The Hynes Honeymoon!

Author: Seth
Picture: The sailing vessel Laerokeok with Mel Gibson's Island in the background.

Boating can be part tragedy and part miracle. This past week we certainly witnessed both.

Around dusk on the 17th, the sailing vessel Lariekoek hit the reef off Mango Island. She hit it hard and the boat went horizontal with the keel lying on the coral. Waves continued to slap the boat up and down on the rocks and after flipping it onto the other side the boat started taking on water. It wasn't sinking as the reef held it afloat, but there was certainly no way for the single handing owner to get her off. After a few moments he calmly issued a Mayday on VHF 16. Having lived on the boat for 17 years and nearing the finish of his second circumnavigation, it was certainly a tragedy.

Then the miracle happened. The island he hit happened to be owned by Mel Gibson. Yes, Mel Gibson. You know, Braveheart, The Patriot, Lethal Weapon - that Mel. And Mel's island manager quickly got 25 local Fijians together and within two hours they had helped the owner not only escape from the helpless yacht, but completely strip the insides of the boat (even the batteries were removed!). And if that were not enough, they tirelessly attempted to get the boat off the reef the next morning. With the aid of many tires and some long boards they were able to use the incoming tide to slowly pull the boat off the reef. Once she was floating again they were able to secure her to a mooring ball on the north side of the island. It was an incredible feat - one that would have cost thousands anywhere in America. And the Fijians did it simply to help out. And she didn't sink as the hole in the side of the boat happened to be above the water line!

So as you can see in the picture above, the boat is now floating upright again, but the damage is severe. The gel coat has been scratched away in several places, the keel is damaged and there are holes through the Starboard side of the hull - but at the very least the boat is floating again and there is at least a chance that it can be salvaged.

Honeymoon came into the picture only two days later as we passed the island and helped another cruiser from the boat Bravado get closer to the wreck. We then helped the owner put together an analysis for his insurance company with pictures and measurements of the damage. Adding to the miracle was an extremely friendly island manager who was not only kind enough to let us stay on the island but also gave us a tour! Although we didn't see Mel, we got the impression that he wouldn't mind us staying and snorkeling on his simply amazing reef (although we did refrain from taking the lobster we saw). All we can say is that if you are going to hit a reef somewhere, try to do it on Mel's island. What an experience!

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Vessel Name:	Honeymoon
Vessel Make/Model:	2004 Lagoon 380, Hull 279, Owner's Version
Hailing Port:	San Francisco, CA
Crew:	Seth & Elizabeth Hynes
About:	Seth & Elizabeth met in 2004 and have long since agreed that they did not want to live "the typical life. [...] More
Extra:	OUR EXPERIENCE: Seth is a lifelong sailor with over 25 years of boating experience. His family taught him to sail via ASA instruction and through many weekend trips on their family boat, a Benateau 35, sailed on Lake St. Clair, Michigan. He then moved to San Francisco where he raced with two [...] one-design sailing teams before joining his families racing boat "Shadowfax," a classic Wianno Senior design based in Osterville, Mass. Elizabeth is an adventurer by spirit and has traveled all around the world for both pleasure and work. While living in England she sailed in Croatia on the Med and also with the Hynes family in the Grenadines. Elizabeth is also part of the "Shadowfax" racing team and she looks forward to becoming a more confident Captain over the course of the next year. THE BOAT: Having never sailed a catamaran before in our lives, choosing to purchase one was very difficult. However, the more we researched the boats the more we liked them. Catamarans are great for cruising with their shallow draft and large living accommodations. They also feature inherent back-ups which improve safety; like two hulls, two rudders, two engines and props. Once we learned that Cats crossed the oceans regularly, we took a solid look at the options out there, of which there were plenty. In the end, the Lagoon 380 stood out from the rest of the fleet for its dependability, successful production history and interior comforts. Our boat is a three berth "Owner's Version" that has never been chartered and has a larger head with a standing shower. When this was discovered, the search was over. After all, if Elizabeth is happy, Seth will be happy! THE ITINERARY: From the beginning it was always our plan to sail from the East Coast of the US to Australia, stopping along the way in the Caribbean and Central America. However, being new to the cruising life, we didn't want to force ourselves to do anything we didn't want, so the itinerary was left open. Not surprisingly, we loved our time cruising in the Caribbean but yearned for more of an adventure and opted to cross the Pacific Ocean in search of islands less visited. What we found was exactly what we were looking for. And in the end, Australia was a perfect boat market for a Catamaran and an end to an incredible 18 months of sailing. Below was our itinerary: SEPTEMBER, 2008: Refit boat in Norfolk, Virginia USA OCTOBER, 2008: Refit and sail Chesapeake to Annapolis, MD NOVEMBER, 2008: Caribbean 1500 rally to BVIs British Virgin Islands, Caribbean DECEMBER, 2008: St. Martin, St. Barts, Ile Fourche, Statia, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat JANUARY, 2009: Dominica, Antigua, Barbuda, The Saints, Guadeloupe FEBRUARY: Guadeloupe, Bonaire, Curacao, San Blas Islands, Panama MARCH: Cross through the Panama canal, Galapagos APRIL: Pacific Ocean Crossing, Marquesas French Polynesia MAY: Marquesas, Tuamotus, Tahiti JUNE: Moorea, Huahine, Ta'haa, Bora Bora JULY: Bora Bora to Suwarrow, Cook Islands AUGUST: Niue and Vava'u Tonga SEPTEMBER: Tonga and Fiji OCTOBER: Fiji and Vanuatu NOVEMBER & DECEMBER: Eastern Australia, Bundaburg to Sydney JANUARY: Fly home from Sydney to San Francisco. Quickly get jobs during a recession. Start a family. Buy a house. Start fanatically reading other sailor's blogs. More
Home Page:	http://www.sailblogs.com/member/honeymoon/