Missing 75´s.y. Lady Domina

[sinbad7]

Anne.. But how do you know they did´nt have visitor´s visa. Perhaps Oeyvind instructed them to GET visa when he hired them? Surely both Oeyvind and Katie must have had visitors visa long ago they way they travelled around the Caribbean.
Katie also worked as crew delivering a boat to the US two months earlier,so she must´ve had a visa.

Whatever their very short visit to San Jose entailed,it would have been possible for ONLY Oeyvind and Katie to get a shore visiting permission,while the others remained in ´quarantine´on board.

Tore

[Anne]

Yup, okay, that's answered my query.

[Boatguy30]

So these guys were hired crew? I had assumed they were pay as you go adventurers. I was going to suggest that's why the trip is taking so long as perhaps they signed on to pay say $25 per day so the "captain" was in no hurry to make port.

[Anne]

I don't think Tore mean "hired" as in paying these guys money per day. I think "hired" means Oyvind advertised for crew, with expenses shared and an adventure. Remember, Oyvind doesn't have much cash.

[sinbad7]

Are there any boats in the vicinity of San Juan who would be willing to pay a visit in person to the coastguard and have confirmed once and for all that Lady Domina actually was present in San Juan harbor and departed on the 5th April?

We also need to know HOW she could have arrived unnoticed on or around the 2-3 April from St. Martin as the coastguard have no records of her having arrived,just departed?

Tore

[Astrid]

So what happened to the presumed weather request from LD to the USCG in Puerto Rico around May 3?

[la vida nueva]

Ann,

Do you live in the area? Would it be possible for you to go to Puerto Rico and meet with these people eye to eye?

Here is my THEORY, which I got from practical experience. I bet they entered Puetro Rican waters, but did not want to pay fees for all of the people PLUS maybe the yacht. Perhaps they raised the q flag, or maybe not. However, as they LEFT Puerto Rican waters they called the Coast Guard and said they were simply 'checking out', having never formally entered the waters.

I suggest the people interested in working on this case form a group, start sharing mutual information, and form a cohesive strategy. I suggest Tore serve as the coordinator of the group and we share information via a google group or google spreadsheet.

It is clear we need to solve the issues with Puerto Rico. It is the foundation of a search grid, last know location, possible route, many things.

That is my thinking. Together we can solve anything, independently we are one grain of sand on a beach full of sand.

Tim

[la vida nueva]

When you think of going to Puerto Rico, you think of "landing" at Puerto Rico. Going to Puerto Rico does not necessarily mean anyone landed, or intended to land in Puerto Rico. It is real easy to sail into the coastal territory of another country, say nothing, and if you get caught play dumb. I can't believe these guys would have paid all of the fees that were necessary to formally land when they had no plans on staying. Rather, just hunch, they sailed "through" Puerto Rican waters and on their way out announced their departure to the Coast Guard. Maybe they raised the Q and maybe they didn't even do that.

On my phone call today to the Puerto Rican authorities, I could not dial their toll free number as they consider me out of their region. So I called (787) 729-6840. The guy seemed a little confused about what I was after, but I finally heard him clicking away at something, likely his computer. He said the LD never cleared into the country. He even asked me how to spell Domina.

Think about it from the perspective of the people. The captain was not willing to buy an epirb or sat phone, was he going to spend $500 clearing into a country he did not plan to really visit?

[Anne]

Tim. I'm in Bonnie Scotland at the moment, so, probably not the best person to be trotting along to an office in Puerto Rico!!!

[carstenb]

I hate to tell you this - but the USCG get very uptight about boats even transiting US waters without checking in when they are about 30 nm out.

No way this boat "just sailed into harbour with the Q flag and then just left again."

And landing without a visa will get you a major third degree questioning. Even if you are landing because you have engine trouble or the like.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by carstenb

I hate to tell you this - but the USCG get very uptight about boats even transiting US waters without checking in when they are about 30 nm out.

No way this boat "just sailed into harbour with the Q flag and then just left again."

And landing without a visa will get you a major third degree questioning. Even if you are landing because you have engine trouble or the like.

That might explain the disappearance .

They either got droned or are in one of the secret prisons for furriners which the USA does not have. Apart from being furriners, were those onboard on the dusky end of the spectrum by any chance?

[la vida nueva]

Thanks for the response, the thing is, we have no proof they landed. I think they may have just transited. At any rate, the fellow in PR seemed sure they had not checked in. But I think a second go may reveal more.

[sinbad7]

In my opinion,the LD is either down there in Davey Jones locker,having encountered the storm SW of the Azores around 24 April, OR she is now far away on her way to the Shetland Islands approaching Aalesund and the fish farm he recently aquired.

What is strange is that the friends of Oeyvind and Katie has been told the trip would take around TWO MONTHS whilst the crew and families have been told 14 days to the Azores and ditto to Aalesund,i.e. ONE MONTH.

I think we should shift the search from the Caribbean to the NW part of the Norwegian Sea and ask the Norwegian coastguard to be on the alert for her arrival.

Tore

[neilpride]

Originally Posted by sinbad7

In my opinion,the LD is either down there in Davey Jones locker,having encountered the storm SW of the Azores around 24 April, OR she is now far away on her way to the Shetland Islands approaching Aalesund and the fish farm he recently aquired.

What is strange is that the friends of Oeyvind and Katie has been told the trip would take around TWO MONTHS whilst the crew and families have been told 14 days to the Azores and ditto to Aalesund,i.e. ONE MONTH.

I think we should shift the search from the Caribbean to the NW part of the Norwegian Sea and ask the Norwegian coastguard to be on the alert for her arrival.

Tore

LD Engine run with salt water?? where is the fuel for such a journey?

2 months running 24/7 for any engine is a real test , and for the crew a nightmare, 2 months in a crappy vessel at low speed and no sails apart for a old jib, you must be kidding!!!

I could agree with other poster about a fast sinking in a dark night.... or a old liferaft drifting in the midle of nowhere ....

[sinbad7]

OK,we´re grasping at straws here,but rather than giving up,owing to the VHF call overheard by Blue Dolphin 5 May,what other options do we have? Refuelling in Bermuda???

Tore