as explicit | preparation for the trip.) They filed a float plan, and they kept a | proper watch. The news accounts don’t mention anything about radar, | but it’s reasonable to assume that they had a reflector in the rigging | when they were hit. Since they were sailing on a budget, they may not | have had their own radar, or they may have been trying to avoid using | it to economize on power. | | Does anybody have more details on this incident? Was there something | one might do to avoid this sort of thing, or is this just one of those | unlucky happenstances that strike the best-prepared, sort of like | having a drunk driver pick your car to drive into? | — | http://www.cs.ucla.edu/ficus-members/geoff/ The vessel suspected of being involved in this incident was due into port in Melbourne,Victoria, this morning. It is a container vessel sailing under a Russian flag, according to the local radio news this (29/11) morning. An investigation is to follow. I will keep you posted. — Bruce Fairlie, Head Air to Surface Operations, Air Operations Division, Phone: +61 3 9626 7467 DSTO, Aeronautical and Maritime Research Laboratory, Fax: +61 3 9626 7085 506 Lorimer St, Fishermens Bend, Victoria, 3207, AUSTRALIA.
Response:
I’d expected to see something about this by now, but since I haven’t, I’ll start with a summary. All of my information is from reports in the Los Angeles Times (the people involved were local to my area), so there’s a frustrating lack of nautical details. I’m also working from memory, so please forgive any minor errors. A 47-foot sailing vessel, the Melinda Lee, was run down and sunk near New Zealand in the past few days. The yacht was crewed by a husband and wife, Michael and Judith Smeavin (?), of Santa Clarita, California (near Los Angeles), who were on a 5-year RTW trip with their two children, Benjamin, 9, and Anna Rose, 7 (?). Judith was on night watch in heavy seas when a motor vessel, probably a cargo ship, collided with them abeam. (The vessel has not yet been identified.) It is theorized that Benjamin was killed in the collision. The life raft was also lost when the Melinda Lee went down. Judith managed to awaken her husband and daughter, and they launched and boarded the dinghy (an inflatable, I believe). They were washed overboard at least once and reboarded, hanging on to lines to try to stay aboard. After about 8 hours, Anna Rose began to lose her strength and was eventually washed overboard. Michael swam after her and never returned. After drifting for about two days, Judith landed on a coast. Meanwhile, a search was initiated when the family failed to arrive according to plan, and Judith was found relatively promptly, suffering from exposure and two cracked vertebrae. I don’t know what to say about this. From the news reports, the Smeavins did everything right. They had EPIRBs and a life raft. They were both experienced sailors (Michael took up sailing in his college days; Judith had crewed on a one-year offshore passage as explicit preparation for the trip.) They filed a float plan, and they kept a proper watch. The news accounts don’t mention anything about radar, but it’s reasonable to assume that they had a reflector in the rigging when they were hit. Since they were sailing on a budget, they may not have had their own radar, or they may have been trying to avoid using it to economize on power. Does anybody have more details on this incident? Was there something one might do to avoid this sort of thing, or is this just one of those unlucky happenstances that strike the best-prepared, sort of like having a drunk driver pick your car to drive into? — http://www.cs.ucla.edu/ficus-members/geoff/
