Nekton Rorqual runs aground in Fort Lauderdale

[robint]

How can anyone go to sea without an anchor??

Doesn't the Coast Guard require an anchor??

Just another reason to avoid this dive op.

the boat doesn't have anchors because it uses a mooring system to prevent any damage to reefs. They have put down hundreds of these mooring pins all over the Caribbean and many other dive ops now use them.

from what I have read, it looks like there were high winds and waves that day and many boats had problems. It also appears that the boats pontoons ran aground on sand, not on a reef.

 

[osprey]

As wide as it is you should be able to steer with engines alone.

 

[mike_s]

related to running aground, while looking for anchors, I ran across this pic from a Sept 2005 trip report to the Bahamas....

Is this the "normal slant angle" of the boat? or does it look like this Nekton is grounded, perhaps at low tide at mooring/anchor?

The trip report didn't say what happened in reference to this pic.

(note in the trip report they also had pic of another boat that was grounded due to low tide at anchor also).

EDIT: looks like there is an anchor also on the Starboard side under the pulpit. Can't say for sure on the Port side, but I don't see a mooring buoy either attached. (of course it could have been pulled under water.)

 

[deepstops]

Anchors aren't optional pieces of equipment, they are safety devices. It appears they carry two from the above pic.
Outside of both engines failing (bad fuel, common supply or they ran out of fuel), I agree they should have been able to steer using the engines, even if the steering failed with the rudder hard over.

If they had a steering failure, insurance would cover reef damage (although I doubt they hit the reef on the way to shore) and damage to vessel. If they ran out of fuel, I doubt insurance would cover anything.

Concerning the tilt, I see them at the dock regularly and they sit level.

 

[ChainDiver]

The Netkon boats must be fun to steer, there is no rudder behind the prop
[


Each pontoon has a small fin that can drive the pontoon down or up.


I think most of the steering is done with the engines.

 

[mike_s]

The Netkon boats must be fun to steer, there is no rudder behind the prop
[View attachment 50887

I was thinking the whole prop/ring pivoted left/right for steering, but it appears that it's braced against movement like that.


You can't steer a boat without propulsion regardless. if it lost propulsion, even a rudder is worthless.

Each pontoon has a small fin that can drive the pontoon down or up.

View attachment 50888

.

That's likely a stablizer for when the boat is moving. It wouldn't have anything to do with the slant of the boat while at anchor as shown in the above pic.

 

[cappyjon431]

Nekton boats don't have anchors.

Actually Robin, both boats actually do have anchors. They are a CG requirement. They are found in either the bow lockers or on the bow on the opposite side of the mooring line.

 

[cappyjon431]

related to running aground, while looking for anchors, I ran across this pic from a Sept 2005 trip report to the Bahamas....

Is this the "normal slant angle" of the boat? or does it look like this Nekton is grounded, perhaps at low tide at mooring/anchor?

The trip report didn't say what happened in reference to this pic.

(note in the trip report they also had pic of another boat that was grounded due to low tide at anchor also).

EDIT: looks like there is an anchor also on the Starboard side under the pulpit. Can't say for sure on the Port side, but I don't see a mooring buoy either attached. (of course it could have been pulled under water.)

The boat is just ballasted at an awkward angle (perhaps to address an engineering issue). There are seven different ballast compartments in each pontoon. I have had to ballast the stern up in the past in order to unfoul one of the props that picked up a huge fishing net.

 

[mike_s]

that explains it then.... I thought they could "raise" or lower the boat with ballast tanks but wasn't sure... (the above pic just seems an odd angle).


found more on the Nekton website.

The SWATH Advantage

Ballast tanks in the pontoons can be flooded with seawater and pumped out by huge pumps in very short notice. Ballasting up (catamaran mode) allows for shallow water harborage (1.8 meters/6 feet) and maximum speed. Ballasting down SWATH mode) provides for maximum stability

​

 

[deepstops]

I was just remembering a post I'd read a while back about someone who spent a week on Rorqual in St.Croix with a down engine and stated the engine had been down "for sometime" before he did his trip. Can anyone confirm that was actually resolved or have they continued running on one engine since December 2007??

I later found out that in addition to the rough weather, we were also going very slowly due to 1 engine being down. We spent the majority of the week on the west side of St. Croix as the weather was mostly too rough to go around to the northern side where I understand most of the better diving is.

The ship itself is about as others have described it, very plain and worn, but comfortable. The dive setup however, was really pretty good with the only problem being that the dive deck was a little crowded when everyone wanted to get into the water at the same time. The bad news was that it seemed that the disrepair extended to some of the ship's major systems and I was very disturbed when I found out mid week that the ship had only had 1 engine operable for some time. There was no nitrox either and it seemed there haden't been for a while and wouldn't be for some time to come.