Tragedy Strikes.

[Sandero]

Gil, I see... So the current is not ripping through the area or it was slack when you anchored?

If your motor was not starting....did you consider asking for a tow in? How did you plan to fix the motor? Did you know what was wrong with it?

One of Murphy's Laws of boats is that when one thing go wrong it starts a chain reaction of other failures.

So much of at my boat depends on the engine.... not only for motoring but for battery charging... and hot water and refer... You are sort of forced to learn how to take care of the engine and have critical spares on board and the tools and do regular maintenance. But still some parts will fail at the end of their service life and there is noting you could do about it.

I didn't realize that you had lost the motor... Major bummer.

[gilgsn]

did you consider asking for a tow in? How did you plan to fix the motor? Did you know what was wrong with it?

I did call the marina and asked if anyone could tow me in... They replied there was no such service here.

I did plan on having a good look at the electrical system that same night, so that I would have at least the anchor light on. Otherwise I would have looked for an electrician the next day. No idea what was wrong, definitely electric though, the engine was fine. I just had no power to start it. There is a hand crank, but I had not been able to start the engine with it. It did run for nineteen hours a few days earlier though, so I knew it was working.

Gil.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by Sandero

...I didn't realize that you had lost the motor...

That is why it would be safe to say the anchor was not set. A pity there wasn't a hand-start on the engine.

[Sandero]

I know this is arm chair quarterbacking.... but I would have blown off the clearing in. If the engine was not working I would have probably anchored and worked on it until it was working... calling for assistance etc. or sail to someplace where I could tie up and work on the boat if possible.

If the local authorities came after you... I would tell them the problem and that I will clear in as soon as it's sorted out. What's the urgency?

Many people arrive in the middle of the night... anchor and wait to clear in when the port office opens. I've done this and had no problems.

If the boat is closed up it will find its way to some shore or be sighted eventually by some ship out there. Your journey is not over... just a stop to learn stuff.

[Prairie Chicken]

Allow me a short story about anchors being set. A few years ago our friends who look after our boat in our absence took her out on a weekend (they have the authority to do so & he is a master mariner). They anchored in a nice cala, spent a calm night, & raised anchor the next morning. The all-chain rode came up nicely, along with the shank of the CQR ... but no anchor! The plow portion of the anchor was absent. Neither ourselves nor our friend had noticed any wear or concern at the hinge & it is checked annually before launch, but obviously it had failed.

The morale of the story is the anchor may not have dragged. Likely it did, but there are many variables which could have freed Dagny, including ground tackle failure, or thieves who were not satisfied with their plunder.

I keep hoping for you Gil....

[brownoarsman]

Originally Posted by Lizzy Belle

The US and the Bahama's are on the same side of the ocean. Europe is not. So for us, "a jaunt to the Bahama's" IS crossing the Atlantic ...

Yes, I know where Europe is, I even had the good fortune to live there! But Gil left from Florida and has been living in the USA for a few years. My point was that he may have had full insurance, and also that other cruisers reading this thread and thinking about risk mitigation shouldn't think that insurance is necessarily out of their grasp financially as most of the Bahamas is covered by well-respected, low cost, US-based insurance packages. Actually, for all the small boat owners in Europe, unless you really want to cross an ocean, it may be better for you to just fly to the US, buy another small boat, insure it and take off. You'll likely get to the Bahamas and its coconuts faster and cheaper. If you want to go into the Caribbean though, well, different strokes.


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[brownoarsman]

Originally Posted by gilgsn

I did call the marina and asked if anyone could tow me in... They replied there was no such service here.



Gil.

Feel for you. I also lost my engine while anchored in a precarious position (between two bridges with a 3 knot current). Sometimes, with old motors on used boats, it's just bad luck.


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[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

Allow me a short story about anchors being set. A few years ago our friends who look after our boat in our absence took her out on a weekend (they have the authority to do so & he is a master mariner). They anchored in a nice cala, spent a calm night, & raised anchor the next morning. The all-chain rode came up nicely, along with the shank of the CQR ... but no anchor! The plow portion of the anchor was absent. Neither ourselves nor our friend had noticed any wear or concern at the hinge & it is checked annually before launch, but obviously it had failed.

The morale of the story is the anchor may not have dragged. Likely it did, but there are many variables which could have freed Dagny, including ground tackle failure, or thieves who were not satisfied with their plunder.

I keep hoping for you Gil....

Similarly, I purchased a new 25kg Rocna two years ago along with a $200 swivel which is fastened with two alan key screws. I was on the slip at the time and a chap looking at my set up recommended I get a small security cable made up of something like 3/16 stainless with two loops swagged on, to which to attach the anchor to the chain above the Swivel. . The very first time I used this new anchor, the anchor came up, unattached to the chain. The only thing that saved my new anchor was the security cable. Since then, I always locktite those screws in with permanent lock tight which needs heat to undo.

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Not in the US anyway. Can't speak to your side of the world. FAQ: What's the difference between jail and prison?



Everyone leaves evidence behind. It's a smart cop, who can catch a smart thief.

So this is not my line of research, but take a look at the probabilities of capturing people who are identity thieves and scam artists, car/boat/credit card thieves, burglars, bank robbers, and crooked Wall Street bankers, and on; and then tell me what is the percentage of those that get caught and convicted? I'd bet you good money (and just ask my son -- I only bet when it's a sure thing), that less than 5% of the thieves in any of those categories listed are ever brought to justice. That tells me that they are either very smart to be that evasive or else all the cops are just that much dumber, but I like and respect the work that cops do so that can't be an accurate supposition at all . But that's my bias, too. We all got one.

Oh yeah, this thread has **never** gotten off topic till now....

Gamayun,
For the sake of argument in re: the above diversion, would you ask a Bedouin who has lived his life crossing the Sahara desert by camel how to cross the Atlantic from Bristol, England to New York . . . or would you ask a sea captain who has sailed the passage successfully for 14 years? Ergo . . .if you wanted to know about crime and the nature of criminals, would you ask the man on the street(or in your case a woman) or someone who worked as a police officer for fourteen years? This is not a multiple choice question.

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by Sandero

One of Murphy's Laws of boats is that when one thing go wrong it starts a chain reaction of other failures.

Yes like setting an anchor...

[PortClydeMe]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Bahamian private pilots charge about $600/Hr for single engine planes. I've never known one to take an IOU, from a stranger.
ie: Staniel Cay private Pilots: Roland Smith “Pistachio” (242-357-0571), & Solomon Robinson “DJ” (242-357-0200) both charge about $550 for a 45 minute one-way trip between Staniel Cay and Nassau - so call it about $600/Hr.

Still, and yes, academic at this point, I'd have found the local airstrip the following morning and hit as many seaplane owners as possible to plead my case of a lost vessel, lack of immediate funds, and the urgency of the matter. I could be wrong, yet I can't imagine some fellow there not feeling the desire to help me out in such a dire situation. Possibly taking me aloft for free out of the kindness of his heart. If it were me, I'd offer to take Gil aloft and do a grid search until located. I'd take his promise to repay my fuel costs with a handshake. Am I too old, and has the world changed that much? I doubt it. I can almost guarantee that I would have been aloft the following morning in a seaplane. It's how you approach people, and the words that you say.

I post the link to the following video (abandoned sailboat North Andros Island) for two reasons:

1) To illustrate, once again, that going aloft in a seaplane immediately after the loss was the best approach (all academic now).

2) To show that things happen (theft?, Pirates?) in the Bahamas with sailboats. In this case, the 35-foot sloop "Cheers" registered out of Florida, sailing to Nassau from Miami. The owner, Ole Anderson was never found. Boat appears to be stripped by locals(?).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nRA_fY8v3o

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by PortClydeMe

Still, and yes, academic at this point, I'd have found the local airstrip the following morning and hit as many seaplane owners as possible to plead my case of a lost vessel, lack of immediate funds, and the urgency of the matter. I could be wrong, yet I can't imagine some fellow there not feeling the desire to help me out in such a dire situation. Possibly taking me aloft for free out of the kindness of his heart. If it were me, I'd offer to take Gil aloft and do a grid search until located. I'd take his promise to repay my fuel costs with a handshake. Am I too old, and has the world changed that much? I doubt it. I can almost guarantee that I would have been aloft the following morning in a seaplane. It's how you approach people, and the words that you say.

I post the link to the following video (abandoned sailboat North Andros Island) for two reasons:

1) To illustrate, once again, that going aloft in a seaplane immediately after the loss was the best approach (all academic now).

2) To show that things happen (theft?, Pirates?) in the Bahamas with sailboats. In this case, the 35-foot sloop "Cheers" registered out of Florida, sailing to Nassau from Miami. The owner, Ole Anderson was never found. Boat appears to be stripped by locals(?).

Give it a rest Port You have made your point 20 odd pages ago.

[PortClydeMe]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

Give it a rest Port You have made your point 20 odd pages ago.

I was replying to GordMay's assertion that funds (big funds $$$, at that) were needed to go aloft the following morning. I beg to differ. Moreover, my posts (advice) might possibly help other sailors in the future who find themselves caught in a similar situation as the OP. If you find my posts redundant, then please don't read them. I'll state a final time (happy now?), should someone lose their boat, go aloft. Don't write prose in blogs, and don't write posts on an Internet forum. Both are a serious waste of time. What happened to the OP's boat? I have no idea. I hope it is recovered and that he can sail on.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by Sandero

Not being familiar with the West End... Do currents really rip through at 5 knots? That sounds like an insane place to anchor. Is the anchorage subject to such strong tides?

I don't know about five knots, but the current can be quite strong there.

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by PortClydeMe

I was replying to GordMay's assertion that funds (big funds $$$, at that) were needed to go aloft the following morning. I beg to differ. Moreover, my posts (advice) might possibly help other sailors in the future who find themselves caught in a similar situation as the OP. If you find my posts redundant, then please don't read them. I'll state a final time (happy now?), should someone lose their boat, go aloft. Don't write prose in blogs, and don't write posts on an Internet forum. Both are a serious waste of time. What happened to the OP's boat? I have no idea. I hope it is recovered and that he can sail on.

I didn't find your posts 'redundant', in fact I initially thought you made a lot of sense, though a little impractical when it came to the cost. But, you have gone on and on about it as if you must hammer it in.. just give it a rest.