Forum Member's Boat and Daughter in Trouble off of Mexico

[Beersmith]

A member and friend of the forum (Rebel Heart) had set off to cross the Pacific with his young family about two weeks ago. I saw on another forum this morning that his boat and daughter are in trouble If anyone has updates as to their well-being please post here. I am very curious about how they lost power. His last blog update mentioned they tore their drifter, and had limited fuel.



Bay Area-based California National Guard team sent to rescue infant off Mexico coast - San Jose Mercury News

MOUNTAIN VIEW -- A California Air National Guard unit based out of Moffett Field is in the midst of a mission to save a 1-year-old girl in medical distress aboard a sailboat drifting far off the coast of Mexico, authorities said.

The guard received a call from the U.S. Coast Guard late Thursday morning reporting that the American infant was seriously ill and in need of medical attention that could not be provided by family members aboard the 36-foot sailboat "Rebel Heart."

The boat is about 900 nautical miles offshore, and the Coast Guard contacted the 129th Rescue Wing of the guard, which has the capability to reach the remote destination, said 2nd Lt. Roderick B. Bersamina, spokesman for the wing.

The plan is to drop four medically trained parachuters and Zodiac inflatable boats out of a long-range Lockheed MC-130P aircraft into the ocean near the sailboat. The medics will board the sailboat and provide immediate aid, and on Friday a helicopter will be sent out to the craft -- refueling in midair along the way -- to bring the girl to a medical facility on shore.

Around 9 p.m., Bersamina said rescuers had boarded the vessel and were getting the infant's vital signs to transmit them to a doctor on the airplane above. The examination was still under way an hour later, although they had determined that the girl was in stable condition.

"One other significant thing they discovered is that the sailboat has no power and no capability of steering itself," said Bersamina.

He said that means the team is formulating a plan to extract all four family members -- the distressed infant, another child and their parents.

"But right now the focus is on the child," he said. "It's all about getting the vitals and having them diagnosed to make sure she gets the medicine she needs."

He did not have specifics about what is wrong with the girl, only that she is severely ill.

He said the "Rebel Heart" is confirmed to be a U.S.-based boat, but did not know what port it hails from.

The guard is determining whether more rescue craft might have to be employed to get all family members to safety, if necessary. But he said it is possible that they could get the boat moving on its own.

"Right now it doesn't have power, but that could change," he said.

A second large, four-propeller MC-130P is slated to leave Moffett on Friday morning to join the HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopters grouping in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for the second part of the mission.

The main mission of the 129th Rescue Wing is performing wartime duties to recover personnel from anywhere in the world. The wing has also completed an array of missions to rescue civilians, including people with medical issues aboard ships and lost or injured hikers, as well as disaster response.

Bersamina said the wing is credited with saving the lives of more than 1,000 people

[oldragbaggers]

This is terrible news. I am so happy they were able to get help to the baby in time and pray that all will be well and that they will be able to continue to the destination.

A lot of praise goes to these wonderful men and women who are willing to put themselves at risk to help others in distress.

[Paul Annapolis]

Tore their drifter!! Heavens to Betsy......limited fuel? Well they are a sailboat??? Drifting....900 miles offshore?????.Yes--send out airplanes, medics, drop inflatable boats....Nobody wants a baby to be ill or die of course...but here is probably more to this story--a whole lot more that should be brought to light but I have plenty of questions, for example--what were they doing out there? With a baby? Without enough fuel? If they used a drifter it was light air--yes? But they ripped it so what's the danger here? And how and why did they use up their fuel presumably so soon after departing? What is missing from this story? Let's stay tuned but I have my hunches....

[ChamJam]

Thank you Becky for the saying exactly what I was thinking. Well said.
I always enjoyed the comments from Rebel Heart regarding his family and his adventures. I am looking forward to him and his families safety and more stories of his adventures!

I will be thinking of all of them at this time of duress.
Steve

[SeaKing]

Without referring back to posts, he seemed like a knowledgeable fellow from my memory but my memory has failed me in the past. Hope for the best and this will be one to follow.

[Beersmith]

Originally Posted by Paul Annapolis

Tore their drifter!! Heavens to Betsy......limited fuel? Well they are a sailboat??? Drifting....900 miles offshore?????.Yes--send out airplanes, medics, drop inflatable boats....Nobody wants a baby to be ill or die of course...but here is probably more to this story--a whole lot more that should be brought to light but I have plenty of questions, for example--what were they doing out there? With a baby? Without enough fuel? If they used a drifter it was light air--yes? But they ripped it so what's the danger here? And how and why did they use up their fuel presumably so soon after departing? What is missing from this story? Let's stay tuned but I have my hunches....

the drifter tore early on in the voyage...they kept sailing just fine with other sails. That was just the only damage I knew of.

right now we presume he burned all his fuel trying to get back to Mexico when the baby got sick. I am unsure of how they eventually got to the point of being completely without power though.

[Stu Jackson]

Here;s his blog:

Rebel Heart - Eric's Blog

[SaltyMonkey]

oh man! Rebel Heart. This is very strange and sudden news. He's not at all like what you naysaying snakes are posting here. Beersmith - think u r right about the fuel.

[carstenb]

Eric is a pretty experienced sailor. He wouldn't push the big red button unless lives or the boat was as take.

Probably the baby.

[letsgetsailing3]

I'm wishing them the best of luck.

[ReMetau]

Oh man. I pray that all is well.

[Sailmonkey]

I would imagine, between reading the blog and knowing how the media distorts that which they don't understand........That the daughter got sick, they powered as far as they could towards assistance with 30 gallons of diesel, the wind went light so that the boat was without steerage, rolling in the ocean. Other than the sick infant, not a big deal.
I hope it all turns out well in the end.

[minaret]

Too sad. Ready to help out however possible. Looks like they may lose their boat-unimportant as long as the kids come out OK. Time to start a CF donation fund?

[IdoraKeeper]

I hope SM is correct. If the child is returned to the USA likely the trip is over for now. Hopefully the boat can be sailed home and not abandoned. If we are lucky he will tell us what happened.

[Dsanduril]

Eric, Charlotte, and the girls, our thoughts and well wishes go with you.

I don't know the family (other than from CF and the blog), but from both their posts here I would have thought that Rebel Heart was one of the better prepared boats for the Puddle Jump. Sometimes even seemed a little OCD () in that regard, but that can be a good thing when this happens.

I hope that when the dust settles and hopefully everyone is well and safe again that they will share with us what happened.