Crew of S/V 'Sanctuary' Abandon Ship

[zeehag]

no judging but the sail covers were still on and jib furled tight. boat floating nicely but bouncy. fear takes many by the hand and leads them to doing what they feel is best for the others on board.
we do not know what was going on in that boat-- we dont know if the folks had ever been in weather. 40 kts i have sailed in-- i have sailed in 70+ kts in a sloop--wow what a ride--isnt something everyone just goes out and does. i have also been shipwrecked for a while on a spoils bank in 41 kt winds and short water(sloop in protected waters of a florida bay)!--can feel like a hurrycame, i swarez.
fear, as i said, does many things inside one's brain--skipper did have many to consider and maybe not that much heavy weather experience. the atlantic is no joke. i havent sailed atlantic buti have lived near it and taken cruise ship on it--in weather!!!! canbe a big and rough choppy ocean.

[bazzer]

Originally Posted by Cormorant

Pretty terrifying to have your life raft wash overboard as your boat slowly sinks lower. That's a footnote to the long "Liferaft: Yes or No?" thread currently running here.

Any idea how they contacted the CG? Was it via SSB or satellite phone?

Did they have an EPIRB onboard?

I thought the painter to the liferaft should be firmly attached to the boat so you can toss the thing overboard and let it inflate when a safe distance from the boat?
Bazzer

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Tropic Cat

No.. look at that video again and time the wave period. If you missed that, what else did you miss? In 40 or 50 knots, dodgers where I live get blown down or off the boat, or are removed before they rip off. Life rafts become sails. That's in Tropical Storm conditions, which is what we are talking about here.

Fair points, but if you look at the cloth onboard none of it looks exactly shredded. and if that is a dinghy on the foredeck then unless it's fixed down with 6 inch nails is a fair indication of what has not been coming over the bow.

I've never seen a gathering of Monday morning Quarterbacks like this.. I would suggest you wait until the captain posts here and then judge him.. We don't know the boat's condition or the captain's blue water experience.

I thought it was all quite mild and civilised - but I guess early days yet.......

How can we even try to figure out what happened until more facts surface?

Well, if Skipper / Owner has half a brain won't be saying anything until has come up with a version of the truth that is insurance company proof. and the cheque banked

[rgscpat]

Three friends of mine who were experienced inland/coastal sailors tried to take a well-found 44-footer from Richmond, California to the Pacific NW during the spring. They lasted for about 20 hours in near-gale conditions, which was more than enough to teach them the inadequacies of their portlights (couldn't be dogged to seal properly), foul weather gear, and stomachs, and persuade them to turn back and forget about the voyage. The boat's next offshore passage was south to Mexico during the autumn!

[SVNeko]

In '92, I was a younger man on my second NY - Bermuda - St. Tom run, when on the second leg (Bermuda -> SE to gain easting) we ran into the beginnings of Hurricane Francis. We were on a heavy 51' Union cutter, but the conditions were miserable and when the CG helo buzzed us and asked if we were OK, I wanted dearly to tell him to get us off. The skipper, much more experienced, waved him off, and we trudged on. I won't second guess this guy. That's a rough passage and many have turned back or given up.

PS. When we got to Charlotte Amalie, the first thing my mate and I did was find a bar. After 2 beers, a guy sits next to us and starts complaining about how rough his cruise ship trip was. Glasses sliding off the table, women crying, etc. We just picked up our drinks and slid down the bar a bit...

[Joli]

We get 10 12 footers here with a 4 second period, not much fun. Not sure what happened here, maybe the whole story will come out later. For sure the boat would have ridden better with a bit of sail out, best to press the boat to minimize motion.

[Charlie]

I'm not going to criticize but this is what I would have done on my boat. double reefed my main (that is all I have) and kept up my roller furling 100% jib. When that got to be too much sail I would have taken in my jib and gone on reefed main and hoisted staysail. If that got to be too much I would have left my staysail up still trying to forereach. If that was too much I would leave the styasail up and go down wind. As long as there is plenty of searoom that is a pretty good tactic. I have raced in 45 knots of wind carrying a Spinnaker. One thing I noticed is that with a full crew and having the good helmsmen aboard it was nice to have the power of the kite b/c the wind pulled you out of the rolls. A bad helmsman (or trimmer) and the boat was in trouble. With only a little sail up I think that a boat running downwind will wallow quite a bit. If the abovementioned don't work then I would let out my series drogue. Maybe you guys can share your ideas given the equipment that you have onboard. Here is a link to BethandEvans website which helped me to formulate my ideas. http://www.bethandevans.com/pdf/heavingto.pdf I think that things would be different on different types of boats.

[delmarrey]

No matter what the situation. It's the Captain's choice, or should be, to make choices in crew & gear. And to decide the fate of the boat. Nuff said!

[Mark1977]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

No matter what the situation. It's the Captain's choice, or should be, to make choices in crew & gear. And to decide the fate of the boat. Nuff said!

If the Captain decided to leave and i decided to stay would that make the boat mine?................SCORE NEW BOAT.....

[zeehag]

depends on what the judge says when he sues ye after changing his mind as boat didnt truly sink.
do salvage rights belong only to salvors or is anyone "allowed" said rights, in which case--capt abandons ship at sea--salvage begins.

[Celestialsailor]

Judging from the wind waves, I would say 12-15 ft. seas and 25-30kts of wind. The cruise ship looks to far away to be effective as a wind break. I agree with a few opinions here and that is the sails are furled and sail covers neatly done. Almost like the sails were not being used. In the video, the crew look in good shape and happy. No sign of a injured crew member. I am curious to see the report and why they abandoned her.

[jzk]

Originally Posted by zeehag

depends on what the judge says when he sues ye after changing his mind as boat didnt truly sink.
do salvage rights belong only to salvors or is anyone "allowed" said rights, in which case--capt abandons ship at sea--salvage begins.

Anyone can be a "salvor," except the original captain and crew. Many factors go into what the salvage award would be, but in this case I suspect at least 1/3 the value of the vessel would be in order.

[Blue Stocking]

Spend an hour researching SEVERE motion sickness.
Vomiting and diarrhea for a few days can cause neurological collapse resulting in imbalance, loss of co-ordination, mental breakdown, and even death.
During WW2 many soldiers died on the way to war aboard troop carriers from sea sickness.
I am not a medical person. I do get sick at times. Usually depending on the boat I'm on.
Something was serious enough to motivate leaving that boat.

[Connemara]

Just a comment that may have absolutely no relevance. Chartered a Bennie 34 this summer and found that it tracked like a drunk ... deep but not very long keel. Hand-steering it for any length of time was very tiring and we had benign weather. Thank god for Otto the Iron Sailor, say I.

If these guys had lost their autopilot in those conditions (which I agree don't look horrible, taking into account everything else everyone has said), they might have thought they couldn't keep sailing owing to exhaustion.

FWIW

Connemera

[Jd1]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

Spend an hour researching SEVERE motion sickness.
Vomiting and diarrhea for a few days can cause neurological collapse resulting in imbalance, loss of co-ordination, mental breakdown, and even death.
During WW2 many soldiers died on the way to war aboard troop carriers from sea sickness.
I am not a medical person. I do get sick at times. Usually depending on the boat I'm on.
Something was serious enough to motivate leaving that boat.

Whoa .... I had no idea ..... I wonder how often sea sickness gets THAT severe .....