Sad news:
Douglas Walling’s BCC #072, Calliste, was damaged when a tsunami
struck Langkawi Island, Malaysia, this morning.
A series of earthquakes, starting with one at Richter 8.9, took place
along a tectonic boundary running from the N end of Sumatra up to the
Nicobar Islands. The big one struck at 8:58 am local time. About one
hour later, the tsunami [tidal wave] smashed into Langkawi. About two
hours later, the tsunami hit Phuket Island, Thailand, and Sri Lanka
and the SE coast of India. The tsunami continued up the Bay of Bengal
to Bangladesh.
That earthquake is the 5th biggest on the planet this past 100 years.
More than 400 are believed dead from coastal settlements in Sri
Lanka. At least 10 were washed away from Phuket (including tourists
riding their motorcycles along the coast road at Patong Beach).
Douglas had taken Calliste from her usual berth in Rebak Marina,
Langkawi, to Telaga Harbor, to take on fuel and provisions before a
week of cruising around Langkawi and N into Thai waters.
Douglas said he was carrying provisions from his car along the
pontoon to Calliste when he saw a 10ft wall of water heading straight
into Telaga Harbor.
He said about one-quarter of the cruising yachts in Telaga were sunk;
another one-quarter were beached. The marina has effectively
disappeared. The local small scale fishing fleet has similarly been
devastated.
Calliste has lost her bowsprit and bobstay. The rig is still up. She
may have suffered structural damage when being bashed against
pontoons etc. The hull is not making water at the moment, but a haul-
out and careful survey will be needed - and it’s likely that all
boatyards and slips in SE Asia are going to be v busy in the near
future.
Douglas said it was like a hurricane, just no wind or rain.
Early reports suggest Rebak Marina also suffered damage, to both
pontoons and boats.
Cheers
Bil
BCC28-116 Zygote. Marina Batu Uban, Penang, Malaysia