There is a common adage amongst cruisers here that there are two types of cruising boats: those that have hit reefs, and those that are yet to hit a reef. It hints of inevitability of collision, and there is truth in that when cruising in the South Pacific. And yet the spate of groundings among cruising friends in just the last few weeks has been a little alarming. Six of our friend’s boats have hit something underwater. It’s a little like an earthquake hitting your home - could be just a few cracks, or the walls might be falling in.
Groundings can be incredibly stressful, for the immediate crisis of safety - staying afloat and maintain steering control, understanding damage, and for the ongoing drama of repairs. A couple of the local groundings have been particularly bad, one with the boat taking on water through broken engine mounts after hitting a submerged rock. The skipper made the difficult decision to intentionally run the boat up on a beach to reduce the chance of her sinking. Needless to say, it was a sleepless night. They made some emergency repairs, and limped back to the mainland under tow from a fellow cruiser.
Another damaged her rudder on a reef entry. Steering immediately tightened up, and they also returned with shepherding to the mainland and now face the very difficult challenge of having a new rudder fabricated locally, or one sent out from the overseas manufacturer if it is still available. Until then, the boat is out of the water while they continue to live aboard and we feel for them.
Contributing factors to this rate of serious incidents are a lot of reefs, and poor quality charts. Charts for some parts of the archipelago are based on Cook’s original hand sketches from the 1700s. Reefs that show on one chart manufacturer are often completely missing on another. Many reefs don’t show on any chart. Some of the best “ground truth” data used by the community is from satellite images from the ubiquitous Google Maps. They show far more reef detail than any chart we’ve come across, down to the level of small coral bomboras that just a few meters across, lurking just below the surface like a brown snake in the grass.
Despite all the tech available, there is still a lot of catching up to do and sharp eyes combined with the right sunlight remain our best defence. Oh, and like everyone else, continuing to speak of groundings with respect, with one hand touching wood.
Aubrey