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04-01-2012, 17:07
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Florida/Alberta
Boat: Lippincott 30
Posts: 9,904
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Single Handed 84 Year Old Rescued off Easter Island
Hope I can still do this at that age (but rather not single handed).
Chile finds stranded 84-year-old U.S. sailor
__________________
If your attitude resembles the south end of a bull heading north, it's time to turn around.
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04-01-2012, 20:09
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: east bay california.
Boat: compac 16
Posts: 67
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Lost Sailor Found
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04-01-2012, 20:14
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#3
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Gabriola Island & Victoria, British Columbia
Boat: Cooper 416 Honeysuckle
Posts: 6,933
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Re: lost sailor found
Seven attempts! "If it weren't for bad luck he wouldn't have no luck at all!"*
*Albert King "Born Under a Bad Sign"
__________________
“We are the universe contemplating itself” - Carl Sagan
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04-01-2012, 20:17
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2011
Boat: sold my boat. looking for a new one.
Posts: 16
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Re: lost sailor found
Happy ending to this story. Another catastrophe on a Westsail though...
There were 2 or 3 that didn't make it on last years puddle jump too.
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04-01-2012, 20:29
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#5
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: gettin naughty on the beach in cornwall
Boat: 63 custom alloy sloop,macwester26,prout snowgoose 37 elite catamaran!
Posts: 10,594
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Re: lost sailor found
if he had taken a couple of russian girls with him he would have been fine.....mast may be broken ,but at least he wouldnt have been "suffering from a broken mast".............
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04-01-2012, 20:51
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Cruising
Boat: Privilege 39 Catamaran, Exit Only
Posts: 2,723
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Re: Lost Sailor Found
He sounds like a good mate, and at age 84 I admire his gumption to attempt a solo rounding of Cape Horn. He has more courage than me. It sounds like the Westsail hull was in fine shape, it was just the broken mast that was the problem.
I owned a Westsail 32, and the round bilges make the boat roll badly when there is no mast. The roll moment of inertia in the mast keeps the boat more stable. When there is no mast, the rolling could beat you up in heavy seas.
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05-01-2012, 09:54
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Nova Scotia until Spring 2021
Boat: Custom 41' Steel Pilothouse Cutter
Posts: 4,976
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Re: Single handed 84 year old rescued off Easter Island
Get rescued because you've perhaps pushed your luck too often and for too many years? I would say that if you've tried six previous times to round Cape Horn solo and haven't made it, you have the wrong boat, the wrong skipper or too many years to manage it.
This doesn't mean it can't be done: I know some tough-as-nails old circa-WWII guys at my club who still take out their PSCs and Albergs into very snotty weather without comment or bother, but it does suggest that this particular achievement is perhaps beyond this particular sailor. Whether that's age, skill or luck-related is unknown, but this would seem to be a clear case of the universe trying to tell this old man something he is not prepared to hear.
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05-01-2012, 10:12
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Minnesota
Boat: Cruisers 370
Posts: 32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy
Get rescued because you've perhaps pushed your luck too often and for too many years? I would say that if you've tried six previous times to round Cape Horn solo and haven't made it, you have the wrong boat, the wrong skipper or too many years to manage it.
This doesn't mean it can't be done: I know some tough-as-nails old circa-WWII guys at my club who still take out their PSCs and Albergs into very snotty weather without comment or bother, but it does suggest that this particular achievement is perhaps beyond this particular sailor. Whether that's age, skill or luck-related is unknown, but this would seem to be a clear case of the universe trying to tell this old man something he is not prepared to hear.
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Oh please give me a break!
Keep on trying and never, never give up!
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05-01-2012, 10:16
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2010
Boat: Tartan 30
Posts: 1,548
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Re: Single handed 84 year old rescued off Easter Island
Quote:
Originally Posted by ogalili
Oh please give me a break!
Keep on trying and never, never give up!
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Absolutely
This guy has obviously never read cruisers forum , and as such, is making his own way by his own hand. That is never an easy task.
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05-01-2012, 10:18
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#10
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One of Those
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Colorado
Boat: Catalac 12M (sold)
Posts: 3,218
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Re: Single handed 84 year old rescued off Easter Island
Quote:
Originally Posted by ogalili
Oh please give me a break!
Keep on trying and never, never give up!
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hear hear. Where would we be if everyone gave up after only six tries at something difficult?
The circus and Olympics would be pretty boring, I bet.
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05-01-2012, 12:03
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Ontario, Canukistan
Boat: CN35 - 1960 35' steel yawl
Posts: 118
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Re: Single handed 84 year old rescued off Easter Island
i too hope if I get to 84 I am still floating around somewhere on the planet. Good on 'im!
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05-01-2012, 12:27
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 9,398
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Re: Single handed 84 year old rescued off Easter Island
Hope he doesn't have to abandon his boat. Seems like he's lost his mast, but maybe they can supply him with fuel?
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05-01-2012, 13:31
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 6,185
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Re: Single Handed 84 Year Old Rescued off Easter Island
Guy sounds competent and like he got hit with some bad luck. Normally whenever a rescue or disaster happens there is a ten mile long trail of bad decisions that lead up to it. From his accomplishments and the fact that he's alive and well it seems that he had his act together.
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05-01-2012, 13:57
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Coos Bay, Oregon
Boat: Haida 26
Posts: 501
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Re: Single handed 84 year old rescued off Easter Island
Quote:
Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy
Get rescued because you've perhaps pushed your luck too often and for too many years? I would say that if you've tried six previous times to round Cape Horn solo and haven't made it, you have the wrong boat, the wrong skipper or too many years to manage it.
This doesn't mean it can't be done: I know some tough-as-nails old circa-WWII guys at my club who still take out their PSCs and Albergs into very snotty weather without comment or bother, but it does suggest that this particular achievement is perhaps beyond this particular sailor. Whether that's age, skill or luck-related is unknown, but this would seem to be a clear case of the universe trying to tell this old man something he is not prepared to hear.
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Come on now, sailing is life, not luck. No age limits, just desire to do what you love. I've been around the horn, it's not luck at all, just the desire to survive and use your skills to meet the challenge. My hat is off to him for his effort & courage...Michael..
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