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Old 08-06-2017, 16:00   #1
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Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

As a newbie with some classes and a Caribbean charter done and Pacific cruising dreams, it's disconcerting, let's say, to read about cruisers simply vanishing (scroll down to BOLO; cut and pasted below). A Morgan 45 and a Union 36.

BOLO for Sea Nymph June 7, 2017 – Pacific Ocean
US Coast Guard station Oahu is seeking information on Sea Nymph, a Morgan 45 that had been sailing south from Oahu to the Marquesas, and is now considered long overdue. The blue-hulled vessel was last heard from on May 3, and was reported missing May 19. Our understanding is that Sea Nymph was traveling independently, with two crew aboard.
Meanwhile, some vessels participating in the annual Pacific Puddle Jump are also converging on the Marquesas, and one of that fleet is also long overdue. As reported earlier, singlehander Richard Carr, 71, aboard the Union 36 Celebration, is believed to be in distress. Carr left Puerto Vallarta May 2. His last contact on May 28 located Celebration at 06° 53'N, 127° 35'W, traveling on a course of 247° true at 0.7-1.1 knots.
If you have information on either vessel, please contact the US Coast Guard's Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu at (808) 535-3333 or email jrcchonolulu@uscg.mil.
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Old 08-06-2017, 16:43   #2
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

We crossed the Pacific in 2015, of the 200-250 boats we knew personally or were in radio contact with, that crossed that year, two sank. One sank a 1,000 miles from land and one hit Tonga 5 minutes before the skipper woke up!

Cruising is lots of fun but not a benign pastime!
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Old 08-06-2017, 16:56   #3
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

These days there is not an excuse for having good comms aboard. Even something basic and relatively inexpensive like an InReach would at least give you a way to signal distress. However, sudden events do rarely happen at sea and there may not even be time to signal distress....like keel loss on a mono, rogue wave, etc...
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Old 08-06-2017, 17:26   #4
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

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Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer View Post
We crossed the Pacific in 2015, of the 200-250 boats we knew personally or were in radio contact with, that crossed that year, two sank. One sank a 1,000 miles from land and one hit Tonga 5 minutes before the skipper woke up!

Cruising is lots of fun but not a benign pastime!
What sank them?
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Old 08-06-2017, 17:47   #5
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

Cars crash, planes fall out of the sky......towns get hit by tornados..
Life is a risk you just prepare yourself for the worse and enjoy..
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Old 08-06-2017, 18:26   #6
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

Flyingriki...one failed at the hull/deck joint forwards and then lost rudder.
Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude

And the other the skipper aimed the autopilot at an entrance and was asleep when the boat missed by 100 yds.

One was boat fatigue and the other skipper fatigue!

Another friend hit a whale and developed a serious leak but the boat survived.
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Old 08-06-2017, 18:27   #7
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

Well, with the 1% sink rate noted in Moondancer's post and 76,000 US airline flights per day, that's 760 plane crashes per day.

The other distrurbing observation is that both vessels are what many consider to be safe, blue water cruisers...
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Old 08-06-2017, 18:36   #8
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

Richard carr is not missing. h eis in distress probably due to sleep deprivation. his last known coordinates put him in the void for communications others have experienced in midocean. he is drifting at approx. 1.1-1.74 kts per hour. before he left mazatlan for puerto Vallarta, he had repairs on all his electrics, engine, and autopilot.
he is due in marquesas JUNE 26, but his daughter is concerned due to some strange messages he sent which tell of his sleep deprivat5ion. she is concwrned about him being a danger to self as a result of these messages. is a lot different than being overdue and should bear some weight in searching, as his track is able to be plotted. we plotted him to being almost at equator, still north of it.
sea nymph, headed from Oahu to marquesas I believe is overdue.
there is also another boat overdue, but friends are not concerned at this time, as they have spent many weeks in doldrums, themselves, in past on passages.
ictz has been busy so far--no storms but has been wind.
I am hoping Richard of celebration and sea nymph have good stories to tell when they arrive in hiva oa.
Richard was my neighbor for some weeks in mazatlan prepping for this
to belize sailor, as well as the rest of you:
to say negativity about his or anyone else's equipment is not a cool thing. you are in armchair, celebration is entered in puddle jumping an organized rally with demands placed for equipment.
sea nymph is unaffiliated with that rally.
please hold your negative armchair quarterbacking down until these folks are found and report back their issues. then ye can beat 'em up good. until they are in hiva oa or found dead, hold off on this as family is reading.
so far, no reason to presume death.
imagine it being you out there and your family reading.
btw--I am in contact with daughter of Richard. she has no updates as yet.
you are insensitive and incorrect/
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Old 08-06-2017, 18:47   #9
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

Richard Carr on the Union 36 is 71 years old. No guarantees you'll wake up when sleeping in your bed at home at that age. He was last heard from in the vicinity of the doldrums. If so it could take him anywhere from days to a week or more to get further south into decent wind and another week to the Marquesas. If he just had a communication failure, he may straggle in.
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Old 08-06-2017, 19:06   #10
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

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Richard Carr on the Union 36 is 71 years old. No guarantees you'll wake up when sleeping in your bed at home at that age. He was last heard from in the vicinity of the doldrums. If so it could take him anywhere from days to a week or more to get further south into decent wind and another week to the Marquesas. If he just had a communication failure, he may straggle in.
you do not know Richard, a hearty hale 45 looking 71. healthy and almost ready for the trip except for the sleep deprivation issue. had you been his neighbor for weeks you would not be so glib about declaring his death. his daughter is aware of what can happen. we had long chat. it is most disrespectful to family to presume his premature demise at this time.
as I stated, have respect, as family is reading. so are friends.
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Old 08-06-2017, 19:13   #11
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

Zee, I agree with much of what you wrote, but really, to say he "is due in the Marquesas on June 26" or any other day is silly. By now you surely know that in a 3000 mile passage by sailing yacht there can be no "due" date... at best, a general time where arrival may occur is predicted.

Having not seen the upsetting messages, and not knowing any of the folks involved, I'd not make any judgments about his mental state. Folks have been known to become kinda weird when at sea... Slocum and Crowhurst come immediately to mind!... but usually a good nights sleep cures the malady, just as you suggest.

We've all seen landlubbers over react to sea going events, and I hope that his daughter soon gets some relief to her worries. But if nothing has happened by the 26th, all is not lost!

Oh... the Puddle Jump isn't a conventional rally with inspections and check lists. AFAIK, there are no equipment requirements whatsoever. Perusal of the Lat 38 issues touting it will support this view, i believe.

So,sail on Richard and arrive safely.

Jim
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Old 08-06-2017, 19:37   #12
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

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Zee, I agree with much of what you wrote, but really, to say he "is due in the Marquesas on June 26" or any other day is silly. By now you surely know that in a 3000 mile passage by sailing yacht there can be no "due" date... at best, a general time where arrival may occur is predicted.

Having not seen the upsetting messages, and not knowing any of the folks involved, I'd not make any judgments about his mental state. Folks have been known to become kinda weird when at sea... Slocum and Crowhurst come immediately to mind!... but usually a good nights sleep cures the malady, just as you suggest.

We've all seen landlubbers over react to sea going events, and I hope that his daughter soon gets some relief to her worries. But if nothing has happened by the 26th, all is not lost!

Oh... the Puddle Jump isn't a conventional rally with inspections and check lists. AFAIK, there are no equipment requirements whatsoever. Perusal of the Lat 38 issues touting it will support this view, i believe.

So,sail on Richard and arrive safely.

Jim
i did not set his eta.
he did.
just quoting his daughters reiteration of them.
mebbe slamming her is a better idea than chastising me.
i advised him to add a few weeks to eta and fuel. he made sure his stuff worked before departure. if his engine sucked air, he may be drifting some longer as he wasnt so good at repairing the beast. hoping he can bleed the machine. i donot know all his skillz.
she communicates with me. she will be ok. i think i can still do that smootbing of high nervousness .. was a significant part of my 30 plus career.
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Old 08-06-2017, 21:04   #13
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Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

dwm, have you considered Board games, uno, monopoly, and chess are my favourites
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Old 08-06-2017, 21:33   #14
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

To the OP: the risks can largely be mitigated. It's not as regulated as flying or driving, but that's partly beauty of it. Few sailors use checklists or abide by standard operating procedures. No ATC out there controlling and monitoring traffic on the seas. No flight services. It's on you moreso than almost anything else in life. But if you allow yourself the leeway to make mistakes along the way, the learning curve is fast, and you yourself ultimately determine to a very large extent the safety of the crew and boat. By and large, the potentially hazardous nature of cruising is not something to preoccupy yourself with if it's something you really want to do. But you do buy the ticket and take the ride.

Hope that helps.

Hope Richard arrives in safety.
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Old 08-06-2017, 23:02   #15
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Re: Two cruising boats missing in the Pacific

Electronic communications are fantastic, except for the infrequent times they fail. Richard could have simply accidentally dropped the Delorme overboard, or some other failure could occur. Absence of the Delorme signal does not imply he is lost.

While crossing the Atlantic, we used a Spot to send our position twice a day to friends and family. Apparently, in mid-ocean we had ONE time that the Spot message did not go through. With no indication of signal failure, we sailed on, fat, dumb, and happy. It was not until we arrived in the Azores that we found out how panicked and upset our mothers were for that 12 hour period, thinking we were lost. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and the Coast Guard was not called.

I think there is an excellent chance he will get some sleep and arrive in three to five weeks. Until then, we will be hoping and praying for him and his family.

Steve
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