Regret to Inform Have Lost my Boat off Honduras...

[Teknav]

Sending Boatman, a zipper for his mouth! There! Your wish is my command, Sire!

Mauritz
Going to behave now!

[captain58sailin]

My condolences, I am truly sorry for your loss. I am happy you got rescued.

[SaucySailoress]

Originally Posted by Teknav

Sending Boatman, a zipper for his mouth! There! Your wish is my command, Sire!

Mauritz
Going to behave now!

Beat you to it:

[belizesailor]

Sorry for the loss of course, but only 18nm...what exactly was the problem?

[Andrew B.]

Originally Posted by Syserenity

I departed from Cayman Island and from the next day on I experienced several problems that lead to the need of sea emergency. I called by SSB Radio for help and a ship from Dole company picked up the call and came for salvation. They also tried to motivate Honduras authorities to come 18 NMi to tow me in, but Honduras did deny assistance of any kind. Finally, I was obliged to give up the boat and go on board of the Dole ship, which brought me into Gulfport, MS. This lead to the total loss of my boat Serenity!

Just to inform all of you!

Might be wrong, but I interpret the line I highlighted in blue to mean she sunk.

Glad your okay, and best wishes for your future. Boat, or no boat.

[Eyeback]

There are no words that can describe what you are going through now but just know that there isn't a sailor on this forum that doesn't feel deeply for you and knows that one day it could happen to him/her. It is often the case that a catastrophe is a culmination of small mistakes. I hope you can live to one day sail again.

[mbianka]

Very sorry to hear about your boat. Hope you can share the details at some point when the dust settles. You can always get another boat though it's tough when you have left one that you have made your own after so many years.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Syserenity

I departed from Cayman Island and from the next day on I experienced several problems that lead to the need of sea emergency. I called by SSB Radio for help and a ship from Dole company picked up the call and came for salvation. They also tried to motivate Honduras authorities to come 18 NMi to tow me in, but Honduras did deny assistance of any kind. Finally, I was obliged to give up the boat and go on board of the Dole ship, which brought me into Gulfport, MS. This lead to the total loss of my boat Serenity!

Just to inform all of you!

So sorry to hear that.

[Syserenity]

Originally Posted by tamicatana

You still in Gpt?

Till tomorrow, then off for SPI, Texas...

[Teknav]

By looking at Honduras' chart...radius 18 nm out...some depths exceed 1000 ft. Saddened by this loss!

Mauritz

[Syserenity]

Thank you all for your expressions. I was tempted to detail from the very beginning and thank God Boatman61 showed me the reality, that no matter what, in a Forum events like this one should not be shared. Sometimes, in between an Army of good soldiers, one bad one is enough. If 20 don't shoot, this one shooting kills enough to make a massacre. What I see by his comment is, that I wouldn't like to be in his boat in a similar situation, because he seems to have some fairy tale, that Seaman go down with their boats, or something like that....

However, I appreciate your all expressions.

@Boatman61: I don't wish wrong to no one and certainly I don't desire you the events i've been and going through. And certainly, as a Captain of a sailboat I am not going to ask another - Captain or not - if I did right or wrong. This event is actually documented at the Council of Maritime Business by me, the Captain of Dole Costa Rica and by the US Coast Guard and by the Admiralship from Ecuador, who at a point intervened before the Government of Honduras in order to deploy a ship to assist Serenity. There are existing documents from Logbooks of 2 vessels, the one from Serenity, which has been transfered on board of the Dole Costa Rica, the Logbook of the Dole Costa Rica. So, thiswise I don't need to be approved by some Boatman61, nor anybody else.

Here is what happened and I hope, that Boatman61 can stick up to the attitude of a "real" seaman, to keep his judgements at his own home.

Serenity departed from Cayman Island via sails at a course of 242 degrees towards Rio Dulce - Guatemala, planned final destination for the next 1 month. Having lost the Windgenerator IstaBreeze500 (mentioned before in another threat), I started the engine entering night time. After a while the engine stopped and I checked the Racor filter and found a half of a glass full of water. I cleaned the glass, I purged the filter at the entrance of the engine and I purged the injectors. Then, I started the engine and after verifying she worked properly, I turned her off. The next day, during afternoon I repeated the action, this time to support the sailing as per slow wind and almost downwind sailing, which was actually very annoying slamming the Jib and Boom all the time. After 2 hours, the engine again stalled and I found exactly the same. I repeated the procedure adn druing the next day I repeated the procedure 2 more times, finding horrible amounts of water in the fuel. I wasn't sure if the tank was contaminated, or if I bunkered at Mexico bad fuel. However, the last time the engine did not start up again and about 4 hours of cleaning and working on the fuel system, did not help at all.
So, I turned off the refrigeration and almost all electrical system in order to safe power for communication and navigation instruments. The forth day, at noon time, battery 1 was at critical 9,5 volt and battery 2 had to be activated. At that time I started transmission to Port Authority of Isla Roatan, 18 miles south, without success. Thiswise, I changed the communication to SSB and got the response on one side from a vessel Dole Costa Rica, leaving Puerto Castillo and on the other hand from US Coast Guard. USCG informed not to have any vessel close by and urged, to use the communication power of the vessel Dole Costa Rica, to inform PA Isla Roatan. Dole Costa Rica requested deployment from Roatan, while I informed to sail at course 225, straight to the northern coast of Roatan. I hadn't observed, that the slamming at the lifeline had ripped the sail and when I realized what happened, the sail was already 1/3 ripped. In the meantime, the vessel Dole Costa Rica took course onto me and after 1 hour, they stopped their engines on my side, since Roatan had informed to send a ship, which would arrive in 2 more hours. The Captain of Dole Costa Rica invited me on board of his boat, to rest and recover, while the rescue team would arrive. Thatfore, I unpacked my dinghy, inflated it manually and put it in the water with the outborder. However, because of increasing sea, I decided to stay on board of Serenity and wait for the Rescue ship. The Captain of DCR nformed not to leave me, untill the team would arrive. At about 1700 hours he informed, Roatan had informed not to deploy any rescue team as per lack of fuel for their ships. Perplex, the Captain of DCR requested information from USCG, who at that point informed, that it would be best to advice me to abandon ship, since my boat was running out of electricity, without refrigeration for food preservation and without power for navigation and a damaged foresail, that the sailing in Honduran waters covered with Coral reefs, was risky. I requested via the Captain of DCR to locate Admiral Vallejo from Ecuador Navy, which as friendly Latin American Government might could convince Honduras to deploy a vessel. As per existing registers, Ecuador Navy immediately intervened with Honduras to assist me as Ecuadorian citizen and cousin of the second Navy Commander of the country. Unfortunately, without success! From here on I was advised from the USCG and from the vessel DCR, to abandon my ship and aboard the DCR vessel. I denied this advise and stayed on board of Serenity at drift, when at 2000 hours the Captain of DCR left to his course towards Gulfport. 30 minutes later and with the last power of my SSB radio I contacted him and asked, if I was entitled to change my opinion, as I understood, that without deployment from any Navy, with the Islands northern reefs, 300 NMi course east to Guatemala and no electricity, instruments, communication and sail, I would face to deploy my life raft with chance to drift for long days and face life threat. The Captain very decent changed immediatly his course and returned and at 2200 hours the rescue took place. Serenity was at drift adn we informed Isla Roatan, from the vessel DCR I spoke immediately with my cousin, Admiral Vallejo, who did several phone calls, so far without success. From that moment on, Hondruas did not respond any communication anymore to our vessel DCR.
As per now, the Honduran Government gives no statement, informed not having equipment to realize a rescue and that until this very moment, no Serenity had been found. This seems pretty incredible, since we left all the coordinates and we indicated the drift observed during 1 1/2 hour in the radar as a pattern.

At this time, the case has been informed to the Council for Maritime Affairs at Bahamas, where Honduras will have to inform as per international maritime treaties. At this time I believe, OR Serenity is at some Port and being taken apart in her equipment, or she sunk, since the day after the sea became pretty rough. However, to me she is lost as, whoever finds her in the sea is entitled to claim her.

Me for myself, I am on my way to Port Isabel, where I want to go for another boat and then re initiate my goal, to sail out into the South Pacific.

As I stated above, I don't need the opinion of Boatman1 nor anybody else. There is plenty documentation about this unfortunate incident. On one side it helps you people, t see what you can face if navigating down in Honduras, on the other hand because I believe we can learn from incidents like this one.

My lesson is, Radio and Instruments require to be independent each one from one battery and supplied from solar power, so Radio and Instruments are able to continue to operate. I realized, how a boat has to be overlooked, if it is a placer boat or a living cruiser and that Racor filters have to be at a position, where they become daily check. I realize how important it is, to check each and every can of diesel I fuel, so I can detect before filling, if there is water in larger amount. I realize, that sailing is not a question of having fun, it is a hard work of checking engines, instruments, communication and to analyze the boat permanently, since a disaster is here sooner than we think. Finally, I learned how important it is to manage the communication instruments like SSB, to check if antenna and equipment has the reach.

[Syserenity]

16 degrees, 47 minutes .3 North, 086 degrees, 03 minutes .8 West, the position where Serenity was abandoned.

[s/v 'Faith']

Thank you for sharing the circumstances with us.

Fair winds to you, may you realize your dreams.

[rebel heart]

Not to be overly blunt but you had:

- a boat with steerage, 18nm from shore
- a rig with multiple sails, one of which was torn 1/3 of its surface
- a magnetic compass I assume

And abandoned it?

[o_q]

so the hondurans set you up with bad fuel, and stole your boat after you were rescued