Leap of Faith--Alaska Rescue at Sea

[farm sail]

Originally Posted by Sea Frog

This is yet another example when cat survives where mono can't.

lol... but to be fair, last I saw the mono was intact just abandoned. and scine thor is a mono, we could say heavy displacement mono rescue distressed cat from rough seas

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by farm sail

yup, same dude they met. guess his luck ran out. looks like his boat was up to the task. he wussed out when the weather got to where the autopilot couldnt keep up so he tossed a sea anchor and went bellow. gets rolled/knocked down in the night. ok that sucks, lots of mistakes got him to this point. yet even after the knockdown/roll he gives up and pops the epirb. sure he has a boat witb a bunch of water, electronics toast and no engine, poor lil frenchman. what he does have is a boat that floats, bail the damn thing out. what no manual bilge pump for a back up, use the buckets, I saw them in his pictures. not only does the bo as t still float the rigging sure looked intact, mainsail nicely flaked and secured on the boom, both roller furellers nice and neat. he didnt LOSE his rudder, it was making bad noise? even if the rudder was totally useless what with where he has been henever thought about how to rig an emergency rudder or how to improvise steerage? nope the going got rough and he quit, didnt even try. he didnt lose his boat, he gave it up. now hew whines about losing everything and already has a gofundme campaign so he can continue his travels? dont get me wrong, I am glad the guy and his cat survived uninjured no less. but dont expect me to feel bad for him. he was in way over his head and when his luck ran out he didnt even try. sad state of the world these days

Perhaps this is all true, but because the public rarely gets after-reports, it's all just second guessing. However, those pictures from the Tor Viking do suggest the boat is in good condition and riding high. It would be unfortunate if he abandoned the boat because he couldn't handle the conditions, but if he were my kid, I'd just be thankful he is safe.

[farm sail]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Perhaps this is all true, but because the public rarely gets after-reports, it's all just second guessing. However, those pictures from the Tor Viking do suggest the boat is in good condition and riding high. It would be unfortunate if he abandoned the boat because he couldn't handle the conditions, but if he were my kid, I'd just be thankful he is safe.

not sure what you think is second guessing, other than questioning where he got the money to get there in the first place. the rest is taken from his words. then I formed the opinion he was a poor lil frenchman that gave up

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by farm sail

not sure what you think is second guessing, other than questioning where he got the money to get there in the first place. the rest is taken from his words. then I formed the opinion he was a poor lil frenchman that gave up

So he told you first-hand that he....

Didn't lose his rudder and just had a noisy AP?
Had functional rigging and/or working halyards?
Had no manual bilge pump?
Could not get the electronics or engine to work?
Pulled the EPIRB because he was scared after getting rolled?

Your post seems to go back and forth on some of these, so that's why I'm questioning what is actually known versus what was reported third-hand or speculated about because of past posts he might have made.

[farm sail]

Originally Posted by gamayun

So he told you first-hand that he....

Didn't lose his rudder and just had a noisy AP?
Had functional rigging and/or working halyards?
Had no manual bilge pump?
Could not get the electronics or engine to work?
Pulled the EPIRB because he was scared after getting rolled?

Your post seems to go back and forth on some of these, so that's why I'm questioning what is actually known versus what was reported third-hand or speculated about because of past posts he might have made.

I never said the ap was noisy. he comented that after the roll the rudder was making an aweful noise or something to that effect. that is a far cry from losing your rudder as otherwise reported. all the other stuff was taken from other quotes in other reports or his own words on fb. he complained about electrical failures and no engine. I didnt say he didnt have a manual back up. I pointed out he should have or he could have used a bucket of which there are photos showing he had some on the boat. point beinghe could have bailed the boat out. thd pictures show a boat that a competent sailor should have been able to put in service. he wzs in good enough condition to walk around on the pitching deck and jump to another boat while holding a cat in his jacket. but he doesn't talk aboug doing anything to deal with the problems other than pop the epirb unless you count the burbon he resorted to for courage.

I have read numerous accounts of people in worse conditions and way more damage to their boats bailjng their boat with what ever they could find rigging improvised sails on stumps of a mSt or boom or at least trying to make repairs sufficient to get under way. I cant find anything in any of his postings thag shows he did anything to try and save himself other than pop the epirb. he talks about a wave the kind that destroys everything in its path yet his boat wzs far from destroyed. best I can tell he hzsnt even made landfall and he is asking for money so he can continue his adventure? more than once he tries to compare his loss of his boat that of a football player losing their leggs

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by farm sail

I never said the ap was noisy. he comented that after the roll the rudder was making an aweful noise or something to that effect. that is a far cry from losing your rudder as otherwise reported. all the other stuff was taken from other quotes in other reports or his own words on fb. he complained about electrical failures and no engine. I didnt say he didnt have a manual back up. I pointed out he should have or he could have used a bucket of which there are photos showing he had some on the boat. point beinghe could have bailed the boat out. thd pictures show a boat that a competent sailor should have been able to put in service. he wzs in good enough condition to walk around on the pitching deck and jump to another boat while holding a cat in his jacket. but he doesn't talk aboug doing anything to deal with the problems other than pop the epirb unless you count the burbon he resorted to for courage.

I have read numerous accounts of people in worse conditions and way more damage to their boats bailjng their boat with what ever they could find rigging improvised sails on stumps of a mSt or boom or at least trying to make repairs sufficient to get under way. I cant find anything in any of his postings thag shows he did anything to try and save himself other than pop the epirb. he talks about a wave the kind that destroys everything in its path yet his boat wzs far from destroyed. best I can tell he hzsnt even made landfall and he is asking for money so he can continue his adventure? more than once he tries to compare his loss of his boat that of a football player losing their leggs

Thanks. I wasn't actually disagreeing with your premise. It kills me to see a boat abandoned, especially one that "looks" in good shape, so that's why I was wondering what exactly were the problems. I've often heard that many abandoned boats, in which people were taken off because they feared for their lives, were no worse for wear when found again. So I wonder, where's the fine line? It's a scenario that I run through my head on occasion, though not very often, of course

[farm sail]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Thanks. I wasn't actually disagreeing with your premise. It kills me to see a boat abandoned, especially one that "looks" in good shape, so that's why I was wondering what exactly were the problems. I've often heard that many abandoned boats, in which people were taken off because they feared for their lives, were no worse for wear when found again. So I wonder, where's the fine line? It's a scenario that I run through my head on occasion, though not very often, of course

understood

I had to read through a lot of articles but ended up with his name and found his facebook. he has since accepted my friend request which has allowed me to read more of his stuff. most has to be translated by google which leaves a bit to be desired.

one of the comments someone posted was how he was a real and traditional sailor. made me want to puke

[Adelie]

Apparently some bright bulb thought it was a good idea to solo a 30' racing boat off of Alaska at this time of year. Found out he was wrong. Fortunately the USCG and a drilling rig tender were on hand to pull his bacon out, saved his cat too.

gCaptain has photos, story with minimal details and film from an orbiting plane.

Edit: Found elsewhere that he was French and the boat was known at "La Chimere" for what that's worth.

[farm sail]

been there done that 3 pages worth

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ea-154930.html


dude had already done the north west passage this year before his luck ran out. seams his boat was tougher than he was

[Schooner Chandlery]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Except that he'd apparently given no thought to an emergency rudder/auxiliary steering, a most basic plan B, to save his boat, whose rig looked perfectly capable of continuing the voyage.

We don't know what he's given thought to, or not, nor the condition of his vessel.

All I can say is at least he's out there doing it, not sitting in a comfy home arm-chair quarterbacking somebody else and their sailing...

What I saw online was he couldn't staunch the ingress of water and he expected another knockdown. Regarding rudder--even if someone has a perfectly acceptable back-up system (this often just means something as simple as dragging a couple buckets from the two sides of the boat and adjusting line lengths) it doesn't mean he could, alone, install his backup system (whatever it was) and get it working.

The irresponsible part that jumps out at me big-time is the usual one--another solo sailor ends up in a situation that might have been "fixable" (or even preventable) had he had additional qualified crew aboard. Since many CF members are solo sailors, or sail short-handed with crew who aren't capable of also sailing if a problem arose, this is a contending issue of philosophy far beyond this topic. There's always the issue of go solo or don't go at all for many sailors. I won't shoot down someone else and their dream/sailing if they're actually out there doing it. Whether or not they manage to be successful--I'm a doer and respect others who are out there following their dreams.

I'm glad he's safe, his feline friend is safe and he'll be able to sail another day.

Fair winds,
Brenda

[chris95040]

Originally Posted by farm sail

not sure what you think is second guessing, other than questioning where he got the money to get there in the first place. the rest is taken from his words. then I formed the opinion he was a poor lil frenchman that gave up

I thought maybe you had some relevant experience and opinion on these sorts of things. Then you refered to him as 'poor little frenchman' and now I see: you're just another angry troll with some bones to pick.

I'm glad this guy and his cat got rescued, what a leap!!

Sounds like he made some bad choices to get where he was, but then again, I read bad ideas here on a daily basis. And not all of them are mine!

[exMaggieDrum]

Originally Posted by farm sail

yup, same dude they met. guess his luck ran out. looks like his boat was up to the task. he wussed out when the weather got to where the autopilot couldnt keep up so he tossed a sea anchor and went bellow. gets rolled/knocked down in the night. ok that sucks, lots of mistakes got him to this point. yet even after the knockdown/roll he gives up and pops the epirb. sure he has a boat witb a bunch of water, electronics toast and no engine, poor lil frenchman. what he does have is a boat that floats, bail the damn thing out. what no manual bilge pump for a back up, use the buckets, I saw them in his pictures. not only does the bo as t still float the rigging sure looked intact, mainsail nicely flaked and secured on the boom, both roller furellers nice and neat. he didnt LOSE his rudder, it was making bad noise? even if the rudder was totally useless what with where he has been henever thought about how to rig an emergency rudder or how to improvise steerage? nope the going got rough and he quit, didnt even try. he didnt lose his boat, he gave it up. now hew whines about losing everything and already has a gofundme campaign so he can continue his travels? dont get me wrong, I am glad the guy and his cat survived uninjured no less. but dont expect me to feel bad for him. he was in way over his head and when his luck ran out he didnt even try. sad state of the world these days

Anacortes is where the "A-boats" that you see on many of the reality shows on fishing up in the Bering Sea are home ported. I have several friends who fish or are retired fishermen. They all have said it is stupid to be out there this time of year in a small boat. I liked to see some of you arm-chair sailors to go up and be on a drifting boat with no steerage in those seas. Ok, so he bails out the water. Can't get out and repair the rudder (whatever the problem was). Probably brain dead from what has happened already. I give someone like that full credit for making a gut-wrenching decision to abandon his boat. And, it is not apples and oranges to compare winter sailing or mooring along the coast, as bad as it can be, with sailing across the waters where he was.