Crew of S/V 'Sanctuary' Abandon Ship

[Quarter Boy]

Originally Posted by chala

There is some trail lines. If the video is real time then it did not take very long to get connected. In any case a fairly common procedure for transferring goods at sea.

The 3 min 31 seconds of video appended to post #384 was compiled from a series of five snippets. [my camera card was near full and maxed out on the last 3 second long snip.]

However; from run time marker 1 min 07 sec (start of the final run in) to 3min 26 sec (hooked on and lifting) the video was real time. Watching every heave, swing, duck and miss it seemed to take forever. In reality, as you say, not long at all.

QB

[Captain_Orion]

Thanks Dave for your comment.

For those who are not aware yet, the NARC Rally boats experienced similar difficult conditions in the same area.

The NARC Rally 2011 Report

S/V ''Triple Stars'' lost a crew at sea and abandoned ship.
S/V ''Elle'' abandoned ship.
Several sailboats called for help and/or did not make it to Bermuda....

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Quarter Boy

Each of the lower fall blocks had rope pennants attached, possibly of 6 to 8 feet length. Replay my video (post #384) and you can clearly, if briefly, see both pennants lash by as the blocks slide off the cabin tops.

Pennant lines are great for a first grab in calmer seas but not much help in presenting the block's lower ring to the engagement hook when a boat is dancing around to the degree seen here.

QB

Buga..... gonna have to move up to +2.5...
Could not see them....

[Captain_Orion]

Originally Posted by Mark1977

Well put. I hope the Captain will stick around the forum as well, his 44 years experience will be an asset to our community.

I am willing to share m this experience with my fellow boaters.
There is always room to become a better sailor.
It was a tough experience but I am really happy to have saved my crew's life.
If you look at what happened to s/v ''Triple Stars'', it could have been more tragic.

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by Hud3

Thanks, QB. I was impressed to see the way the Captain used his thrusters to push the ship sideways to create a really nice slick for the lifeboat. The lifeboat operator was using both engines to keep station, but you can see that the water upwelling from below the ship as it moved sideways seemed to help him keep the lifeboat from banging against the side of the ship.

Hud,

I noticed that nice slick too! The seas calmed down quite a bit when the rescue craft was in it. That's what the Pardey's and others mention is the goal when heaving too. Which is a tactic that makes the most sense to me especially when short handed crew wise. Though I'm hoping to practice, practice, practice the technique first to see how well my boat can do it. Trying to learn it in storm conditions seems like a very bad idea. But, knowing how to do it IMO looks like to be one of the best options when things get dicey.

[Captain_Orion]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

Captain Thierry Simon, thank you for your forbearance, candor and patience, in sharing your experiences on this forum.

You are welcome.

[Captain_Orion]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

This is a very mischievous post. What purpose does it serve ?

As to the issues

- heaving to. Anyone who has sailed such typical modern boats knows that heaving to doesn't work above a certain wind and sea state. The boat will simply not lie in that state for any length of time. Any sea that I can heave to in , I could actually sail in.

Pardys, sea anchors, etc- I have all the Pardys stuff. I disagree with most of it as it's specific to their experience in a particular boat. Little translates well to modern canoe bodied fin keel and spade rudder boats.

Boat strength - I'd be very suprised that the hull was actually delaminating. The Captain provides no real insight as to how he knew. Despite some people views. These boats are strong and well built. They so have drawbacks in bad weather especially in battery security.

Delivery issue. - small boat delivery is a tricky game, you are taking an uncoded vessel. You generally do not know the underlying problems and this is just the way it is. They did have all the basic gear and beacons sat phone etc.

Crew. Whether the crew is paying or not very few are " professionals ". They are there for fun. Hence if it gets to the point where there is a serious risk of injury or typically the crew get very frightened, thees really not much you can do but ask to be rescued. Continuing on risks the crew, never mind the boat.

In the days of commercial sail. The boat was more important then the crew. Crew were regulary lost on stormy passages. This was the accepted thing. It is not anymore and especially on leisure vessels

Whether the Captain should be penalised or whatever is irrelevant. No comparison is really possible between large ships and small pleasure vessels. Small vessels and their crew get overwhelmed quite easily.

Learning. - while listening to the report etc , it's my experience that little can be learned in these incidents. Most of the real issues and dynamic occurs between the crew. The construction of modern boat interiors also renders them very poor at crew protection. The inside turns into missiles, the crew gets battered about, batteries break loose. Diesel seeps out etc. Hence crew safety means getting them off the boat.

This is a fact of life of most modern yachts ranging from the cheaper mass produced ones right up to quite expensive semi custom ones.


Dave

I totally agree with your comment.

[jimijams]

We came across this boat on tuesday morning on our way to Bermuda from Maine. It was way to rough for us to board her safely. She's still floating pretty high and in decent looking shape (sails are still in place).

[boatman61]

Not a mega surprise...
its often the case...
Boats just Love to make one look Stoopid....

[Vasco]

Nearly a month later and she's still floating. Might make Ireland yet.

[SaltyMonkey]

What would happen if she pulled right into a slip all by herself?

[Cormorant]

Originally Posted by jimijams

We came across this boat on tuesday morning on our way to Bermuda from Maine....

Did you note the lat/long? Just curious about how these things drift out there in the stream with frequent opposing winds.

[Rocketman]

It has not been a month, it has been 3 months!!!! Is it realy possible that its been floating out there all this time? I think I remember it had solar power on board, could that have charged that batterys enough to keep the bilge pump working? I would love to know the true condition of the boat today. Anyone want to try and find it?

[sabray]

Impossible. The boat in this thread was sinking were in not for the manual pump she would have gone with the crew. Conditions were expected to get worse maybe unsurvivable. No engine or electronics no electric bilge pump.

[GeoPowers]

Actually it has been just under one month....

I wouldn't be terribly surprised, there was never an actual determination of the source or magnitude of the flooding. It easily could have been from the stern air intakes which might take on a respectable amount of water during a knockdown...

Jimijams, did you snap some pics of the boat? Can you post them?

Nothing like a ghost boat to muddy the waters of abandoning the vessel, or for lying a hull...

many thanks,

Frank