Friday, August 18, 2017

Up on a Reef

The islands of the the South Pacific hold many mysteries.  Many a boat has made a navigation error and ended up damaged or high and dry on a reef.  Recently, a catamaran was sailing at night and way to close to a reef they were well aware of.  Their Navonics Chart did not show a portion of the reef that sticks out a bit.  Their boat hit the reef and was left high and dry.  They lost the boat and will now have to pay $35k to have it pulled off the reef and sunk in deep water.  Is Navonics to blame?  Maybe, however, the prudent mariner will always have two sources for navigating in close quarters.  In addition, they should have given themselves a mile or two leeway from the outer reef of the island.  Read more about this avoidable accident here.


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