Demasting/ engine failure Arafura Sea

[Jimthebuilder]

Hi all.
Has anyone heard any scuttlebutt of an abandoning of a yacht in the Arafura Sea? I heard of an elderly couple having to abandon ship after their mast came down and the engine failed.

[JPA Cate]

Jimthebuilder,

No, I haven't. Sometimes people find information about events like this nature in FB, and on Google. Sorry, I can't think of another option for your quest, maybe check news. If rescued by Oz, there should be something, somewhere.

Ann

[Dsanduril]

We know of a vessel (wooden monohull) that somewhat matches your description that left Thursday Island on July 21 bound for Indonesia as part of the rally. I'd rather not post their name without first talking with them.

En-route they broke their boom, ran out of diesel, tore the jib to the point of no repair, and ended up taking on water (but the bilge pump was able to keep up). However, they were in company of several other boats and one of those boats shepherded them safely to port. There were no distress/EPIRB calls but there was a lot of VHF chatter.

That other boat did post several photos on Facebook and the news is out there, so maybe this got conflated (the internet can do that) into loss? From the reports all conditions were mild, no storm/gale event that precipitated the events, just normal tradewind sailing.

[Jimthebuilder]

This was a few days ago through a ‘friend of a friend’. An elderly couple departed Singapore for Darwin after 5 yrs around Indonesia.
I believe it was a Rigging screw failure on the forestay. The mast came down in 20 knts of breeze and unable to cut the wreckage away, started motoring. The motor gave out and that left them adrift. I believe a commercial vessel picked them up so a happy end to the saga. That leaves the vessel adrift somewhere in the Arafura Sea.
A sequence of events like this could happen to anyone so the lesson from this is keep checking your rigging. Constantly.