The Voice of Experience...

The bow dipped, the bilge alarm came on and we were obviously taking on water... 

Three years ago contract skipper Brian Climo departed Westhaven on a routine dolphin & whale watching trip.    

Dreamweaver's thirty six passengers and four crew had heard the safety briefing, seen the life jacket demonstration and a trip report had been given.   

  

The 23rd February, 2015 was no different than any other Dreamweaver charter and they were soon steaming around North Head towards TiriTiri Matangi.   

The crew had worked together before and at the end of each trip they'd socialize over a beer or two.   

After thirty five years at sea, Brian knew the Hauraki Gulf well and was confident of his skills as a skipper.    He knew Dreamweaver had a current Survey Certificate but didn't know that her bow section had previously been repaired three times.    

As the day progressed, lunch was enjoyed and dolphin and whale watching continued, with passengers and some crew on the fore-deck.     

When Brian noticed a squall coming, he turned Dreamweaver onto a southwest course and headed into the wind, back to the Tiri Passage and lee of Whangaparaoa Peninsula.

"The bow was pounding up and down with the extra weight of most of the 36 passengers in the main cabin forward of the central balance point." 

Passengers who were seated in the bow viewing companionway moved back into the main cabin, as instructed by a crew member - as per standard safety procedure.    Two passengers decided they wanted to experience spray coming over the bow which, in a very short time, became waves.

Within minutes a bilge alarm activated, and Brian instructed the deckhand to make a visual inspection of the affected compartment (as indicated by the bilge alarm.)   

Below deck, water was flooding through a cracked wing deck, although at the time it was unknown as to from where, the ingested water entering the vessel.

With the port bow low in the water, Brian instructed the issue of life jackets and the deckhand to operate two clearly marked bilge changeover valves and report back to the bridge.

Brian then issued a Mayday call.   

His next concern was to get Dreamweaver out of Tiri Channel and anchored in Rabbit Bay's shallow waters.   

"I had good control of the vessel, even though the bow was very close to submerged, and by then I knew help was on the way.    Within minutes I had the relative comfort of two Coastguard vessels tracking adjacent to us.”

Once anchored, passengers were transshipped onto rescue vessels and the water pumped out by Coastguard.  A quick inspection by the harbourmaster revealed the breached wing deck (now well above water level).   

Dreamweaver was then moved under her own power, into Gulf Harbour Marina for urgent lift out.

After being interviewed by MNZ & TAIC investigators, Brian heard nothing for four days short of a year when he received notice by mail, that he was going to be prosecuted.

What followed was months of stress, untold lawyer's meetings, five court appearances, and eighteen more months later, Brian finally came out the other side.    His original four charges were reduced to two:

No 1 – Failing to ensure the bow was clear of people before turning the vessel

No 2. Basically - Failing to fill in the training logbook.   

  

Brian was convicted and fined $1,680.00.  Legal Aid assisted with lawyers but he still had to pay $1,300.00.        "I could've and should’ve appealed the conviction, but with a possible 12 months of more applications for legal aid, lawyer meetings, possibly 3-4 court appearances, and the untold stress which was affecting my health, by then I was over it.    I am now 71 years of age and skippering work is no longer in my brief.    To clear this debt, it’s going to take me almost five years of installments paid from my national superannuation."

After this experience, here's his advice for skippers:    

1. Prior to accepting the job, check out the owner, operator and the owner's representative by word of mouth.      "Skippers are not just someone with a piece of paper who can do the job, they are risking their livelihood and documentation by working on an operation that is not up to scratch. 

2. Never take the word of the crew, the operator or vessel owner on anything.   "Check everything yourself, including the safety equipment - don't rely on the owner/operator." 

3. Check the Skipper's responsibilities in the Maritime Transport Operator Plan.

"Be prepared to take control and be forceful for the safety of the passengers and vessel.  When the ‘sh*t happens’, one person is in the gun and it’s YOU, the skipper."

4. Check the Training system and if there's no induction, there's no system.

5. Don't take a crew out unless you have done a training session with them to verify their knowledge, and/or references either written or verbal, given by other skippers you know well and trust their judgement.     Some crew who 'have been on boats for years' have actually only worked on boats while they were tied to the wharf.

4. If all training isn't logged in the Ship's Log and Training Log - don't sail.  "That's what they got me on."

And his final advice - It’s your life, your income and your career - so make sure you know who you are dealing with.

(As told by Brian Climo to Carol Forsyth)