Tragedy Strikes.

[Clamdigger]

Originally Posted by unbusted67

What did I say? No one listens to me. Haha



I find this to be baloney. Bahamian fishermen are men of the sea and generally good dudes. No one's going to try to claim your little sloop for salvage. I'd worry about that more in somewhere like Newport, Rhode Island. I have experience with this having hauled a friend's million dollar cutter off of a reef in Grand Cay with a one armed fisherman. He wouldn't accept a beer afterwords, said he had to get to church.

Keep us updated buddy. The West end is a really difficult spot. Super expensive slips and no where to go anchor (as you've discovered) if it's blowing. I was once holed up there for 4 days with a busted alternator mount. During that time I sounded out a one boat anchorage directly behind the marina in the channels back there. Felt like very good holding and there was deep water all the way back.

I'd agree with you from personal experiences sailing the Bahamas in the 1970's and 1980's. I know Native born Bahamian's to be some of the most honest and hard working people I've met in life. A half circumnavigation and 35 years later I'd still say the same thing.

My point is not all 'Bahamians' are 'native born' now, and the other folks don't have the moral compass' of a true fisherman. I can assure you that if someone tied a line to that boat in this economy they'd claim 'salvage', even Towboat US! Happens all the time in the USA. I for one will never recieve a line from any other vessel except a government boarding party or C & E official.

Depending upon where the boat is located Gil might only end up with a fuel bill for Christmas. At least that's what I'm hoping for this young man. Fingers crossed that he gets a second chance to start his cruising life aboard the boat he set out on.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

[Ocean Girl]

Everybody keeps thanking me, and I feel like I am taking kudos that are meant for others. I really haven't done much, just put a shout out to everyone I know out in that area of the world.
The real hero is #1 Gil, and SSCA net controller Genn, Chris Parker for working out drift analysis (at his busiest time), Coast Guard!, Bahamians that helped Gil ( there are many!) Bahamian police department, Keith Cooper and BASRA. And let's not forget this awesome community here at Cruisers Forum!! I'm sure I'm missing a bunch but it's not me!! I'm just relaying info, getting folks connected, putting the word out about Dagny.

Let's hope this all pays off and a sailor and his vessel are reunited

[Tingum]

Update?

[garrobito]

Crossing my fingers for a Christmas miracle...

[DumnMad]

Originally Posted by ka4wja

Coming in late here (been busy with family matters), but read the whole thread...
And, as a fellow sailor (and someone who has sailed the Bahamas since 1965), I'm overjoyed at the support, camaraderie, and assistance offered to one of our fellow sailors!!!
Kudos to ALL of you here!!

And, no matter what your personal beliefs, Merry Christmas to all!!


Fair winds.

John

P.S.....another part of this miracle is the weak Gulf Stream at the moment...only about 1.5kts, versus its usually 2.5-3.0 kts along this stretch!!
(While I agree with Chris on the wind....I suspect the Stream to push it a bit slower....making locating by BASARA a bit easier???)

+1

[OBXSkipper]

Hey Gil, Sent ya 50 bro to your Paypal account. Hope this helps, let me know if I can do anymore for ya. I would encourage anyone who can help to do so, if ya can't send money then spread the word this man needs our help.
Steve & Nancy

[CaptRican]

Originally Posted by Clamdigger

Gil, See if you can hire a fisherman to get on his boat and go after your's before someone else boards it and claims 'salvage'!! Find a fisherman with the most decent boat around that's well kept and won't crap out enroute to recovering your boat. Put all of your money into small bills show him the stack and see if he'll take you for a 'tour of the immediate area'. Don't tell him you're going to get YOUR boat! When you see your boat tell the fisherman that it's your friend's boat and to drive over so you can say HI. Once alongside jump aboard as fast as you can and DO NOT ALLOW THE FISHERMAN TO TIE OFF TO YOUR BOAT! Bid him fareewell and thanks for the lift!

I once had my backpack stolen the day I was leaving an Island; and it turned my Life upside down for years due to Identity Theft because my whole life was in that backpack!

Best of luck for a quick recovery of your boat.

Wow, and you write this deceptive scheme here?

Let me see if i understand this.

You are going to deceive a fisherman.
You are going to lie to him to take you for a cruise.
Then out of the blues you are going to tell him to take you to a sailboat that is uninhabited.
Then you are going to lie to him some more and fake it and jump in the boat and then you are going to be rude and not let him tie to your sailboat?

I sure hope you don't run across someone like me...

You come across like someone that i would really dislike!
It says a lot about you pal!

[Clamdigger]

Obviously you have no knowledge of salvage laws. Once a vessel ties to another in 'offering assistance' a Salvage Claim can be filed up to and exceeding the cost/value of the vessel assisted. Who determines how much the 'value' of the 'assistance' is worth? The Captain of the 'assisting vessel'! Of course you can take it to court and spend more money, but that's the gist of it IIRC.

[PortClydeMe]

I'm guessing the late lunch was 2:00PM? Internet foray ended at 6:30PM? So maybe 4 hours (max) drifting between the last sighting and subsequent disappearance? Presuming that it pulled anchor, I would imagine 'speed of current' x '1/2 wind speed' x '4 hours' would give an approximate idea of how far to search at that given time.

Personally, I would not be writing blogs about my lost boat, I'd be in a boat searching. The time to locate the drifting boat was then, and pronto! He states that a couple guys took him out looking, but personally, I would have kept looking until found. It could not have drifted too far in 4 hours. Then again, with only $150 disposable cash (maybe $140 after his 'late lunch ashore'), search options decrease.

I read the blog. Seasickness. Cut-away Manta anchor. Canned grapefruits.
Lessons learned, I suppose. I hope this guy recovers his boat. Might help to be more prepared before beginning the next adventure, primarily 'cash-wise', as $300 is not a lot of cash when embarking on ocean adventures.

[garrobito]

Originally Posted by PortClydeMe

I'm guessing the late lunch was 2:00PM? Internet foray ended at 6:30PM? So maybe 4 hours (max) drifting between the last sighting and subsequent disappearance? Presuming that it pulled anchor, I would imagine 'speed of current' x '1/2 wind speed' x '4 hours' would give an approximate idea of how far to search at that given time.

Personally, I would not be writing blogs about my lost boat, I'd be in a boat searching. The time to locate the drifting boat was then, and pronto! He states that a couple guys took him out looking, but personally, I would have kept looking until found. It could not have drifted too far in 4 hours. Then again, with only $150 disposable cash (maybe $140 after his 'late lunch ashore'), search options decrease.

I read the blog. Seasickness. Cut-away Manta anchor. Canned grapefruits.
Lessons learned, I suppose. I hope this guy recovers his boat. Might help to be more prepared before beginning the next adventure, primarily 'cash-wise', as $300 is not a lot of cash when embarking on ocean adventures.

Oh man! Give a break at the guy here... at least wait until he got or not the boat before swing the ax...
..some people never learned...

[PortClydeMe]

Originally Posted by garrobito

Oh man! Give a break at the guy here... at least wait until he got or not the boat before swing the ax...
..some people never learned...

I wasn't swinging an axe, just thinking out loud. Then again, even though only one hour had passed since last sighting, darkness was approaching. So that was a major limiting factor.

Again, hope the guy recovers his boat, and hopefully some lessons were learned. Wasn't it mentioned that it was left on the 'spare' 20-lb anchor? Hmmm.

My son is now 25. If he comes to me and says "Dad, I saved up $300 and now want to cast off!", I'd reply "Come here, we need to talk."

[FSMike]

Originally Posted by PortClydeMe

I wasn't swinging an axe, just thinking out loud. -----
Again, hope the guy recovers his boat, and hopefully some lessons were learned. Wasn't it mentioned that it was left on the 'spare' 20-lb anchor? Hmmm.
----

If you want to think out loud please do it off this thread. You aren't helping anything.

[PortClydeMe]

Originally Posted by FSMike

If you want to think out loud please do it off this thread. You aren't helping anything.

I actually hope that the guy finds (and recovers) his boat, and I take his current absence from this thread as a good indication that he is busy in doing just that.

That said, I'll stick by my opinion that it is not entirely wise to set sail with $150 of disposable cash, and hopefully that advice will "help" other would-be adventures avoid catastrophic circumstances.

[CaptRican]

Originally Posted by Clamdigger

Obviously you have no knowledge of salvage laws. Once a vessel ties to another in 'offering assistance' a Salvage Claim can be filed up to and exceeding the cost/value of the vessel assisted. Who determines how much the 'value' of the 'assistance' is worth? The Captain of the 'assisting vessel'! Of course you can take it to court and spend more money, but that's the gist of it IIRC.

You don't have to be dishonest and a liar to get help...

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Clamdigger

Obviously you have no knowledge of salvage laws. Once a vessel ties to another in 'offering assistance' a Salvage Claim can be filed up to and exceeding the cost/value of the vessel assisted. Who determines how much the 'value' of the 'assistance' is worth? The Captain of the 'assisting vessel'! Of course you can take it to court and spend more money, but that's the gist of it IIRC.

IF you recall correctly? Don't think that you do, mate.

The award is determined by an Admiralty court, not the assisting vessel's captain, and it will be assessed with consideration of the difficulty and danger and expense of the salvage. It is seldom anywhere near the value of the distressed vessel.

In this case, as Ann said earlier, it isn't a salvage mission anyway, but a simple transport back to the errant yacht. There has been no mention of any reason he would require a tow anywhere.

I think that your advise to gain the ride back to the boat by deceit is bad, and would likely result in reprisal from an otherwise friendly skipper.

Jim