Solo Sailor Missing

[Vasco]

Coast guard searches for adventurer feared lost at sea - The Globe and Mail

[Stillraining]

As always this is bad news...Hope he is just blown off course and bobbing about soon to pop back on radar.

[Connemara]

French CBC says he has a bunch of safety gear but not a "balise de secours" which translates as emergency beacon, or EPIRB, I guess.

[MarkJ]

Mr. Marcoux’s only means of communication is a short-range VHF radio. He couldn’t afford a satellite telephone or electronic radio beacon, according to his sister, Lucy Milroy.

So what else could'nt he afford?
Obviously couldn't afford to look at the pilot chart either. More wiskers on the wind rose this time of year that a cat.

Do we have to be nice on this forum to every cretin who sails from Seychelles toward Somalia or leaves Nova Scottia in the middle of winter?

Have a look at the pilot chart gale percentages and note the bit on the extratropical cyclone paths.... one romps straight over Nova Scottia.

With the weather rose pilot the 2 fat red lines are the percentage wave hight above 12 feet.

And he was heading direct to Bermuda so it would have included a Gulfstream crossing.

Words fail me.

[btrayfors]

As a matter of fact, it's the precisely RIGHT TIME to leave Halifax enroute to Bermuda and south. End of hurricane season. Many, many boats do this every year.

In fact, the annual migration from East Coast ports towards Bermuda and "I-65" generally involves hundreds of boats.

However, as MarkJ noted, things in the North Atlantic at this time of year can be very boisterous, so one has to be well prepared for whatever comes along.

Bill

[skipmac]

Based just on weather concerns, I would respectfully disagree that late fall is the right time to sail south from anywhere in the NE US or SE Canada. This schedule is right only in the context of a personal preference to spend the summer in the north and winter in FL or Carribbean, hence the seasonal exodus south in late fall every year.

If one is looking for the safest time to head south offshore the best weather window is late spring when the season for nor'easters is over and before hurricane season begins. Of course this puts the boat south in hurricane season and does not allow the traditional summer in the north, winter in the south lifestyle. For those that choose that lifestyle it has to be accepted that this includes a much higher risk of really bad weather on the trip south. Looking at the pilot charts and the history of lost and damaged boats on the southbound trip I think this is undeniable. Not saying it's wrong to make this choice, but it is a choice and like many that come in the cruising lifestyle, it does not come without risk.

[Blue Stocking]

When was the most recent revision and up-dating to the pilot charts for this area of ocean.
As a 65yr old born Bermudian, who has sailed these waters around Bermuda for 55yrs, I can tell you with certainty that the weather systems HAVE changed in the past 20 yrs.
Our "prevailing" south-westerly hardly exists any more.
The old story about going South this time of year i.e. sail SE from Bermuda for 2 days, flop over and then run to the Islands, does not happen any more.
Through-out the summer and fall we experience ESE and SE wind, some times quite strong, for far longer periods, and with more regularity, than 20 - 30 yrs ago.
Those cold (for Bermuda) Canadian lows don't seem to get as far South as they used to, and our NE atlantic gales have moved more to late Feb/March/ early April.
At this moment, I am looking at my boat and others facing SE on the moorings.
Not normal for this time of year.
Don't know where they are searching for Mr. Marcoux, but the lack of USCG choppers and C-130 activity around here (I live close to the airport and can see the field) tells me, its not close by.
Wish him luck.

[Connemara]

They appear to have called off the aerial search.

Connemara

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

When was the most recent revision and up-dating to the pilot charts for this area of ocean.
As a 65yr old born Bermudian, who has sailed these waters around Bermuda for 55yrs, I can tell you with certainty that the weather systems HAVE changed in the past 20 yrs.
Our "prevailing" south-westerly hardly exists any more.
The old story about going South this time of year i.e. sail SE from Bermuda for 2 days, flop over and then run to the Islands, does not happen any more.
Through-out the summer and fall we experience ESE and SE wind, some times quite strong, for far longer periods, and with more regularity, than 20 - 30 yrs ago.
Those cold (for Bermuda) Canadian lows don't seem to get as far South as they used to, and our NE atlantic gales have moved more to late Feb/March/ early April.
At this moment, I am looking at my boat and others facing SE on the moorings.
Not normal for this time of year.
Don't know where they are searching for Mr. Marcoux, but the lack of USCG choppers and C-130 activity around here (I live close to the airport and can see the field) tells me, its not close by.
Wish him luck.

This is interesting. I know it's bold to jump to such conclusions, but do you think the change has any relation to climate change?

That's not a political question, btw, so please let's not go down that path.

[Southern Star]

Mark, we don't have to be nice, but surely it is unnecessary to refer to him as a cretin, or to suggest that he couldn't 'afford' to look at the pilot charts. As has been pointed out, many boats depart the Canadian and US east coast for Bermuda in early November. Are there risks? Of course. But it is decidedly not the suicide voyage that you are attempting to portray it as.

The lack of an EPIRB, SSB radio and sat phone simply put him in the position most long-distance cruisers were in a few decades ago. And perhaps he takes the Blondie Hasler approach - that when one goes to sea, you make the decisions and do not rely upon others to bail you out when things go wrong. Blondie refused to have a radio for precisely this reason.

It sounds as if he spent his money on ensuring that the boat was seaworthy and ultimately, he didn't feel the need to use his limited resources on long-distance communications/rescue equipment. Not a choice that I would make, but one that I respect.

Here's to hoping that for he, his family and the rest of the sailing 'community', he has survived his latest adventure.

Brad

[James S]

Originally Posted by Southern Star

Mark, we don't have to be nice, but surely it is unnecessary to refer to him as a cretin, or to suggest that he couldn't 'afford' to look at the pilot charts. As has been pointed out, many boats depart the Canadian and US east coast for Bermuda in early November. Are there risks? Of course. But it is decidedly not the suicide voyage that you are attempting to portray it as.

The lack of an EPIRB, SSB radio and sat phone simply put him in the position most long-distance cruisers were in a few decades ago. And perhaps he takes the Blondie Hasler approach - that when one goes to sea, you make the decisions and do not rely upon others to bail you out when things go wrong. Blondie refused to have a radio for precisely this reason.

It sounds as if he spent his money on ensuring that the boat was seaworthy and ultimately, he didn't feel the need to use his limited resources on long-distance communications/rescue equipment. Not a choice that I would make, but one that I respect.

Here's to hoping that for he, his family and the rest of the sailing 'community', he has survived his latest adventure.

Brad

Well said Brad.

[kerrydeare]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

... Do we have to be nice ... to every cretin who sails from Seychelles toward Somalia or leaves Nova Scottia in the middle of winter? ... Words fail me ...

Many would agree that your words have failed you.

[Vic de Beer]

Sad to say, but I have to agree with Mark.
Anyone who tries out the trip from Nova Scotia (where I live) at this time of the year, has to be more prepared... a short range VHF will just not cut it . The water temperature alone is enough to have me haul my boat 2 weeks ago.

[Southern Star]

Vic, he left more than two weeks ago and I am confident that he had the pilot charts and knew what the water and air temperatures were like. Again, some rather well-respected sailors in the recent past have chosen to go to sea without long-range communication equipment; and, while it would not be your choice (nor mine), that decision does not speak to bad seamanship on the part of Hubert Marcoux any more than it did for Blondie Hasler.

Brad

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by sneuman

This is interesting. I know it's bold to jump to such conclusions, but do you think the change has any relation to climate change?

That's not a political question, btw, so please let's not go down that path.

Don't wish to hi-jack this thread, but as Mark referred to the info on the Pilot Charts, I thought I would pose my question as to their accuracy. Multiple sources on the net (I could not find an Official source) refer to these being constructed from information gathered during the 18th and 19th centuries.
We can all arrive at our own conclusion how this jibes with climate change
SO, what do we do?
Do we scrap these charts, and insist that all sailors, who intend to go out of sight of land, carry modern electronic weather tracking devices, and if you don't, we will not initiate rescue attempts?
OR, do we trust and respect each others right to assess our own ability to get by with minimal support data?
Why would any of us knowingly subject ourselves to the discomfort which often accompanies our voyages, when a cheap plane ticket would do a better job for us. Rhetorical question, don't bother to answer.
We go to sea because it fills a need in us which is infinitely individualized.
The satisfying of that need starts way before we board the boat.