PDQ 36 Floating aroud the Atlantic Ocean

[ginosailling]

A Nova Scoatia couple who were sailling to the warm beaches of bermuda is now en route to the the cooler climes of finland after encounterring some trouble at sea
they left Nova Scotia on their 36 foot vessel on tuesday, they were 834 kilometers east of cape cod at about 2.30 pm thursday when they ran into some rough seas and could no longer steer
they lost their ability to control their vessel
the coast guard callrd upon the container ship Ance to help and it responded from about 55 kilometers away
the owner hunkered down in their cat ovenight while the container ship sheltered them from the bad weather
they were apprehensive about climbing into the ship's cargo net in the rough seas, but they changed their mind in the morning
The couple abandoned ship and climbed aboard the container ship at about 9:30 am friday november3th
I dont know if they have any plans on recovering their sailing vessel or not
Petty Officer Wadlow said(US Coast guard)

[ssullivan]

Neat story. That thing's half way to Ireland by now.

[cat man do]

I'm sure as usual the boat will be found OK, just like a big raft. Shame the owners couldnt tough it out and effect repairs. Have even read in a book called "Multi hull seamanship illustrated" about using a drogue on a bridle towed of the back and winched from port to starboard, being used as emergency steering.

What would the insurance company think about this style of abandonment?

Dave

[Tropic Cat]

Let's see.... if you take a plane to Iceland, and assuming the boat didn't get crushed on an iceberg, or a passing fisherman hasn't taken her as a prize, you may have a shot at salvage.

If you miss her there, there's always Sean's back up plan. I hear Ireland is nice this time of year.

Rick in Florida

[Vasco]

While you're looking, keep an eye out for my Achilles 11 ft dink that I lost in 93 or 94. Grey with a lot of growth on it by now.

[Tropic Cat]

and I lost a blue fender.... must be around there somewhere

Rick in Florida

[dana-tenacity]

Reports like that always frustrate me, more information please. The thing had two rudders, why did they get off?

[ginosailling]

I found out that the the owners from will arived to finland on november 16 from the container ship then try to find a flight back home
I guest it was really bad storm, and also lost their rogue and mast was breaking off when they came out.

[Tropic Cat]

Does anyone have any data on how many 30 something foot monohulls make the trip from New England to Europe in autumn?

Rick in Florida

[Eleven]

Jumped to this from the 'Containers at sea' thread. Just about to congratulate Multihull owners for not having to worry about sinking after striking submerged objects (Nukesubs apart).
Dissappointing to say the least but I wasn't there at the time.

Crossings to Europe. Do talk to Pageat builders who build in Europe and sail to USA on a regular basis. Their crossings and stories would be very enlightening.
If you've ordered a Mahe 36 you should be able to get a contribution or at least explore the delivery system. Alternative is to ship on a car transporter. Perhaps this crew should have taken that option.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by rickm505

Does anyone have any data on how many 30 something foot monohulls make the trip from New England to Europe in autumn?
Rick in Florida

On average (1975 through 2005), Fourteen 30 something foot monohulls make the trip from New England to Europe in autumn.

[schoonerdog]

I've lost steering on a PDQ 36 in a storm before, it actually sails well with an emergency tiller, but you are very exposed. It has amazing reserve bouyancy, weighs 8000 lbs but has huge reserve bouyancy fore and aft, she'll float around like a duck. This is a strange thing though, because I could have sworn the exact same thing happened a few years ago. PDQ 36, left nova scotia, autumn,

Originally Posted by GordMay

On average (1975 through 2005), Fourteen 30 something foot monohulls make the trip from New England to Europe in autumn.

[Pura Vida]

Airfare to Iceland, $895.
Renting an old fishing trawler for the search, $4950 per week.
Findiing a dink and fenders along with the boat, priceless.

[Tropic Cat]

Hey it was my good blue fender.....

[Ex-Calif]

Getting back to the abandonment - How fast did this storm come up? I am not judging this crew at all but I have been interested in getting into this topic and have a couple of preconceived notions to get started.

1/ There is a sea state that will overcome almost every boat or at least put the boat at the edge where rescue/abandonment is the best option. This is very crew/boat combination dependent.

2/ Some storms brew up so fast that even with great weather planning you can get caught out.

3/ Notwithstanding #2 - understanding the weather, obtaining the weather forecasts, interpreting and predicting the weather annd staying out of the way of bad weather is the toughest part of passage making. I would say it's tougher to manage weather than to manage the boat.

So to be controversial I would say that in most cases the boat shouldn't have been in the weather to start with and better weather understanding & avoidance would help.