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Old 04-06-2014, 21:38   #31
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Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

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10 hours from Alameda to the gate doesnt make any sense. Even in bad conditions , it is only a few hours sail. I wonder if he pulled away from the dock, and went out and anchored someplace to get away from the Yacht Club crowd, friends trying to get you drunk, or just the stress of leaving. On several deliveries, I waved goodby to the dock crowd, and went a few miles to a quiet cove and anchored for the night, so that I could get my mind settled for a passage, or to get my crew acclimated to the boat, without the distractions of the dock crowd. Leaving after a good nights sleep is always better than leaving tired, late in the day because of delays, or too much partying. I doubt we will ever know, but there is no logical reason (that I can see) for 10 hours. ______Grant.

Grant, I agree with your view of the timeline. I'm next door at Fortman and with an ebb, it started at 1605 local time Sunday, it's less that 2 hours to the gate in my boat, probably a little longer for him. Maybe he went out the gate, had a problem with his engine, got pushed back into the bay, flood started at 2054 local time, and just waited too long to call for assistance? Strange, but after the disappearance of Dr. Jim Grey and his boat, Tenacious, seven years ago, nothing that happens like this in the waters surrounding S.F. surprises me.
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Old 04-06-2014, 23:46   #32
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Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

I was wondering if he didn't drop a hook in Horseshoe Cove, which is right inside the bay next to the GG Bridge. There's a mooring ball there that you can anchor during daylight hours only, but a friend told me he used to anchor there at night to get an early leave to go fishing offshore. The skipper could have gotten there by 2100 or 2200 if he sailed all the way from Alameda. Then if something happened as he was pulling up the anchor a few hours later, that could explain why the boat was pushed outside with the tide before floundering on the rocks. Max ebb was at 0200 and the EPRIB signal was received at 0415. This could also explain why he might not have been tethered in yet. Though we will probably never know for sure.....RIP.
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Old 05-06-2014, 00:55   #33
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Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

Did they say how close the body was found to the boat?
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Old 05-06-2014, 02:09   #34
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Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

Pelagic,

The boat was sunk near Yellow bluffs, on the Marin Headland; the body found at Angel Is., what you would expect on a flood tide, if things were straightforward. I feel really puzzled by this whole incident. We may not ever find out what happened to Mr. Ewing, because the Marin coroner has no obligation to tell Cf. The ways waters flow in SF Bay and beyond are extremely complicated. There's a Bay model you can view in Sausalito, and I found it amazing when I went.

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Old 05-06-2014, 08:38   #35
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Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

My wife was saying that they suspect he was hit by a freighter? I have not heard this...
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Old 05-06-2014, 09:44   #36
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Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

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My wife was saying that they suspect he was hit by a freighter? I have not heard this...

I'm local and haven't heard that either. This picture on the Latitude 38 site shows the boat on the rocks at Yellow Bluff, mast and main up, no damage to the area of the hull that can be seen. I would have thought the mast would be down if he had encountered a freighter.

http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/...wingAlmaLL.jpg
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Old 05-06-2014, 10:06   #37
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pirate Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

Looks like his jib is in the water at the bow.. quite likely he was setting it up and went over.. tripped.. whatever..
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Old 05-06-2014, 10:06   #38
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Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

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I was wondering if he didn't drop a hook in Horseshoe Cove, which is right inside the bay next to the GG Bridge. There's a mooring ball there that you can anchor during daylight hours only, but a friend told me he used to anchor there at night to get an early leave to go fishing offshore.
That buoy was never for tying up to. It has not been there for at least six months or more. The bottom inshore from the main jetty is horrible for anchoring.
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Old 05-06-2014, 10:38   #39
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Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

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Looks like his jib is in the water at the bow.. quite likely he was setting it up and went over.. tripped.. whatever..

Certainly possible, except that he set off his EPIRB and a personal tracking device. I haven't heard if the EPIRB was found aboard or not. If it was manually activated and still on the boat, it would mean that he probably didn't go over the side. If it was activated by immersion, then again, he probably didn't go over the side, unless he was holding it at the time. If it was just the personal tracking device that had been activated, then I'd agree that in all likelihood he went over. The puzzling thing is it's just over 11 miles from the marina that he left from sometime after 6:00 pm on Sunday evening and the distress devices were activated around 4:20 am on Monday morning, 10 hours later. He had an ebb tide until 8:54 pm. It's possible that he missed the tide and decided to anchor and wait for the next ebb, which began at 2:28 am. Once you reach the GG Bridge, there's still 3+ miles before you get any type of relief from the current. A boat with a small engine and no wind can do a lot of sailing in reverse here when opposing the tides.
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Old 05-06-2014, 12:41   #40
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Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

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That buoy was never for tying up to. It has not been there for at least six months or more. The bottom inshore from the main jetty is horrible for anchoring.
It's possible we're not talking about the same buoy or maybe things have changed because my friend said he tied up to this buoy a while ago, not recently. I should have made clearer that I don't have first-hand knowledge of that cove and what can be tied up in there or not. This was just an idea that I thought made some sense in what is a pretty senseless situation
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Old 05-06-2014, 13:19   #41
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Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

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Certainly possible, except that he set off his EPIRB and a personal tracking device. I haven't heard if the EPIRB was found aboard or not. If it was manually activated and still on the boat, it would mean that he probably didn't go over the side. If it was activated by immersion, then again, he probably didn't go over the side, unless he was holding it at the time. If it was just the personal tracking device that had been activated, then I'd agree that in all likelihood he went over. The puzzling thing is it's just over 11 miles from the marina that he left from sometime after 6:00 pm on Sunday evening and the distress devices were activated around 4:20 am on Monday morning, 10 hours later. He had an ebb tide until 8:54 pm. It's possible that he missed the tide and decided to anchor and wait for the next ebb, which began at 2:28 am. Once you reach the GG Bridge, there's still 3+ miles before you get any type of relief from the current. A boat with a small engine and no wind can do a lot of sailing in reverse here when opposing the tides.
Sounds like he missed the tide. In a small boat underpowered vessel that is a problem. I bet he foundered with the narrows and tide then something happened like engine failure or went overboard while trying to anchor?

If the jib is in the water he may have dropped the jib then was gonna throw the anchor and instead hit bottom and fell in the water at some point?
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Old 05-06-2014, 13:47   #42
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Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

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Originally Posted by gamayun View Post
It's possible we're not talking about the same buoy or maybe things have changed because my friend said he tied up to this buoy a while ago, not recently. I should have made clearer that I don't have first-hand knowledge of that cove and what can be tied up in there or not. This was just an idea that I thought made some sense in what is a pretty senseless situation
Understood about not local personal knowledge. FYI, you friend should not have done that. There was never a ring on the top of that buoy, so I have no idea how he did that! It's a small cove and everything that's there can be seen on the charts.
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Old 05-06-2014, 13:55   #43
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Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

pretty amazing he ended up on angel quite frankly.
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Old 05-06-2014, 16:55   #44
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Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

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Sounds like he missed the tide. In a small boat underpowered vessel that is a problem. I bet he foundered with the narrows and tide then something happened like engine failure or went overboard while trying to anchor?

If the jib is in the water he may have dropped the jib then was gonna throw the anchor and instead hit bottom and fell in the water at some point?
This scenario seems to make most sense that the boat foundered on rocks. Depending on EPIRB location...he may have set it off then tried to save and fend small boat off of rocks by jumping into shallows.
Unfortunately he lost the battle and his life or maybe he tried to just swim for it.
Perhaps a medical examination will speak about abrasions
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Old 05-06-2014, 17:27   #45
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Re: Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

We'll never know what happened. Nevertheless, conjecture is good if we learn a lesson.

Our futures are unknown.

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