'Big Catch' S/V Quest Capture - Non-Politcal !

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

It is kinda interesting that cruisers often have a difficulty in changing plans, and have a problem with overnight sailing and passages.

Some of the most remarkable examples include a forum member here that tried to clear into Mexico(?) with a gun. They said you leave now or we arrest you, but as he was tired from a passage went for the arrest option and spent 7 nights in a jail.

In Australia going up the Great Barrier reef some folks wanted so bad to only day-hop they would go to anchor in bays no prudent sailor would touch with a barge pole.

People in the Canary Islands were loading up with crew they didn't want or need, not because of insurance, but because they were doing a 2,600nm passage and they thought they would die without so many extras the boat would be over-crowded.

Sailing from Thailand to Oman and up the Red Sea it appears people are trying to do this in little legs instead of decent size chunks because again their prefer coast-hopping.

Last example is the Cape of Storms. I would never, ever, ever, take my Beneteau 393 around the Cape of Good Hope......... Until I have been able to read good information from Evans Starzinger on this forum and spoken to some South Africans. It is a do-able rounding, and the passage there isn't as difficult as one pretends. Its weather windows all the way

Try putting your Chart plotter route button to start in Phuket in Thailand and draw a route to Oman.
Now draw a route from Thailand to South Africa.
It takes about 30 seconds to do.
instead of 2,800nms its 4,600nms (but with stops).
I can assure you once you on a 2,800 miler whats the difference with another 2,000nms?? None - The sprouts may even have time to grow.

I think often cruisers lack the courage to go out cruising, they listen to the scariest stories and believe the most fearful people.
I am no Green Beret hero or courageous cruiser. Its just been me and Nicolle (most of the time and in all the scary bits), just 2 normal people.

The points I am trying to make are:
We must grab the nettle - even when it hurts
We must be flexible
We must be able to go on and not be forced to anchor
We must get over the idea that long passages are bad - they're the best bit of it!
We must plan and sail in the right season
We must be able to sail at night as if it were day (and without torches)
We must be culturally sensitive
We must be ready to up-anchor immediately the local situation gets weird (Tunisia, Egypt etc at the moment)
We must have alternate landfalls in different countries
We must never listen to cruiser BS.
We must have faith in ourselves and our boat to do the Cape of Storms

Thats all I can think of

Well said Mark... and the Cape of Storms is over rated... spent a while down that way in the past patrolling the coast... don't think I remember more than a couple of big blows and nothing as bad as I've seen in the Atlantic... the rep's more from the old sailing ships who were crap to weather and sea salts with their 'Swing the Lantern' tale's..... these days its as you say... easy day passages all the way round..

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Wel and the Cape of Storms is over rated... a couple of big blows and nothing as bad as I've seen in the Atlantic

Cape Agulas is 34 40 South
thats about Nowra (just south of Sydney) in Australia, The Straits of Gibralter; the bottom bit of Tunisia, Bottom of Cyprus; South of Cape Hatteras; a tad north of Los Angeles.


Good example is Cape Hatteras. No one takes it lightly, but pick the summer weather and its a breeze

[atoll]

i have allways found somalis to be good, proud,and honorable people.

friends who were boarded by them,were not harmed,all they wanted was cash and valuable items.

other friends who were held hostage for 8 weeks were released un harmed after an oil company paid for their release.

i think these people on" quest" will receive the same treatment,after all we are all human and a dead hostage is worth nothing...............

possably as the crew of quest are evangelists something good might even come out of this.

cruising rally to berbera any body?

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

What in the world were those people thinking of sailing through that area? Or were they thinking at all?

Speculations on the motives or skill set of the captain and crew is likely actively discouraged. Get your cheerleader outfit to the left.

[SabreKai]

One thing for sure, If the Somalis hold them for a while, their friends will raise the money needed to secure their release. The hue and cry among christian organizations will be impressive, and they will cough up.

As for the US government? I certainly would not depend on them to do anything on my behalf. Isn't the official party line: "We don't negotiate with terrorists"? These four people will soon find out just what their goverment will do for them. They are not important enough nor valuable enough for Washington to do more than make statements to the press about how terrible it is and that the world should do something about it. But actually doing something themselves?

I think hell will freeze over first.

Sabre

[CDunc]

Warship Shadowing Somali Pirates Who Captured Four Americans - FoxNews.com

Here is a news release from the AP noting that the Quest is being shadowed.

[Bergovoy]

Originally Posted by SabreKai

One thing for sure, If the Somalis hold them for a while, their friends will raise the money needed to secure their release. The hue and cry among christian organizations will be impressive, and they will cough up.

As for the US government? I certainly would not depend on them to do anything on my behalf. Isn't the official party line: "We don't negotiate with terrorists"? These four people will soon find out just what their goverment will do for them. They are not important enough nor valuable enough for Washington to do more than make statements to the press about how terrible it is and that the world should do something about it. But actually doing something themselves?

I think hell will freeze over first.

Sabre

the position to not negotiate is to protect folks from being used in a business model... if there is no money at the end of the rainbow, they wont be taken as can be evidenced by the number of americans currently held vs the number of other nations...

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Bergovoy

the position to not negotiate is to protect folks from being used in a business model... if there is no money at the end of the rainbow, they wont be taken as can be evidenced by the number of americans currently held vs the number of other nations...

Actually I think its more down to the make up of commercial crews these days... an americans unlikely to work as less than skipper/1st officer on most ships the money they pay these days with a glut of asian officers and seamen on the market...

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by joey69

If they follow them to the pirate headquarters,they will know where to send the troops.

Like the last time we were in Somalia? How did that work out?

[nv5l]

It looks like they switched from Yotreps, Scott was a ham, to Spot last year. They had a link to their spot position reports on one of their pages. As of yesterday, the last report was a few hundred miles south of Oman on the 14th, but it's no longer available.

It looks like you need to know who you're looking for to get the positions on Spot and shiptrak, but winlink, and to a lesser extent yotreps, makes it easy to see all boats. In fact, with winlink, you can see every boat by default. I've been using winlink, but I'm starting to think that may not be a good idea.

I did notice that there aren't many boats reporting their positions anywhere near Somalia, and even one who stopped reporting during his passage from India to Yemen. But this is just making it way too easy for the pirates who seem to be getting more and more sophisticated.

Btw, Canada helped us out trememdously, and at great risk, during the Iranian hostage crisis when they smuggled out 6 Americans they'd hidden in their embassy. So, don't knock Canada.

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by Banzai

Under Article 107 of UNCLOS, only military vessels have power to seize ships involved in piracy; and the right of innocent passage defined in Article 19 of UNCLOS is unlikely to be readily extended by neighbouring states to a privately operated armed patrol boat.

Also, any boats operating as 'privateers' will need a 'letter of marque' from a legitimate government. This opens a whole bag of worms IMHO

MarkJ will give you a "Letter of Mark"... for a couple of cases of that red cordial... and a small percentage...

[North26West80]

The piracy problem in this area has been a well known problem for years. So I'm a surprised to hear that yachts still attempt to operate in these waters. Is this still common? What reliable guidance is there for anyone considering such things? How many yachts do this and how many have problems?

[Khagan1227]

Anyone have any information on why the Quest broke off from the rest of the Rally and chose a different route?

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by Khagan1227

Anyone have any information on why the Quest broke off from the rest of the Rally and chose a different route?

I've never heard why. You might ask Randal Johnson. He spoke with the skipper right before leaving Mumbi. ....http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post622853

[sww914]

Originally Posted by North26West80

The piracy problem in this area has been a well known problem for years. So I'm a surprised to hear that yachts still attempt to operate in these waters. Is this still common? What reliable guidance is there for anyone considering such things? How many yachts do this and how many have problems?

If you're trying to go around the globe, you have 2 choices, the Red Sea or the Cape of Good Hope. The Red Sea used to be safer and it's far shorter if you want to get to the Med. Someone on this thread figured that approximately 100 yachts a year transit the Red Sea northbound and about 50 southbound. 2 have been captured recently. Those odds aren't very good anymore.