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Kissing Reef in Niue

1K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Brent Swain 
#1 ·
Had the pleasure of making my first mayday call a couple of days ago
after being pushed onto the reef in front of Alofi, Niue. The fault
was mine. I got lazy and tied a ****ty cleat hitch. I have tied that
hitch a thousand times, but sometimes cruising only requires one
mistake for disaster. Vigilance Vigilance Vigilance!

My crewmate Vlad and I are fine, and Panache sustained minimal damage,
but I am effectively shipwrecked. The rudder has a large fracture that we are currently repairing at the Yacht Club here in Alofi. They have been a great help, but my adventure might be winding down :(

New rudder costs about $2500, but getting to Tonga or American Samoa might cost just as much. When I get myself on a cyclone proof mooring ball I will do a proper fix, but its going to take a liter of epoxy resin and a 3 day sail to get there

Check out my post of the full event if you have time. There you can see pictures of the fractured rudder and Niue.

SailPanache dot com
 
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#2 ·
Don't lose heart - you can fix it and continue your voyage. Getting shipwrecked in the South Seas will make a story of a lifetime but don't let it be the final chapter of this particular portion of that life.
 
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