HI->Tahiti Dingbats found after 5 months

[Tetepare]

Navy rescues mariners, dogs stranded in Pacific Ocean for 5 months | Fox News

Headed from Hawaii to Tahiti, found off Japan five months later.

Photo shows headsail and main.

I'll refrain from offering opinion.

[billknny]

Consider the intelligence of the average person...

Then sit down before you remind yourself that half of the world is dumber than that.

[Tkeeth]

Why is someone half way up the mast?

[morrchr1]

Well at the very least this should work as a positive test case for all the preppers that plan to use a sailboat as their bailout plan. These people seem to have had some sort of power (watermaker was working) and both sails intact and it seems just drifting, but made it 5 months no problem.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Tkeeth

Why is someone half way up the mast?

Looks like one of the navy guys went up to sort out a fouled halyard.

[Spartyliveshere]

Im not even a sailor and I could have figured out how to rig something up, thats just sad

[Gene Neill]

Originally Posted by billknny

Consider the intelligence of the average person...

Then sit down before you remind yourself that half of the world is dumber than that.

Sad, true, horrifying, and hilarious!

[sailorcherry]

Help me out here, maybe my vision is off. Is that a picture showing they had a furled jib and main? Are you telling me they had no wind for two or more months?

[danielamartindm]

I don't "get" this story at all....I mean, they weren't dismasted, they wren't hulled, they had sails...five months drifting? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

[belizesailor]

Maybe they were thinking it would get a lot of YouTube hits? 😆

[CatNewBee]

I would buy the story if the rudder was gone, but with a mast and some fabric + an rudder that works - one can reach a coast or a higher frequented ship route in several weeks...

Also I would not go out on the ocean without an EPIRB and a satellite phone - or at least an SSB radio. Communication is crucial offshore.

[belizesailor]

And...why do you provision for 5 months when embarking on a month long journey?

Neither them nor the dogs appeared to have gone hungry.

Something fishy here.

[HuskyBear]

US sailors rescued after five months adrift in Pacific - BBC News

Hi could someone please explain to me why they were lost so long at sea.

I understand that their engine was broken but i am confused by this.

They had sails , GPS and a boat ? why couldn't they continue sailing to where they needed to be. They are on a yacht ?

if they had an emergency distress beacon why did it take months for them to be picked up. Surely with modern technology there is a way of contacting help when needed.

Would be great if someone could explain.

Thanks

[John_Trusty]

"After having engine problems on May 30 during bad weather, the two thought they could make it to land by using only their sail, according to the Navy."

Imagine their confusion and ignorance - thinking they could make it to land using only their sail! It's amazing that people moved around this earth at all prior to the invention of the internal combustion engine.

[moetai]

La nouvelle generation
J'ai un voilier
Autonomie moteur la moitié du pacifique
Aucune notion de mecanique
de voile
de navigation
Perso je serais americain j'aurais honte