Lost at sea..

[Steadman Uhlich]

Closeup of the Stern

[Training Wheels]

Fenders out, boarding ladder down, no mainsail, lines over the side? Wonder if it drug anchor or untied itself from a dock.

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by toddster8

Fully enclosed center cockpit. Looks all zipped up. No dinghy.
Anyone who could pee from that cockpit would be quite a hero...

ahaaa more easily swept away as he had to go farther to pee off the boat.
so many of you guys do not listen to the old addages about sailors squatting to pee---
if dinghy out not ripped out, and if engine in midships of dink, perhaps he did something even dummmer than peeing off deck--attempted to launch dink and engine in storm conditions and swept out of the dink or ....

somehow the managed to fall into mother ocean never to be seen again.
until~~~~~

hopefully he is found in a local pub warming up some.

if the boat popped off a dock, where are all the lines that used to secure the boat-- one off transom--is it from davits or from cleat? is anything still hanging from bow?
i donot currently have enough bandwidth to see the pic again, and it is very tiny when i did see it.
could be the boat was anchored using mixed rode, and chafe happens--is how boats wake up on beach instead of remaining at anchor.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by zeehag

ahaaa more easily swept away as he had to go farther to pee off the boat.

Come on, Zee. It's not from peeing over the side.
Men who do that do it because its EASIER than going below, theyre lazy. But to get out of that nice warm enclosure in a storm instead of a warm per below is reduculous. He's 82. Safety would be below. Easjer to go below on that boat.

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Why do people sail in the wrong season?

Furled main and tiny jib means he was motoring in a storm.

Constant stream of lows been heading off Hatteras.

Nuts.

Actually it is not the wrong season yet. April and May are usually the best months to make Florida to Maine run. Just gotta watch your weather windows and plan accordingly. The boat looks like a 44 1990s production boat (its documentation specs don't specify the builder) and so it should have been more than capable of handling whatever was out there at the time. There were no hurricanes or named storms AFAIK but I would venture a guess that at 82 many tasks which are easy peasy for a 40 or 50 year old may be too strenuous for an 82 year old. Not to mention mental state, medications, sleep deprivation, etc.

I did this exact run 3 times on a 46ft well found boat (each run was in mid or late April) with a competent crew of 4 or 5. Although each time we had perfect wind and weather (2 of the times never turned the engine on until the Cape Cod canal) I can't imagine doing it single handed, never mind at 82.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

I also see this as a reason why having competent crew aboard is a good idea and most especially on offshore passages where conditions may be adverse and you are stuck in them. It can be safer than single handing.

I disagree. If someone is stupid enough to go out in storms there's no use killing people other than themselves.

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Come on, Zee. It's not from peeing over the side.
Men who do that do it because its EASIER than going below, theyre lazy. But to get out of that nice warm enclosure in a storm instead of a warm per below is reduculous. He's 82. Safety would be below. Easjer to go below on that boat.

Easiest would be to go in the cockpit drain. That would be my 1st choice of a place to go in such situation. And I'd deal with accumulated the urine crystals when in port.

[Steadman Uhlich]

The Keel was hard to see on the news photos. So I adjusted the photo so it is visible at the hull/Keel joint.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I disagree. If someone is stupid enough to go out in storms there's no use killing people other than themselves.

I respect your experience and judgement.

I am not advocating that someone should go out in a storm, regardless of age or their years of experience or skills.

I am saying that having extra hands Aboard on a long offshore passage can make things safer if the captain and crew has more rest, is more alert, and able to cope with the conditions and the various needs to manage the boat.

[hellosailor]

zee, back in the 80's I clearly remember some USCG statistics pulled about victims found dead in the water. Over 1/2 of the males were found with their zippers down, indicating exactly as you have said. That either drunk or sober, they dropped their zippers and went over the rail and drowned. Now SOME of us, however briefly, have tried to follow the path of Darwinian evolution instead. We'll either pee at the cockpit drain, if there's enough water sluicing down to make it a good urinal, or just pass around a wide-mouth bottle to use same as a hospital urinal. There are ways and there are ways, and some of us are very much aware that Poseidon doesn't tolerate fools lightly.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

zee, back in the 80's I clearly remember some USCG statistics pulled about victims found dead in the water. Over 1/2 of the males were found with their zippers down, indicating exactly as you have said.

That comes up every few years. A while ago I searched for those stats.
I think it's an urban legend.

[hellosailor]

It was part of a larger research project into fatalities among divers and sailors and the information could have been faked, but as I recall it came from a printed report. I had numbers, not just 'some guy says'. The fact that you can't find source material doesn't indicate anything except that you can't find source material either way. For instance: In April or May of 1973, when the US Supreme Court was in recess, the great and honorable Commonwealth of Massachusetts informed the US Department of Defense that it was activating the State Militia and immediately recalling all members for active service to defend the state borders against invasion. The purpose of this clever (Democratic legislature sponsored) announcement was an end run around the US draft laws, which provide that state militia cannot be borrowed (drafted) by the US when they are needed for home defense. The DoD went all foamy at the mouth. The USSC was in recess but an immediate action was needed. So three USSC justices were recalled from their vacations (one was fly fishing and not happy to be interrupted) to hear the matter. It seemed like a slam dunk and a way for states to stop their boys being drafted. The USSC justices pulled a fine weasel out of the hat. They said yes, the states had that right. However, they could not exercise it until there was a clear an immenent danger to the state, i.e. if there were no Communist Hordes across the state line, the Army could keep those men until and unless the Vietnamese showed up in Connecticut or similar parts. I dare you to find any trace of that on the internet. And yet, we got it off the AP teletype and it was a hot topic among the antiwar protest news at the time. Historically? It has been unwritten from the record. Or, try a better one. The National Guard program is chartered and governed by seven pieces of legislation. In recent years they have (finally) listed those acts online. But the source documents? Ah, no. You'll have to find a law library with archives going back to 1903 to try actually reading them. That's the National Guard burying its own history, mainly to stop those pesky States from being, well, less than "one Republic", as Mister Lincoln wanted it. Statistics? I can find you plenty of Soviet maps, that have entire cities and mountains relocated to places that they are not in. The Soviets took some of the finest cartography in the world, and intentionally corrupted it, to prevent western invaders from using it for an invasion during the Cold War. You may find discussions about that--but go prove it. Urban legends? Big difference between absence of proof, and proof of absence.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

.. back in the 80's I clearly remember some USCG statistics pulled about victims found dead in the water. Over 1/2 of the males were found with their zippers down, indicating exactly as you have said....

Back around 1990ish I was taking a Boating Safety Instructor class and I remember this being a topic. The people teaching the class had pulled more than their share of bodies from the the water so I think they would have had an opinion on the validity of the statistics.

My guess would be most of the victims would have been on inland waters fishing not sailing.

We had a front go through a few days ago with a strong wind warning. Thankfully, we did not get much heavy rain and strong winds but it looked like they did on some parts of the coast.

Later,
Dan

[jonnypaget]

Ah speculation is a wonderful occupation for the bored shitless

[PortClydeMe]

Originally Posted by jonnypaget

Ah speculation is a wonderful occupation for the bored shitless

Agreed. Could have fallen off any number of ways. No need to speculate. VHF/mobile data might be informative. Also, and hard to tell, yet the ladder appears to be "up" in the first photo. Thus, possibly used to board and have a look around for the captain.

By the way, Steady Hand's keel photos are interesting. What's up with the hull fairing (i.e., color differences)? Repair of previous damage at the bow?

Hope all turns out OK. Maybe he's now on a container ship, sipping cocktails and headed for port.