Kaz II Inquest into "Ghost ship"

[Ilenart]

There is an inquest running here in Australia into the Kaz II the catamaran where three people went missing in April 2007 off the Queensland coast. Attached are a few articles. Appear it will be finalised today so I'll post anything extra later tonight.

Still sounds like a mystery.

Ilenart

Kaz II hit by gale force winds : thewest.com.au

Kaz II inquest in Townsville – mystery yacht never reported | Townsville Bulletin News

[Ilenart]

Verdicts in, "freak accident".

Mr Barnes concluded either Peter or Jim Tunstead had fallen into the water behind the boat while trying to retrieve a lure which had become tangled around the boat's rudder.

The other brother had subsequently fallen in while attempting a rescue.

Mr Barnes found the vessel's skipper Mr Batten was trying to adjust the sails so he could turn around and go back for the two men, but a change in wind direction caused the yacht's boom to swing and knock him overboard.

"Once the three men were in the water there was very little chance they could get back on the boat as it was blown before a 15 knot wind and they struggled in lumpy seas", Mr Barnes said.

"It would be beyond their reach in seconds.

From that point, the end would have been swift.

None of them was a good swimmer, the seas were choppy, the men would quickly have become exhausted and sunk beneath the waves.''

He labelled the sequence of events "a freak accident''.

The coronor also noted that the men were "...all relatively inexperienced sailors"

Ilenart

Coroner finds WA yachtsmen died in freak accident | PerthNow

[Ilenart]

For those of you that like the details attached is a link to the 25 page coronor's report. One good thing about lawyers is that they go into the details. The report clears up a couple of misconceptions floating around; like why were the fenders left hanging (the video found on board shows them hanging over the side, which means they forgot to bring them in).

One thing I will not be relying on is the local Sea Search and rescue (refer page 10 of the report)

Ilenart


http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/BattenT...ad20080808.pdf

[Hartley18]

Thanks, Ilenart

That is so bizarre. If that is truly what happened and there was a video of the incident it would make for a winner "Funniest Home Videos"... but the end result is just tragic.

[Boasun]

So the Kaz II is like the Mary Celeste.... Another vessel found at sea with no one on board. Ghost ships both.

[tdw]

Ilenart,

I noticed in yesterday's press that the fella who sold them the boat reckoned that it was not fit for the planned voyage which may have absolutely nothing to do with their problems of course

I havn't read the report but does it mention alcohol ? You have to wonder whether or not a trio of good old boys from WA out for a sail in the Whitsundays would have downed the odd XXXX or ten ?


Cheers

Edit - nothing in the report suggests they were consuming excessive quantities of alcohol , indeed it doesn't even mention that they were carrying excessive quantities. I'm sure that if alcohol played a part it would have been mentioned.

That it took four days for a full search and rescue effort to be launched seems somethat slack but then again what about the fishermen ? Surely if a boat with a shredded headsail goes past you and you can see no one on board you would at least radio that in . Wouldn't you ?

Still and all it does look like it was a most unfortunate accident or series of.

[Ilenart]

I noticed in yesterday's press that the fella who sold them the boat reckoned that it was not fit for the planned voyage which may have absolutely nothing to do with their problems of course

The report mentions a couple of maintenence items, however nothing sounded major. Appears that the boat had been sitting in Qld for over a year then the guys flew in and three days later left on an around Australia cruise. If it was me I would want a couple of weeks at least for checking the boat, out of water maintenance, etc.

That it took four days for a full search and rescue effort to be launched seems somethat slack but then again what about the fishermen ? Surely if a boat with a shredded headsail goes past you and you can see no one on board you would at least radio that in . Wouldn't you ?

Note that it appears that they did register with the local Sea Search and Rescue however the evidence suggests the Operator forgot to log them in. His excuse was that he was not highly educated and had a terrible memory I know these guys are volenteers but it is still a pretty poor effort.

Still and all it does look like it was a most unfortunate accident or series of.

Agreed, however I think lack of sailing experience also played a big part in the tragedy.

Ilenart

[tdw]

Certainly lack of familiarity with the boat was a major factor.

One thing about the Coastal Patrol people. I realise that guy obviously cocked up and the poor education lousey memory thing was his cover up. Hardly blame him really though in reality his **** up did nothing to make the situation worse for those guys who were probably dead already.

I simply cannot believe another person seeing a boat with shredded sail(s) and not thinking something had to be awry.

OTOH, the sail probably didn't shred until well after the incident occurred.

I do wonder in regard to Coastal Patrol whether or not the service is overused. Is it really necessary when sailing the 17nms from Sydney Harbour to Broken Bay for instance to log in with Coastal Patrol ? If in good weather it seems overkill to me. Ok , if its raining and/or foggy and/or a night passage but in perfect weather ?