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Good morning,
We have recently completed a passage from the Bay of Islands, NZ to Noumea, New Caledonia and I wish to comment on the process of issuance of our Category One certificate.
Firstly, I wish to state that our yacht inspector, Lester Smith was unfailingly helpful and obliging throughout what became a most trying situation. I cannot emphasise this enough.
Our certificate was issued by Lester at Whangarei on April 22nd. 2011. Approximately 3 weeks later we proceeded to Marsden Cove Marina, Whangarei with the intention of leaving on a weather window we thought we had identified. However, the window evaporated (as they do) and we instead proceeded to the Bay of Islands. In the meantime the original certificate had expired and Lester faxed an extension. We eventually left but my partner developed a medical condition which meant she lost conciousness on board when we were about 80 miles north of the BOI. So we turned back and her condition was diagnosed as an airway blockage into one lung which caused oxygen deprivation. With treatment and medication she is thankfully now fine.
Then, after another extension from Lester we left again hoping to beat a low pressure system which was approaching. However, conditions seemed to be getting worse and so we turned back yet again.
I want to again emphasise that these decisions to turn back were made solely in the interests of the boat and its crew and were most certainly justified on prudent safety grounds. However, we were then back in the BOI with a well expired Cat 1 certificate with all the attendant bureaucratic nonsense that that entailed. At one stage we had 3 different answers from Customs in one day on what they would require for future clearance!! From "just another fax" to a completely new Cat One.
My point is that, while I have no argument with the concept of documented safety standards, I most certainly condemn the nonsensical situation of 30 days currency for Cat One. In our case it most definitely was a contributry factor in making the decision to sail at various times and in that pressured environment it can act in exactly the opposite way from that intended - i.e. to promote safety for small vessels sailing from NZ.
You would be aware that picking weather windows from NZ's latitude in early winter is fraught at best and the pressure to sail within 30 days is a distraction that is clearly undesirable. I have no hesitation in expressing the opinion that continuing to insist that the 30 day time limit stands is no less than another expression of the NANNY STATE attitude which we are all saddled with these days in all sorts of areas. I hope that you are able to view and consider these comments in an objective manner and amend the Cat One requirements to relieve yacht skippers from this needless distraction when making decisions in the best interests of their boats and crew.
It certainly won't be worrying us because we will not be returning to NZ on the boat and so will be free of these types of nonsensical requirements in future.
Regards,
Jim Donald
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
c/o Port Moselle Marina,
Noumea,
New Caledonia
