65-Year Old Woman, Newlywed, Lost at Sea near Land's End

[David_Old_Jersey]

That not a voyage to be taken lightly, even at the best of times. Add in the time of year (where bad weather / challenging conditions would not be unexpected) and the fact it is a new (to her) boat and had only just been bought (so was untested by her). Being a bit rusty would not have helped either. Whilst I won't say that the trip was doomed to failure - was IMO certainly going to be challenging past fun from the getgo.....sometimes it doesn't take much to go wrong.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by boatman61

The most useful comment so far here is that on a narrow boat (meaning that your body length exceeds more than half the beam, I suppose!) is more logically rigged with jacklines on the centerline than along the sidedecks.

A1... as stated before... I don't use them.. but if you are going to use them the centre line is the most sensible... running along the side deck is just sheer stupidity and a vain attempt at seamanship... bad seamanship at that...

Certainly food for thought. Thankfully we don't need to leave the cockpit of our Moody 31 (identical boat) to reef but if she tried this is what she would have been working on. Not bad for the boats size but one rouge wave would have you straight over the side.

Setting sail an hour before dusk to round Lands End allegedly without charts and waterproof clothing is just asking for trouble.

Pete

[DeepFrz]

You guys advocating jacklines on the center line, how did you stay clipped on while you climbed out of the cockpit and past the dodger to get to the jackline?

[delmarrey]

I think her CE was too much for the CLR to over come, which put her over the side, jack-line or not.

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

I smell a mouse in the woodwork

The couple divorced, just remarried. She either had a great deal of money, or a wonderful personality. (See photo)

Fell off the boat? In calm seas? Then bad weather hits? Sailed alone?

I smell insurance issues.

If she truly met her demise in this way, I am so sorry for her family.

Ten bucks says this gal shows up in a Google maps image in south America on the beach.

My thoughts to her and her loved ones if this is a genuine accident. I too can't help but think of a certain canoe-man lol.

[GaryMayo]

I can't help but remember the old movie "Sleeping With The Enemy" with Julia Roberts. Mingle this with an older movie, "Double Indemnity" with a hint of "Throw Mamma From The Train" and possibly we have the makings of a something not as it seems.

In the photo, does anyone discern stupid as you look at her? I see a woman that knows what she wants, and has seldom been disappointed. Maybe a fresh out of college kid would try such a stunt, but this woman would have more intelligence than that.

I could see her meeting a powerboat out at sea, not very far from where she started. Possibly towing the sailboat a bit, possibly letting the winds and currents do the work.

I don't see her being dumb, more like, dumb like a fox.

If she had a date with Neptune that day, I am incorrect, and maybe a little callus. I have worked with people for many years in the lending business. You would be surprised the stories I have listened to over the years. I also have friends in law enforcement. While we would hope all the world was bright and honest, many a folk tend to work in the shadows and hide much of what they are really doing.

The boating accident where 28 people ended up in the water and three kids died. That was a real accident, where people were at fault and people paid dearly for the errors of a captain and crew. I don't see this as an accident. If I were her insurance company, I would be dragging my feet on this one, while I checked all the loose ends. There is more to this, some avenue has a four lane highway we have not heard about.

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by Mr B

You cant swim at 5 knots.I was very aware of that one,

what is it, 75 % of men that have gone overboard have been found with their fly undone,

So many ways to fall over board, Hit with the boom, Just losing balance, sudden wave action, A moments inattention,

Very unfortunate,

Sadly the coast is not our friend in bad weather and we are in dangerous territory when we venture out to sea alone with experience behind us. When we go out alone without experience it is probably akin to a field of landmines being walked into. I wonder how far off the coast she was and whether she had used charts to check for rocks etc? In any event, I agree it is a tragic loss.

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

I can't help but remember the old movie "Sleeping With The Enemy" with Julia Roberts. Mingle this with an older movie, "Double Indemnity" with a hint of "Throw Mamma From The Train" and possibly we have the makings of a something not as it seems.

In the photo, does anyone discern stupid as you look at her? I see a woman that knows what she wants, and has seldom been disappointed. Maybe a fresh out of college kid would try such a stunt, but this woman would have more intelligence than that.

I could see her meeting a powerboat out at sea, not very far from where she started. Possibly towing the sailboat a bit, possibly letting the winds and currents do the work.

I don't see her being dumb, more like, dumb like a fox.

If she had a date with Neptune that day, I am incorrect, and maybe a little callus. I have worked with people for many years in the lending business. You would be surprised the stories I have listened to over the years. I also have friends in law enforcement. While we would hope all the world was bright and honest, many a folk tend to work in the shadows and hide much of what they are really doing.

The boating accident where 28 people ended up in the water and three kids died. That was a real accident, where people were at fault and people paid dearly for the errors of a captain and crew. I don't see this as an accident. If I were her insurance company, I would be dragging my feet on this one, while I checked all the loose ends. There is more to this, some avenue has a four lane highway we have not heard about.

When I looked at the pic of her I was thinking of a lottery winner with sudden amounts of money trying to do something adventurous. Her husband's comment that she was not inexperienced seems so typical of a denial of the truth. Sitting down with an experienced yachtsman does not make one experienced by a long shot. I guess we are all adults and are entitled to place our lives at risk in the manner we choose. It appears her decision was a bad and fatal one.

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Certainly food for thought. Thankfully we don't need to leave the cockpit of our Moody 31 (identical boat) to reef but if she tried this is what she would have been working on. Not bad for the boats size but one rouge wave would have you straight over the side.

Setting sail an hour before dusk to round Lands End allegedly without charts and waterproof clothing is just asking for trouble.

Pete

That pic of the Moody 31 shows just how much margin there is between dry/hard and wet/soft. Thanks for the insight.

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

That not a voyage to be taken lightly, even at the best of times. Add in the time of year (where bad weather / challenging conditions would not be unexpected) and the fact it is a new (to her) boat and had only just been bought (so was untested by her). Being a bit rusty would not have helped either. Whilst I won't say that the trip was doomed to failure - was IMO certainly going to be challenging past fun from the getgo.....sometimes it doesn't take much to go wrong.

I fully agree with you there. Common sense did not prevail in this case it appears.

[GaryMayo]

I did a little googling on our lost at sea 65 year old, and her life is pretty interesting.

She is wealthy by marriage. 5 times, twice to the same guy, her current husband. He is listed as a millionaire, a rich farmers son.

The sailboat, was a wedding present to her from her husband.

The woman had captains papers, and at one time, was in the Royal Navy according to her husband.

The best story I have seen so far is here

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-vanished.html

No one saw her leave the marina early in the morning, but later in the day, some 40 miles away, she hit another boat, twice, as she got too close.

The boat she hit, claims by the captain, she had no charts, and no safety equipment, not even a life vest. The woman claimed it was as easy to sail, as drive a car (while she hit another boat in open waters twice.)

She was on a channel 4 documentary called The Pawn King, showing her pawning items between husbands.

She has four children and several grandkids.

The evening before, many people told her she could not make that sail alone, while she ate in a cafe at the marina. She had just finished a refresher sailing lesson, which she passed, in calm protected waters. She thought the trip was 60 miles, but turns out to be 140 nautical miles.

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

I did a little googling on our lost at sea 65 year old, and her life is pretty interesting.

She is wealthy by marriage. 5 times, twice to the same guy, her current husband. He is listed as a millionaire, a rich farmers son.

The sailboat, was a wedding present to her from her husband.

The woman had captains papers, and at one time, was in the Royal Navy according to her husband.

The best story I have seen so far is here

Mary Unwin: She insisted on sailing solo round Land's End on the yacht she'd just been given, Now she's vanished | Mail Online

No one saw her leave the marina early in the morning, but later in the day, some 40 miles away, she hit another boat, twice, as she got too close.

The boat she hit, claims by the captain, she had no charts, and no safety equipment, not even a life vest. The woman claimed it was as easy to sail, as drive a car (while she hit another boat in open waters twice.)

She was on a channel 4 documentary called The Pawn King, showing her pawning items between husbands.

She has four children and several grandkids.

The evening before, many people told her she could not make that sail alone, while she ate in a cafe at the marina. She had just finished a refresher sailing lesson, which she passed, in calm protected waters. She thought the trip was 60 miles, but turns out to be 140 nautical miles.

Crikey ... a comedy of bad judgement and errors ... except for the tragic loss of life. But then again, the Darwin awards now have something to add to their collection.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

I could see her meeting a powerboat out at sea, not very far from where she started. Possibly towing the sailboat a bit, possibly letting the winds and currents do the work.

There is more to this, some avenue has a four lane highway we have not heard about.

I can see how people would consider this. She drove an Aston Martin, just re-married a millionaire and was used to money and the finer things it bought. So why then did she buy a 1984 Moody 31 for £32,000 (50,000)? wouldn't be the obvious choice. Also the yacht had a fin keel, nothing odd in that except her final destination was a completely drying harbour with hard sand, not a marina

I think deliberately trying to crash the yacht onto those rocks without being seen (it's a popular tourist destination) taking into account the opposing currents at Lands end would actually be extremely difficult. There is just a good a chance the yacht would float off and disappear out to sea as break up on the shore, and you would want some wreckage to explain what had happened.

That said, I think she either went overboard or fell inside the yacht possibly from hitting one of the low lying offshore rocks on that coast as darkness approached. She was just too confident of her own abilities.

Pete

[Bluewaters2812]

She was just too confident of her own abilities.

Pete[/QUOTE]

Pete, I just don't think "confident of her own abilities" springs to mind with me lol. Now; ignorance and stupidity and the Darwin awards do. I remember the TV program a while back and remember thinking just how I thought about her then (not very intelligent but certainly cunning). Just my 2 cents as our American friends would put it.

[Richard5]

Gary Mayo, don't forget "Overboard" with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.

For you folks thinking of ne'er do well plotting, perhaps you might consider that she was to rendevous with another boat while enroute. Perhaps the boat she hit twice was her attempt to board the other boat. Something went awry and she could not be retrieved from the water. Or, the accident boat was a case of mistaken identity and she sailed on to eventually meet up with the correct boat.

You're welcome.