Yet another disaster at sea

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by NYSail

And why not sail it back? Just head west and they would eventually hit land…. Compass does not need electronics. And assume the wave washed out the engine as well? Too many questions and not enough information.

I would think that they would want to sail east to hit the West Coast of Florida.
It is really a shame that people like this are allowed to call themselves sailors.

Al

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by barcoMeCasa

"The Coast Guard rescued two people and their dog from a boat taking on water, 90 miles off the Florida Coast."

Smashed porthole. Water coming in. VHF kept working long enough to send a DSC.

Sounds like a bit more going on than just a chartplotter not working....

I think it was an EPIRB, and not a DSC call. From the article, I assumed that their VHF radio was down along with their navigational electronics.
Still no reason that they could not sail to shore.

Al, S/V Finlandia

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by barcoMeCasa

As they called for help before the electrics went down it seems unlikely.

I've left the heads porthole open once before, what a mess, very quickly after getting into waves on the beam the floorboards were floating.

No one here knows anything about what happened out there, just the usual web forum judgemental noise.

Again, I think the article said that it was an EPRIB call, and not a DSC. That tells me that the radio was out as well as their navigational electronics.
And again, no reason that the boat could not have been sailed to shore.

Al, S/V Finlandia

[moseriw]

Must have been a joghurtcup built later than 1990

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

And generally by the same few characters. The ones proclaiming they aren’t being judgmental yet do so are the best.

Not passing judgment at all. Just commenting on the information that we have.

Al, S/V Finlandia

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by HeywoodJ

This is the hard part. It feeds into my feelings about the very existence of EPIRBs. In some senses I would be absolutely stupid for not carrying one, and if I didn’t and something happened that could have been resolved with one my wife’s family would never let me hear the end of it. OTOH, I make the choice to put to sea for pleasure. There is no requirement that I do so. There is no requirement that I adhere to a schedule I have set for myself. Under those circumstances, what right do I have to set off an EPIRB and start a chain of events that results in the expenditure of tremendous sums of money and puts other lives at risk?

For me, I can’t see setting off my EPIRB (or DSC alert) until I’m stepping up off the deck, or dealing with a medical situation I cannot handle aboard, but think the odds are good if I can get the patient to help. Then again, I haven’t ever found myself in that situation, so I could just be full of hot air and bravado. To me this is the hardest part of society - how much responsibility and self-reliance should I expect of myself and of others? Which then leads to these conversations.

I was in the Gulf Stream off the U. S. East Coast sailing back north one spring in very rough seas. I went below for something and got tossed across the salon and cut my upper arm very badly. It was not a super serious injury, but was enough that I was concerned about it. I was sailing single handed and could have pulled the EPIRB, but instead I patched up my arm and sailed into southport North Carolina and found a marina.
I tend to agree about not pressing the “come get me button” until I am stepping off the boat.

Al, S/V Finlandia

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by svfinlandia

Not passing judgment at all. Just commenting on the information that we have.

Al, S/V Finlandia

Exactly.. else why bother posting these stories.. just something to read and move on..???
It'd be a dull forum if no one ever commented on things that get posted regarding mishaps at sea.
If nothing else it exercises the grey cells on possible solutions to avoid losing one's boat.. or how they would react in similar circumstances.

[requiem]

One thing that occurs to me... the article mentioned a few hours of bailing, but I'm not sure how much that included attempts to stanch the leak before the CG arrived.

Thinking of how to improvise, given a rectangular hull window that's been "opened" and a generic modern cruiser... The WaPo story mentions they tried to plug it with pillows, but I'm guessing that really meant using the seat cushions from the saloon.

If you could tie a line around a generic rectangular cushion in a few places, shove the cushion through the window, then tension the line, I'm curious if that might achieve a semi-adequate fix. At least enough for the bilge pump to manage, and to sail home on.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by bvimatelot

Phil - you are probably right but you will have to learn to be little less sexist in your valuable contributions!!! Stay well, shipmate, Tony

To old to change mate.. always have spoken from the shoulder..

[Don C L]

It occurs to me looking at these different threads, and thinking back to something Ann said too, these boats didn’t have hank-on sails. Now hold on, this is not to say hank ons are better or worse. What I mean is that maybe the more modern designs, with more furlers and more electronics etc are just less resilient to adversity. There are no other sails to jury rig, no extra lines, maybe no handheld vhf, no non electric navigation tools, or tools and spare parts in general, and all the other DIY stuff stashed somewhere that gives more options for self-rescue.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by Don C L

It occurs to me looking at these different threads, and thinking back to something Ann said too, these boats didn’t have hank-on sails. Now hold on, this is not to say hank ons are better or worse. What I mean is that maybe the more modern designs, with more furlers and more electronics etc are just less resilient to adversity. There are no other sails to jury rig, no extra lines, maybe no handheld vhf, no non electric navigation tools, or tools and spare parts in general, and all the other DIY stuff stashed somewhere that gives more options for self-rescue.

Given that about 98% of cruising boats have roller-furlers, you can prove almost anything. For instance, "given that almost all those boats that didn't call in for assistance have ruler furlers, one could assume that those that equipped their boats with modern systems were best equipped to handle unexpected situations"

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

Given that about 98% of cruising boats have roller-furlers, you can prove almost anything. For instance, "given that almost all those boats that didn't call in for assistance have ruler furlers, one could assume that those that equipped their boats with modern systems were best equipped to handle unexpected situations"

Good point and that likely speaks to the reliability of most modern systems. But I was struck looking at some modern boats how little provision or preparation there is for something going wrong. Of course the onus is on the skipper to prepare his or her own boat though, naturally. The designs didn’t lend themselves to offering more options for solving a problem, they seemed too easily disabled.

Ok re-reading that I see I sound like an old fart bashing the new fangled things. Don’t get me wrong, I love going fast in comfort. I just see resilience at sea a matter of maximum options and a minimum of vulnerabilities.

[requiem]

Originally Posted by Don C L

What I mean is that maybe the more modern designs, with more furlers and more electronics etc are just less resilient to adversity. There are no other sails to jury rig, no extra lines, maybe no handheld vhf, no non electric navigation tools, or tools and spare parts in general, and all the other DIY stuff stashed somewhere that gives more options for self-rescue.

Not sure this is a design thing, more a reflection on the training/experience of the owners. Of the "modern" boats I spend time on, there's almost always a storm sail in a locker, a decent toolkit, engine spares, and spare line. Handheld VHFs are also common, if only because a fixed-mount at the nav station is generally useless to those in the cockpit.

That said, I do carry a small bag of kit for smaller repairs: a few spare shackles, hose clamps, rigging tape, seizing wire, etc.

[HeywoodJ]

Yet another side to the story, from someone here directly on CF:

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...st-281573.html

(maybe merge the threads?)

My interesting take-away is there was another sailboat on scene, and they offered to escort Here and Now back to port.

This thing (and the various reporting) is just raising more questions than providing any answers.

[nofacey]

Taking on water, yet pic of boat from copter sure doesn’t look like like it’s on verge of sinking, and salvage is being organized, so boat is taking care of itself..….. someone who shouldn’t have been out there panicked.