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

[Prairie Chicken]

DVIDS - Video - Guardian Angels from the Rebel Heart Search

This press release by the 129th answers a few of the questions which have been speculated on here. Originally I picked it up in a tweet from Eric. It's 23 minutes long, but worth the watch.

[sailorboy1]

Wondering if there is any hope of people holding their fingers from typing till we get a real first hand account of the trip?

I don't really understand how so much "wisdom" can keep getting passed along until then.

[s/v Beth]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Wondering if there is any hope of people holding their fingers from typing till we get a real first hand account of the trip?

I don't really understand how so much "wisdom" can keep getting passed along until then.

I think a lot of us are. Why say any thing till you can say something useful.

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

DVIDS - Video - Guardian Angels from the Rebel Heart Search

This press release by the 129th answers a few of the questions which have been speculated on here. Originally I picked it up in a tweet from Eric. It's 23 minutes long, but worth the watch.

This answers a lot of what people have asked in this thread. They basically say:

- There was no steering problem
- That boat had a very slow leak, but was in no way sinking (bailed for 3 minutes, twice a day)
- Long range coms were down, but other systems seemed fine
- When baby was sick, called for help. Baby was only focus.
- If baby was not sick could have sailed back home.
- Rescue crew has nothing but good things to say about RH crew preparation, attitude, and decision to call for help.
- Calling when they did was very smart and probably saved baby's life. If they had waited two more days it would have been bad.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

I think a lot of us are. Why say any thing till you can say something useful.

Because at sea when you get into trouble you don't wait to be fully informed, you work like hell to keep the boat afloat.

We have had plenty of information, correct or otherwise, for us to be able to do some "what if" senarios to help us when we are 'out there'. I am sure Eric would pitch in too if it was someone elses boat.

And if its my boat in trouble, and you guys find out about it, can you please stop any sympathetic, sentimental clap-trap and get to the crux of what I have done wrong so others may benefit from my predicament. ****TOUCH WOOD!****




Mark

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by scuba0_1

Have I missed something I have seen almost no information yet.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

Apparently so. The dates and information with regards to the illness was all taken from direct quotes form Eric and Charlotte. The dates of their diagnosis of Slamonella infection, and the fact that a doctor had cleared the baby for travel were all taken from direct quotes of Eric and Charlotte. This was not speculation by third parties as far as I can tell.

[Astrid]

Welcome back Eric. I am glad you and the family are all safe.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by RainDog

This answers a lot of what people have asked in this thread. They basically say:

- There was no steering problem
- That boat had a very slow leak, but was in no way sinking (bailed for 3 minutes, twice a day)
- Long range coms were down, but other systems seemed fine
- When baby was sick, called for help. Baby was only focus.
- If baby was not sick could have sailed back home.
- Rescue crew has nothing but good things to say about RH crew preparation, attitude, and decision to call for help.
- Calling when they did was very smart and probably saved baby's life. If they had waited two more days it would have been bad.

Nicely said. I got the same message listening to the full briefing. Only thing to add was their observation that Eric and Charlotte had prepared as well as they could have.

[ontherocks83]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

DVIDS - Video - Guardian Angels from the Rebel Heart Search

This press release by the 129th answers a few of the questions which have been speculated on here. Originally I picked it up in a tweet from Eric. It's 23 minutes long, but worth the watch.

Great video! Thank you for posting it. Definitely answers a lot of questions and it is nice to hear that they think so favorably of RH and their preparation.

Originally Posted by RainDog

This answers a lot of what people have asked in this thread. They basically say:

- There was no steering problem
- That boat had a very slow leak, but was in no way sinking (bailed for 3 minutes, twice a day)
- Long range coms were down, but other systems seemed fine
- When baby was sick, called for help. Baby was only focus.
- If baby was not sick could have sailed back home.
- Rescue crew has nothing but good things to say about RH crew preparation, attitude, and decision to call for help.
- Calling when they did was very smart and probably saved baby's life. If they had waited two more days it would have been bad.

Great synopsis of the video! The only other thing I would add is when the PJ's got on scene they asked Eric what his intentions were for the vessel. His response was essentially, my family is all that matters and we will scuttle the boat when the navy gets here.

[Delancey]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

I believe that Rebel Heart had to choose between abandoning his boat, or abandoning his family. It's too bad that it came to that point, but some damage just can't be undone, and no boat is worth the destruction of your family.

To clarify, I couldn't agree more about choosing family over a boat. I also couldn't agree more with basing a sea survival strategy around the use of an EPIRB. What works for me is to make plans for the possibility that pushing a button won't save me, what others do is up to them.

Further, I wouldn't even begin to think about commenting about Eric or Rebel Heart, what his sea survival strategy is, the circumstances surrounding the loss of the boat because I know nothing about it and also because it doesn't matter with respect to the fact these people are now homeless.

If other chose to berate me for impinging on their liberties somehow by advocating for the homeless, I can live with that.

Happy Sailing!

[captainbri]

It funny how all of the posters saying I told you so are quiet when things turns out as planned. Atleast they have shown who they are in real life. They have shown who to trust. They have shown that they would never help a fellow sailor if they thought they could get away with it and not be prosecuted for not lending assistance. They have shown they are nothing but pompous self centered (insert expletive here) that have taken a great bosting community over the past 40 years in to something different. We use to wave at people 40 years ago that got within 50 yards yup we blew the horn and waived. But thsts when you had ti be a seaman thats when you didn't flick a switch and the boat basically took you from location to location. Thats when it took more than a check book to be a boater a sailor a captain or a seaman. When you go off shore and sail a force 9 for 14 hours then you will find out your flicking a switch, writing a check doesnt make you a sailor. Its like owning a race car and never pushing the limits. . Go out in a real storm test yourself test your skills instead if just trashing others.. bad things can happen at any time on a boat. But hey its nice to know who has you back and who is going to put a sharp object in it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[atoll]

Originally Posted by RainDog

This answers a lot of what people have asked in this thread. They basically say:

- There was no steering problem
- That boat had a very slow leak, but was in no way sinking (bailed for 3 minutes, twice a day)
- Long range coms were down, but other systems seemed fine
- When baby was sick, called for help. Baby was only focus.
- If baby was not sick could have sailed back home.
- Rescue crew has nothing but good things to say about RH crew preparation, attitude, and decision to call for help.
- Calling when they did was very smart and probably saved baby's life. If they had waited two more days it would have been bad.

a bit gutted about that,as this was my thinking at the time re the condition of the boat, when i offered to rescue the vessel.

at the time,a good 24 hours before the uss vandergrift arrived on station

-we had a fast catamaran in panama that could have got to RH within a weeks sailing time, provisioned ready to leave.

-up front funding from several CF members.

-a tracker on RH, and our personal sat comms making finding her very easy.

-3 crew at my disposal,any of whom could have flown in at 24hrs notice.

-it is fairly obvious that erics sister never passed on my message to him at the time,being a non sailor,never realised the significance of the resources at our disposal.

pity as it looks like recovering the vessel would have been a realatively simple exercise,then sailing to hawaii,galapagos,or the mainland.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by ontherocks83

Great synopsis of the video! The only other thing I would add is when the PJ's got on scene they asked Eric what his intentions were for the vessel. His response was essentially, my family is all that matters and we will scuttle the boat when the navy gets here.

It's pretty clear that Eric made the choice without any pressure from the rescuers, and that there wasn't any doubt or hesitation in his mind as to what he was going to do.

One thing is for sure, I'm pretty impressed with that rescue unit.

[GregoryK]

From Eric's Blog:
"While we are thankful for the unsolicited generosity we have received and
been offered, we encourage you to consider donating to That Others May Live
(www.thatothersmaylive.org ), which provides relief to the families of
members of the United States Air Force Rescue community when tragedy
strikes."

That family is a class act. They just lost their home and most of their possessions and they're thinking about others.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by atoll

a bit gutted about that,as this was my thinking at the time re the condition of the boat, when i offered to rescue the vessel.

at the time,a good 24 hours before the uss vandergrift arrived on station

-we had a fast catamaran in panama that could have got to RH within a weeks sailing time, provisioned ready to leave.

-up front funding from several CF members.

-a tracker on RH, and our personal sat comms making finding her very easy.

-3 crew at my disposal,any of whom could have flown in at 24hrs notice.

-it is fairly obvious that erics sister never passed on my message to him at the time,being a non sailor,never realised the significance of the resources at our disposal.

pity as it looks like recovering the vessel would have been a realatively simple exercise,then sailing to hawaii,galapagos,or the mainland.

That video did shed light on the fact that Eric had possibly (2) HF SSB radios, but as was mentioned neither was operative. Sounds to me maybe an antenna or tuner issue. When I cruised in the Sea of Cortez solo, it was my HAM HF SSB that kept me in touch. This was before GPS, Sat phones, etc., and any time I wanted "company" it was just a short CQ away. It allowed me to meet up with so many of the other cruisers of the day.

Had Eric had HF comms, he would have known of atoll orchestrating a rescue for S/V Rebel Heart, and it is my belief the vessel would have been saved. The leak was minor, with the shutting down of other energy consuming systems there is no doubt his solar input could have kept up with automatic bilge pumps.