After the cold of winter, northern sailors may be thinking about the wonders of a warm, tropical destination like Hawaii and some beautiful summer sailing. But not all is perfect, even in Hawaii. The Coast Guard was called to assist a 35-foot ketch named Steady Beat that experienced an “anchor failure” and went aground near Waikiki Beach Hotel.
USCG Sector Honolulu watch standers issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast (UMIB) notice to mariners, deployed a Station Honolulu 45-foot response boat-medium crew, and Coast Guard marine safety personnel responded.
The reported maximum pollution potential was 30 gallons of diesel fuel, engine lube oil and marine batteries. All 30 gallons of fuel were removed, along with lube oil from the engine, miscellaneous household cleaners and four marine batteries.
While tropical conditions are not always benign and a squall can be challenging, the conditions at the time of the grounding were reportedly 2-foot surf seas and a 3-mph wind — not exactly the type of weather that you’d expect to put a boat on the beach.
