Hercules, helicopters and highlines.

A very good morning to all from the good ship IchorCoal. I am very pleased to be writing that our medevac was safely and successfully completed as of 0914 UTC this morning.

With a plan in place yesterday evening I briefed the crew on what was likely to happen for the highline transfer. Over night the team prepared the deck for the arrival of the helicopter and the huge down draught that comes with it.

I had been in touch with the Coast Guard regularly throughout the night in order for me to keep them updated with our position, course and speed. Not long before first light I got the call on the sat phone that I had been waiting for, the call to say that the arrival of the SAR team was imminent.

Shortly after this the VHF crackled to life with an inbound call from the SAR plane. After a discussion about the case history and plan for the highline manoeuvre along with an ETA for the chopper, it was time to make the final preparations for the upcoming extraction.

Radar off - check. Dan bouy laid flat on deck - check. All deck lights and nav lights on - check, main down, time to get on deck and get that done!

Straight after the call, with a fresh coffee in hand I went up on deck to assess the weather conditions. Not more than a minute after climbing on deck I heard the unmistakable sound of a helicopter somewhere nearby in the clouds. Seconds later it appeared, a Cormorant rescue helicopter, sweeping under the low cloud base around our bow. Impressive, but not as impressive as what was yet to come.

The crew set straight to work on getting the main straight down to the deck, the boom lowered and the main lashed down good and tight. As this was on going Rescue 913 appeared out of the clouds. A huge, bright yellow saviour, hovering beneath the slate grey of the cloud.

The primary plan was for Rescue 913 to drop their first man directly onto our deck and then for him to guide their second man down with the use of a length of line.

Rescue 913 moved in directly above us. The noise was unfathomable, I could actually feel the throbbing of the rota blades run straight through my chest! As I had told the crew in the brief, any form of verbal communication became non impossible. All the on deck crew were now positioned on the foredeck so that they were well out of the way. The companion way and the nav station hatch were filled with faces, everybody keen to observe the rescue operation.

The chopper tracked us on our port quarter for about ten minutes, several times moving in over the top of the rig. The prevailing conditions were making things challenging, very challenging, so the chopper peeled off to a distance sufficient for us to be able to hear their call on the VHF.

The primary plan was abandoned and we switched over to the secondary plan.

Rescue 913 lowered a guide line onto our port quarter. Once we had contact the first man would be lowered to deck while being guided in by a member of crew on the end of the line. Cue Raff. I had already briefed him on the secondary plan so he was standing by.

What followed can best be described as the biggest, high pressure, most expensive game of hook a duck that you have ever seen! On the third or fourth pass we got the line on board.

As the first man was lowered to the deck, Raff guided him in, pulling as required on the line to ensure that he landed on the deck and not in the drink!

With the first man on the deck, the winch line went back up in order to lower the second man to us. The second man arrived on deck and went below to check the patient’s condition and brief him on the plan for his departure.

It certainly keeps the concentration levels high on the helm when you know that over your left holder there is a man holding a steel cable connected to a helicopter flying low, tracking your vessel!

Quickly the patient was on deck and prepped and ready to go. I managed to shake Chris’ hand quickly and wish him luck and then he and the second man were up, up and away, gone on the end of the line to Rescue 913. As soon as they were aboard the yellow saviour, the line came back down, I thanked the first man and then he too was gone.

The chopper peeled off again, I managed to grab the radio to call them and thank them for their assistance and then they were gone.

The total time of the whole operation was little more than 30 mins from when Rescue 913 began to track us for the primary plan. Once we changed to the secondary plan it took 14 mins from the time that we made contact with their guide line. Very impressive stuff. 14 minutes to lower two men, collect the casualty and extract all three people.

I must say a massive thank you to all involved in the rescue, everyone from the Clipper Race team, to each operator that I was in contact with, from Falmouth, the USA and Canada, both on the phone and via email, the air crews of both the C130 and Rescue 913 and of course the winch men that came down on the wire.

Myself and the crew would like to wish Chris a swift recovery. We are thinking of you.

This might be an amateur race, but from what I have seen from my team in the past 24 hours I can assure the crew of IchorCoal are anything but!

IchorOUT!



EARLIER BLOG:

A very professional response from an "amateur" crew.

As you know we have had an eventful 24 hours aboard the fine ship IchorCoal and the words I type here, I hope, will give you an understanding of how well the crew has handled the entire situation.

Our day was panning out in a very normal North Atlantic way; a bit of rain, reasonable wind and good boat speed. We went for a heavyweight hoist which went well. Within 5 minutes of hoisting the kite I spotted the luff line had come adrift so called for a quick drop before any damage was sustained. The drop went according to plan, Yankee 1 back up, kite down, staysail up, proper text book stuff.

Post kite drop I was sitting in the nav station pondering our next move when I was informed that a member of crew was suffering from chest pains. Without missing a beat our two medics, Davina Watson (Legs 7 and 8) and Trudy O'Donovan (Legs 5 and 8) were making an assessment and other members of the team were on hand to locate the medical supplies that were required.

I put in a quick call to our medical partner, Praxes, and gave them a run down on the situation, while at the same time checking the range and bearing of our closest safe haven, Halifax, Canada. With the situation stable they were able to confirm that we were handling the situation in the correct manner.

Next call was to Falmouth MRCC to make them aware of our developing situation and request some assistance. As a British flagged vessel Falmouth is the place you call in a situation like this, they will then make contact with which ever organisation is best suited to offer assistance.

My next move was to ask the on watch to prepare to reduce sail as I wanted to slow the boat down and calm the motion down as we still had quite a sea state. The deck was set for first reef, then with second reef, both of which went in perfectly.

With the addition of a few extra hands from the opposite watch we quickly assembled a team to head to the foredeck and douse the Yankee 1 and staysail. Some sterling work from the foredeck team and a fair bit of pinching from yours truly on the helm and the Yankee 1 halyard was smoked and the sail swiftly down and secured.

While all this was going on deck, medical care was continuing below decks. Next move was checking we were clear of lines in the water and getting the engine on to prepare to adjust course for Halifax, Nova Scotia.

With the call coming back up that below decks they were ready for the tack we engaged ahead and motored through the wind and started to lay best course for Halifax.

It soon became apparent that we would achieve better speed by re-hoisting the staysail, so the on watch swiftly had that re-hoisted and set. With various ongoing comms at first with the US Coast Guard and then the Canadian Coast Guard a plan was established to extract the crew member off IchorCoal via helicopter.

With the crew member stable, the fact that we were right on the edge of the range of the helicopter, which would mean they would have minimal time on scene due to fuel limitations, and by the time they would have reached our position there would have been very little day light left, the decision was made to go for the extraction at first light today.

As you know the Clipper Race is an amateur race, and this is often a talking point of both sailing press and regular press, never more so than when an incident unfolds. I would like to praise the crew for the manner that they have managed the events of today as they have developed. Each request from me has been carefully listened to, and subsequently executed. Each member of the team has done exactly what was required of them. I could not have asked for a more professional response from my team and they should all be very proud of themselves. I am certainly very proud of them today!

I would like all friends and family at home to know that all is well aboard, everybody is in good spirits and despite our situation there is still laughter in great supply. Fear not, the amazing IchorCoal crew has got it all under control.

As I write this, the patient is still stable, we are still making best course and speed north-west, the chopper is en route and heading to our position via an oil rig for a refuelling stop. I am expecting the chopper to be on scene with in the next 2 hours.

IchorOUT!

Hercules, Helicopters and Highlines.

A very good morning to all from the good shipIchorCoal. I am very pleased to be writing that our medevac was safely and successfully completed as of 0914 UTC this morning.

With a plan in place yesterday evening I briefed the crew on what was likely to happen for the highline transfer. Over night the team prepared the deck for the arrival of the helicopter and the huge down draught that comes with it.

I had been in touch with the Canadian Coast Guard regularly throughout the night in order for me to keep them updated with our position, course and speed. Not long before first light I got the call on the sat phone that I had been waiting for, the call to say that the arrival of the SAR team was imminent.

Shortly after this the VHF crackled to life with an inbound call from the SAR plane. After a discussion about the case history and plan for the highline manoeuvre along with an ETA for the chopper, it was time to make the final preparations for the upcoming extraction.

Radar off - check. Dan bouy laid flat on deck - check. All deck lights and nav lights on - check, main down, time to get on deck and get that done!

Straight after the call, with a fresh coffee in hand I went up on deck to assess the weather conditions. Not more than a minute after climbing on deck I heard the unmistakable sound of a C130 Hercules somewhere nearby in the clouds. Seconds later it appeared, sweeping under the low cloud base around our bow. Impressive, but not as impressive as what was yet to come.

The crew set straight to work on getting the main straight down to the deck, the boom lowered and the main lashed down good and tight. As this was on going Rescue 913 appeared out of the clouds. A huge, bright yellow saviour, hovering beneath the slate grey of the cloud.

The primary plan was for Rescue 913 to drop their first man directly onto our deck and then for him to guide their second man down with the use of a length of line.

Rescue 913 moved in directly above us. The noise was unfathomable, I could actually feel the throbbing of the rota blades run straight through my chest! As I had told the crew in the brief, any form of verbal communication became non impossible. All the on deck crew were now positioned on the foredeck so that they were well out of the way. The companion way and the nav station hatch were filled with faces, everybody keen to observe the rescue operation.

The chopper tracked us on our port quarter for about ten minutes, several times moving in over the top of the rig. The prevailing conditions were making things challenging, very challenging, so the chopper peeled off to a distance sufficient for us to be able to hear their call on the VHF.

The primary plan was abandoned and we switched over to the secondary plan.

Rescue 913 lowered a guide line onto our port quarter. Once we had contact the first man would be lowered to deck while being guided in by a member of crew on the end of the line. Que Raff. I had already briefed him on the secondary plan so he was standing by.

What followed can best be described as the biggest, high pressure, most expensive game of hook a duck that you have ever seen! On the third or fourth pass we got the line on board.

As the first man was lowered to the deck, Raff guided him in, pulling as required on the line to ensure that he landed on the deck and not in the drink!

With the first man on the deck, the winch line went back up in order to lower the second man to us. The second man arrived on deck and went below to check the patient’s condition and brief him on the plan for his departure.

It certainly keeps the concentration levels high on the helm when you know that over your left holder there is a man holding a steel cable connected to a helicopter flying low, tracking your vessel!

Quickly the patient was on deck and prepped and ready to go. I managed to shake Chris’ hand quickly and wish him luck and then he and the second man were up, up and away, gone on the end of the line to Rescue 913. As soon as they were aboard the yellow saviour, the line came back down, I thanked the first man and then he too was gone.

The chopper peeled off again, I managed to grab the radio to call them and thank them for their assistance and then they were gone.

The total time of the whole operation was little more than 30 mins from when Rescue 913 began to track us for the primary plan. Once we changed to the secondary plan it took 14 mins from the time that we made contact with their guide line. Very impressive stuff. 14 minutes to lower two men, collect the casualty and extract all three people.

I must say a massive thank you to all involved in the rescue, everyone from the Clipper Race team, to each operator that I was in contact with, from Falmouth, the USA and Canada, both on the phone and via email, the air crews of both the C130 and Rescue 913 and of course the winch men that came down on the wire.

Myself and the crew would like to wish Chris a swift recovery. We are thinking of you.

This might be an amateur race, but from what I have seen from my team in the past 24 hours I can assure the crew of IchorCoal are anything but!

IchorOUT!