The two vessels sailed together initially, but conditions began deteriorating around the fourth day near the Minerva Reef region, where a developing weather system forced both yachts to adjust course.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe realised the weather system was heading down over Minerva,\u201d Third Wind skipper George Oliver said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe went out west to go around the edge of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ended up about 40 miles apart but stayed in close contact with Steve all the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
The yacht Cahuna leaving Riverside Drive Marina, Whang\u0101rei, on June 11.<\/p>\n
During the worsening conditions, Dawson reported steering issues last Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Oliver said he advised him to check the stern. <\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018put your camera over the side and have a look to see whether your rudder\u2019s still there.\u2019 And he did and realised the rudder was gone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The loss left Cahuna without primary steering in winds up to 40 knots (70km\/h) and swells reaching 5m. <\/p>\n
\u201cI felt pretty gutted for him. There wasn\u2019t a lot we could do,\u201d Oliver said.<\/p>\n
On board the Cahuna are Dawson, 63, his daughter Shifrah Dawson, 19, experienced sailor Broch Carter, 23, and dive instructor Charlie Harris, 29.<\/p>\n
The Cahuna being approached by the Naida so that jerry cans of diesel could be floated across on a line.<\/p>\n
Lisa Dawson, the skipper\u2019s wife and a Whang\u0101rei medical oncologist, said conditions deteriorated rapidly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first 24 hours it was like they were in a washing machine,\u201d she told SunLive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were basically tossed about. It was pretty scary. <\/p>\n
\u201cSteve was taking the boat over to do the islands for five months, and the crew were there to experience crossing the Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n
The crew deployed a sea anchor to stabilise the vessel, but the line later snapped. They then improvised a drogue made from chain and rope to slow the boat while attempting control using sails and limited engine power.<\/p>\n
As conditions eased slightly, Dawson began building a makeshift rudder using a spinnaker pole and plywood. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very calm, is really clever on the boat and kept adapting and responding to each difficulty,\u201d Lisa said.<\/p>\n
The Cahuna under sail.<\/p>\n
Another setback came when a large wave flooded the yacht, destroying power tools. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey got slammed by a big wave, which flooded his toolbox and drowned all his power tools,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Despite this, Steve continued work on the jury-rigged rudder using a vacuum cleaner battery as a power source.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything that goes wrong, he finds a solution. He\u2019s very adaptable,\u201d Lisa Dawson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople call Steve the Bear Grylls of the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n
The crew also received assistance from the Canadian yacht Naida, which transferred diesel fuel across a line. However, a line became entangled in Cahuna\u2019s propeller, leaving the yacht unable to use its engine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just been one thing after another,\u201d Lisa said.<\/p>\n
The jerry cans supplied by Naida.<\/p>\n
Oliver said turning back to assist was not possible. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got the trade winds, and turning around would have endangered our boat and crew.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that about 300 yachts sailing this week from New Zealand to Fiji, as part of the Pacific Rally group, were also unable to help due to conditions. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cahuna crew has maintained contact via Starlink satellite communications, though power is limited. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got good connectivity with Starlink but it\u2019s a power hog, and they turn it off to save power,\u201d Lisa said.<\/p>\n
Despite the setbacks, Lisa said the four crew members have remained remarkably positive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve really been resilient, and they\u2019ve stayed positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shifrah Dawson sleeping on the saloon floor of the yacht Cahuna.<\/p>\n
She credited her husband\u2019s calm leadership and decades of sailing experience for helping keep morale high throughout the ordeal.<\/p>\n
Steve, a retired police officer, has completed the Fiji passage several times before and previously worked skippering charter flotillas through the Greek Islands.<\/p>\n
It was there that he met his future wife, English-born Lisa, in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n
Lisa spent 17 years working at Tauranga Hospital before moving north to help establish the cancer centre at Whang\u0101rei Hospital. <\/p>\n
While continuing her work this week, she is also keeping a close eye on weather forecasts and satellite updates.<\/p>\n
The YWAM Koha departed from Tauranga for Fiji on Saturday and is expected to reach the Cahuna on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Although the yacht is not considered in immediate danger and no mayday has been issued, maritime authorities have been notified. <\/p>\n
Lisa Dawson said towing was considered but estimated at about $180,000.<\/p>\n
Instead, help is now on the way. The YWAM Koha is expected to reach Cahuna midweek, bringing relief after days of uncertainty. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur captain is in direct communication with the skipper on the Cahuna and it is our intention to assist Cahuna as needed,\u201d YWAM Ships Aotearoa managing director Marty Emmett said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe captain and some of our technical advisors are working on calculations to make sure it is safe for the YWAM KOHA to tow Cahuna to safe anchorage in the Suva harbour. We are also seeking advice from our insurers and our legal counsel. But for now, the ship has altered course slightly to meet Cahuna on Wednesday and assist Steve and crew as much as we can.”<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everybody just felt real relief when we heard the YWAM Koha is coming,\u201d Lisa said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The two vessels sailed together initially, but conditions began deteriorating around the fourth day near the Minerva Reef…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[245831,245834,1443,74,14900,12471,42343,2566,71,305,7799,541,5836,31737,4754,83727,245833,11692,111,43,139,69,13572,10112,8527,245832,46451,2848,17093,1240,12633,80308,165,1529,61,9347,4998,686,1869,102,16506,28028,80],"class_list":["post-490222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-146m","tag-740km","tag-about","tag-after","tag-crew","tag-dealing","tag-failure","tag-fiji","tag-from","tag-have","tag-heads","tag-limited","tag-lost","tag-mechanical","tag-members","tag-miles","tag-nautical","tag-nearly","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pacific","tag-power","tag-rescue","tag-rudder","tag-sailor","tag-severe","tag-ship","tag-south","tag-spent","tag-stricken","tag-their","tag-three","tag-to","tag-veteran","tag-weather","tag-week","tag-whangrei","tag-with","tag-yacht","tag-younger","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}