Liveaboards in Raja Ampat - Seaworthiness in storms?

[tottem]

I was on the "Mari" liveaboard between 15-26 december. A couple of days into the trip when we were going north we had to cancel our first dive of the morning at "Black Rock" at Kawe Island because of rough seas. They took us into calmer waters on the northern side of Balabalak and had your first dive there, fantastic dive and I have described it in a separate thread. Then we were supposed to have our second dive east of the Island but when we were going to have your dive briefing they told us it was no longer safe to anchor there and they would go back to where we were the previous night. Strange I though because the weather and seas were not that bad at that spot. But I have since understood why. They had apparently been informed that a storm was heading our way. And the prediction was correct. The wind speed increased over time from the southwest and I could see the black clouds coming closer. The boat started to wobble more and more. We had the wind in our side as we crossed the seas heading for shelter in the bay at the western tip of Waigeo.

I have a hard time to evaluate the height of the waves but they were big enough that when they hit the sides of the boat water crashed into the boat. The way this boat is constructed it just is not meant to go in rough seas. Reason number one is it is slow as ****. If your on that boat and you see a storm coming good luck escaping!
I felt like I could walk faster then the boat moved. Then I asked how fast the boat can go I was told 7 knots max speed, but now there where marine growth under the hull that had reduced the speed by 2 knots. Is this correct information? I have no idea. Someone with more knowledge of this type of boat please enlighten me.

Reason number 2 being how top heavy it is. There are 3 decks. Under the waterline is the engine room. Above is all the cabins and equipment. 2 floor is dining area, kitchen, office and navigation. 3 floor is sundeck so there is no weight. The whole length of the boat is overbuilt except in the very front where the diving equipment is. In other words it is very top heavy.

All chairs fell over on 2 floor and equipment in kitchen and elsewhere were being crushed. People were puking. Everything not tied down fell over. I was on second floor to avoid seasickness as it is in my opinion better to see the horizon and the waves coming and be able to stand and compensate with your body (yes I know the wobble gets worse the higher you are). Then came the horizontal rain. I stood in the middle of the dining area and got absolutely soaking wet. Moving on that floor without clinging to something was out of question.

But with the rain came also strange behavior from the dive crew. They tried to put up the rain covers. I thought to myself this can only end one way. Who the hell gets such a stupid idea? The effect will of course be that the wind that previously blew through the dining area will grab hold of the boat and make the situation much worse. So they realized their mistake within 1 minute and they were removed again. Eventually it got dark and I moved down to my cabin with these words from the crew in my mind "if something happen we will knock on your door". Can you imagine I did not get much sleep that night? To make things worse I did not want to lock the door to my cabin in case something where really to happen so it would keep getting flung open by the excessive side wobble with a large bang. I am very glad the boat engine did not break down. That would have been very bad.

So the main reason why I started this thread was not to tell about my experience my intention was more to get a discussion started about the seaworthiness of the boats in Raja Ampat. What are your opinion about this? Have you had any experience with bad weather onboard a liveaboard and how did it cope with it? My experience from this boat is certainly not unique because many boats are build exactly that way.

One more thing a ask myself is should there not be a requirement to go through some safety routines before the boats leaves incase something should happened?
I was not shown anything like that on board. I did notice there were life rafts on the sundeck on floor 3 but how are they going to be employed when it wobbles like that without falling overboard if you cant even walk on the floor below without clinging to something?

 

[SaltyWombat]

The Blue Manta webpage says:

With maximum comfort and safety in mind, the Blue Manta is well equipped with safety facilities, cruises at 9 knots and the steel hull makes her an ideal vessel for long haul cruises and blue water crossing trips.

I saw it in the Dampier Straight and it did look much more seaworthy than other liveaboards. Some pinisi-style boats I saw in Raja4 really looked like floating wrecks.

The Velocean also looks seaworthy, but I've not seen any reviews. It might be a newer boat.

On a recent liveaboard there, not on any of the boats mentioned here, I also would have appreciated a safety briefing. Things like: where are the life jackets? what's the story with the lifeboat? where do we muster if the power goes out? Over all, there is not a strong safety culture in Indonesia, certainly not like there is in the US.

 

[SaltyWombat]

It's also common for boats to be modified years after being built. One could imagine a boat being seaworthy when launched, and then a new owner decides to build an upper deck. This would change the center of mass and could cause problems.

I know the boat I was on was heavily modified years after being built. It seemed seaworthy to me, but we did not hit heavy seas.

 

[drrich2]

Take a look at this thread, Raja Ampat Liveaboard Recommendations, and posts #4 and 10 by @Dan for mention of a couple of good metal-hulled boats and his contested exprience of a metal-hulled vs. a wooden boat. In post #15 @Darnold9999 mentioned having been on both types, and mentioned within RA sea conditions are rarely an issue.

Richard.

 

[Darnold9999]

Full disclosure - I own a 57 year old 37 foot wooden boat. I like wooden boats.

That basic design has been sailing Indonesian waters for more than 100 years. Did a tour of the harbor in Jakarta and Pinsi style boats nearing 100 years old were getting refits. Not a comment on your specific boat. Any boat can be overloaded and or modified poorly.

Would have no issue being on a Pinsi style boat in RA. There are lots of places to hide from weather pretty much anywhere you might be.

Having growth on the hull that slows you down a couple of knots is not that unusual as you approach the time for a boats annual haul out wooden, steel or fibreglass.

Having said all that the ocean is not a forgiving place. A storm is no fun and it sounds like yours was significant.

Are the boats is RA safe. I suspect most are and some are not. How do you tell? I trust my instincts. Also, you very much get what you pay for in that part of the world. You can’t pay third world prices and expect first world safety. Personally I avoid the “budget” boats. (No idea if that was yours- just a general comment)

 

[AlMitch]

I was on the Indo Siren many moons ago and the last day we hit pretty atrocious weather which cut the last full day short. Heading in to Sorong that night we had 2m+ and possibly 3m seas (I am a surfer so do have some "sense" of wave size) and side-ways rain. It was New Years eve and even the pretty serious weather did not massively subdue the party atmosphere... I never felt unsafe.
The Siren is also a Pinsi but is much sleeker in design than the Mari.
Your experience does sound horrible!!

 

[Damselfish]

One thing I saw mentioned in another thread a few years back, is that phinisi are typically (always?) one engine boats. Which perhaps matters less in heavily traveled areas but something to consider on a more remote itinerary.

 

[NorCalDM]

We were on the Raja Ampat Aggressor II in late September into early October and were given a very good safety briefing. We were shown all the safety equipment including all the emergency exits and the exit you should use based on what cabin you were in. We did hit some bad weather on our second day and everything that was not tied down was thrown all over, my wife slipped on the wet floor in the salon and broke two toes. I did not feel unsafe but the boat did only have one engine which I think is the biggest issue as that engine was smaller than the one in my ski boat. We have been on a few harry rides on liveaboards so the sea is to be respected, one was in the Sea of Cortez we were hit so hard by a wave that it broke the window into our cabin bathroom and cracked a weld in the bow that had to be welded up when we got to the island the following morning.