Call it Isaac or Aizake y

Yachts

Call it Isaac or Aizake y that hurricane caused havoc in Vavau

Patty Kaliher Re

ports from Neiafu,

Vavau, Tonga .

Hurricane Aizake (‘lsaac’ to most of us) proved a disaster for yachts in Vavau. Of the 14 cruising yachts and seven charter yachts sheltering at Neiafu for the hurricane season, only six were still afloat after the hurricane had swept through on March 3. Here are some of their stories: • ARMINEL, a 24m wooden ketch, built in 1910 in England and skippered by Larry Conway with Joergen Horack as crew, put out three anchors weighing in all 225 kg.

As the winds first reached 70 knots, a neighbouring yacht broke loose and took Arminel’s dinghy with it.

The wind speeds increased to 100 knots, with gusts coming from south-east to south-west. It was a struggle to keep the ketch nosed into the wind, the auxiliary engine proving virtually useless. At 1 am a gust of wind caught Arminel broad side, and, pushing with terrible force, dragged the anchors until Arminel lay pressed hard against the cliff.

After battening down, Larry and Joergen shimmied 20 metres up the main mast to the top of the cliff and watched the the rest of the storm from solid ground.

Arminel seems to have suffered no damage, and Conway hopes to be ible to put her back in the water >oon. • PANACHE, a Catalina 30 ibreglass sloop, with Tony Barra

and Jennifer Guilbert aboard, picked an anchorage at the closed southern end of the harbour. Pro tected on three sides, their anchors held through the worst of the winds.

But at 3 am the winds shifted to the north, the anchors lost their bite, and Panache was pushed on her side up on the coral.

Tony and Jennifer remained on the boat and served as Vavau’s primary communication link with the outside world. Although his boat was lying on its side on the reef, Tony continued to operate his HAM radio and VHF. Largely through his efforts, an airlift was arranged for a seriously injured American tourist, and families and relief agencies were contacted all over the world.

Many Tongans and boaters helped to refloat the sloop. • FAIR SEAS. A 15m Transpac fibreglass ketch from Ventura, Cali fornia, is owned and skippered by Gene Panter. His son Richard was also aboard the night Hurricane Aizake hit. They were holding their own against the storm at first. The 120 hp diesel auxiliary was power ing at full throttle into the wind, and was barely able to take a little strain off the anchors. But at 1.30 am, when the winds were blowing 100 knots, the engine overheated and had to be shut down.

They were pushed against coral heads, dragging the anchors. The mizzen mast broke, shattering the radar and the boat filled with water.

At some point Richard had badly cut his foot. But they managed to swim ashore and stumble through

the wind, rain and flying debris to the home of Tongan friends.

The water damage to Fair Seas is severe, but her hull may still be sound and Panter hopes to refloat her. • SWIRL. A 9m Monk design wooden sloop built in 1955 had owner Shane Finneran and Tina Gaudette aboard the night of Vavau’s worst storm in 22 years.

Shane decided to anchor outside Neiafu harbour to avoid the possi bility of being struck by a drifting boat. Finneran dropped two anchors in 24 metres of water. He was just off the village of Waimalo.

Late in the afternoon an elderly Tongan paddled out to the boat in his outrigger canoe. He introduced himself as Aizake same name as the cyclone and had a cup of coffee with Tina and Shane, relating past hurricane stories, and advising them that Waimalo was a safe harbour, before paddling back to his home through rising winds and seas.

At first with the wind out of the south-west, Swirl was well shel tered, but then the wind shifted to the south-west, and Finneran and Gaudette found themselves facing wind and seas from open water.

Their small engine was totally ineffectual, and they made prep arations to accept the inevitable.

Hour after hour the waves washed completely over Swirl, and the kerosene lamp the old man Aizake kept burning on shore indi cated that their anchors were hold ing. The dinghy was airborne and

then disappeared.

The next morning Aizake’s house

was the only one still standing in Waimalo. Only when Shane and Tina motored into Neiafu harbour did they see all the boats that had been washed ashore, and realised

how incredibly lucky they had been.

They attribute their survival mostly to good luck and very little freeboard. • RED HAWK. This 13m Hans Christian ketch from Sausalito, California, owned by Lou Seiler, was a hurricane survivor due to the skill and determination of skipper Phil Howe.

Phil had put out two 30kg and 22kg CQR anchors with 9 metres of chain and 4500 kg test line. But at about 12.30 am, something broke and Red Hawk was adrift.

Right, Adagio was one of six survivors. Bottom left, less for tunate, these yachts were blown on to the foreshore. Bottom right, Aquavit lying damaged on the rocks. Members of the yachting fraternity who were in Neiafu for his visit will remem ber Isaac for a long time to

come. - Patty Kaliher pictures.

Using the 100 hp auxiliary en gine, Phil made slow progress against the wind towards the middle of the harbour dodging other boats, some of which were drifting out of control towards the shore.

Howe was at the wheel, unable to see with 100 knot winds blowing spray into his eyes and waves washing over him as he steered the boat into the wind. The minute the bow fell a few degrees away from the wind direction, the entire boat would be heeled over by the force of the hurricane. The VHF radio was relaying the distress calls of other boats as they were blown onto the rocks. The dinghy, outboard and all, was spinning in mid-air and eventu ally broke loose.

Phil Howe took his bearings from lights ashore at the power plant, which was still generating although all power lines were down, and the hospital, which has its own gener ator.

By 4 am, all lights on shore had gone out, and the wind had shifted around and started to drop. Steering blind, Phil at last found himself on a fairly protected shore across from town. He grounded the boat as the tide was going out.

Later, when the sun came up and the tide came back in, Howe backed Red Hawk off the shore, and promptly ran out of fuel. He found

himself drifting rapidly down the harbour in 35-40 knot winds. He raised sails and brought Red Hawk back to his previous grounding site.

The wind kept trying to blow the boat away, so Phil swam ashore with lines which he attached to some tree trunks that happened to be still standing.

It took a long time to raise anyone on the radio, but finally a Tongan fishing boat towed Red Hawk to Neiafu, where she was refuelled and anchored.

Here, finally, is a rundown on the status of the 21 cruising and charter yachts in Vavau after Hurricane Aizake; • ADAGIO. Survived undamaged. • AQUAVIT. On the rocks. • ARMINEL. On the coral shore, attempting to refloat. • ELEFANT. On the rocks, repairs

underway.

• ELYSIUM. On the rocks, repairs

underway.

• ESETA. On the rocks, repairs

underway.

• FAIR SEAS. Sunk, attempt will be made to refloat. • KAINUI. Survived. • KIRSTEN. On the rocks and badly holed. (Kirsten is owned by Stan and Joan D. Pease. Joan is a frequent contributor to PlM’s

yachting columns).

• LEEWAY. On the rocks, attempt-

ing to refloat. • PANACHE. Was on the reef, refloated. • RED HAWK. Survived

undamaged.

• South Pacific Yacht

CHARTERS. Two survived, one was lost, and four are on the shoreline undergoing repairs. • SWIRL. Survived undamaged. • TUKILIK. On the shore and holed.

Leeway on the rocks. - Patty Kaiiher picture.