Insurance?
Really, check your policies, folks. If anyone has a policy that insures a boat, 900 nm offshore, with only two crew onboard, please raise your hand. If it covers any boat more than 100nm offshore
with a crew of less than 3, please cough loudly.
Satdiver, you will find that these days you can't insure a US vessel in US waters with Pantaeus, unless they've changed their terms again recently. They will refer you to their US affiliate/subsidiary, but Pantaeus firewalls US vessels in US waters that way. And again, two crew? Far offshore? What's the phrase, nice if you can get it?
We'd have to hear from Eric, as we all no doubt will in coming weeks. But the odds are, he had no reasonable options for
insurance.
Scuttling?
Again, really? It would seem prudent that if a vessel is about to be set loose, unmanned, in an area where it
will drift into
fishing fleets, leaking and possibly low in the
water, and probably unlit because either the
power runs out or the
water takes the
batteries out, that vessel would be considered a hazard to
navigation and yes, sadly, scuttling would be the only prudent thing to do.
You don't have to consent, once you leave the boat they'll scuttle it.
Not leaving the boat?
Anyone seen 'Almost Famous' ? Does the phrase "No, really?" come to mind?
Let's see, you and your spouse have just been through hell. Pararescue angels come down in the middle of nowhere, and if you want to save the boat, you've got to explain to your spouse that you're going to spend at least two weeks on a leaky boat with unreliable or no
power now?
There's nothing far-fetched or totally unreasonable from what we've been told. Not even remotely. It would seem odd that a leak couldn't be stopped, personally I'd bet on the shaft more than the
cooling system but that could be because
epoxy does wonders inside a boat, while semi-permanent reliable
repairs that have to be made under a moving boat in the open ocean are awfully less attractive to me. But we'll find out.
Used to be a big gray boat always had at least a machinist's mate who would take it as a personal affront it he couldn't fix anything he could reach, but there's no telling what other considerations come into play here and now.
Coupla weeks, if that long, and I'm sure we'll find out. But so far, to call any part of what we've heard unreasonable or improper?
"No, really?"