Yacht sinks outside Golden Gate

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

People underestimate the banks and the current/swell interaction here on the west coast. Outside the gate the standing waves can get very nasty in apparently good weather. My Valiant got swamped very close to where this happened with a p.o. They spent the rest of the day pumping water out of the cabin.

TRUE. There are plenty of videos of boats in trouble, foundering and surfers riding the standing waves. I would think planning your pass on the outgoing tide or at least not strong incoming would be the plan.

[Lojanica]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

TRUE. There are plenty of videos of boats in trouble, foundering and surfers riding the standing waves. I would think planning your pass on the outgoing tide or at least not strong incoming would be the plan.

THE GATE for smaller boats is not trivial. I think the takeaway here is he should have been more conservative and optimized the tides for the passage out. Seems like bad timing was the big error, followed by lesser errors? Like most disasters it is a series of errors typically not just one. But RCA likely would point to a poorly timed exit.

The primary aim of root cause analysis is to identify the factors that resulted in the nature, the magnitude, the location, and the timing of the harmful outcomes (consequences) of one or more past events in order to identify what behaviours, actions, inactions, or conditions need to be changed to prevent recurrence of similar harmful outcomes and to identify the lessons to be learned to promote the achievement of better consequences. ("Success" is defined as the near-certain prevention of recurrence.)

[JPA Cate]

Tether?

Routine wearing of lifejacket?

Singlehanders are so much more vulnerable.....

Ann

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by markpierce

We'll never know what happened. Nevertheless, conjecture is good if we learn a lesson.

Our futures are unknown.

Mark i swear you must live everyday on the bay. I'm gonna have to come down to the pier and wave a monkey flag at ya!

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

Mark i swear you must live everyday on the bay. I'm gonna have to come down to the pier and wave a monkey flag at ya!

I attempt to take the vessel out once a week. But there are other travel adventures and life's other situations preventing that.



(Ayala Cove, Angel Island)

[sailorchic34]

Generally you do not want to leave the bay on an ebb tide due to the bar crossing and the nw winds. Prime time is at slack water or on the flood tide. Waves will be much smaller over the bar.

[markpierce]

One point of view from a ship:

[cheoah]

Thats terrible.

How do you miss the tide, with 11 miles to cover on the ebb? Big standing waves could have easily tossed him off the boat, but I don't get the progression of the EPIRBs. That would be an easy mistake to make for a new sailor, not understanding the conditions, but you would think most anyone that sails around there would tip him off. Any number of things could have happened, but leaving at 1800 makes you think he was putting out to sea directly, and perhaps he was trying for slack but hit the ebb at full flow? Once he dove in to the inlet with his boat, it would be hard to turn around. Maybe thats the reason for one beacon, then the other....

Poor guy.

[hellosailor]

Stu-
Cruel on the Nooze? Not really. Back in the 70's the beancounters figured out that real news costs money, but gory spectacles make money. So they started buying out, converting, and radically changing the profession and business.

Take the typical Nooze coverage of any sailing incident. Does anyone research and present the facts? Or, do they just come close and try to be the very first ones to present "Oh, the horror!" so it sells? OK, NPR gave Eric a fair shake, but NPR was doing a retrospective, not "news" coverage by then.

All the Nooze reported the pings heard in the search for 370, but did any of them waste one minute, one column-inch, explaining what else those pings might have been if they weren't from the black boxes? No. That was only mentioned incidentally by the Ozzies weeks later.

Not that there aren't some serious journalists still out there, but they're sadly the exception to the rule these days. Makeup, styling, gleaming teeth and such count for more than experience and knowledge, because that's what the buyers are willing to pay for.

Boats are mysterious, and the sea is frightening. Makes for good Nooze on a slow day.

[gjordan]

There has been a question about the mans experience based on the epirb going off, but not the VHF. An easy, and not too unusual explanation of that there could have been a total electrical failure ( think about that, you GPS and chartplotter sailors) and he had no clue where he was. The epirb has its own battery, not dependent on the 12 volt system. Everything else depends on 12 volts. Good Luck. _____Grant.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by markpierce

We'll never know what happened. Nevertheless, conjecture is good if we learn a lesson.

Absolutely!
The one lesson I would suggest for all novices is:

NEVER start a long sea passage by departing in the evening, if you can possibly avoid it.

As a professional.. I follow that same advice almost to a superstition... but really because I know it takes a day at sea for both crew awareness and boat's performance to settle down.
Take advantage of that first 12 hrs of daylight to transit the most dangerous section of your departure as chances are .... That's when the proverbial.. Hits the Fan!

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Absolutely!
The one lesson I would suggest for all novices is:

NEVER start a long sea passage by departing in the evening, if you can possibly avoid it.

As a professional.. I follow that same advice almost to a superstition... but really because I know it takes a day at sea for both crew awareness and boat's performance to settle down.
Take advantage of that first 12 hrs of daylight to transit the most dangerous section of your departure as chances are .... That's when the proverbial.. Hits the Fan!

What very good advice! I surely endorse it.

Jim

[s/v Beth]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Absolutely!
The one lesson I would suggest for all novices is:

NEVER start a long sea passage by departing in the evening, if you can possibly avoid it.

As a professional.. I follow that same advice almost to a superstition... but really because I know it takes a day at sea for both crew awareness and boat's performance to settle down.
Take advantage of that first 12 hrs of daylight to transit the most dangerous section of your departure as chances are .... That's when the proverbial.. Hits the Fan!

Good advice. As one who has left on a solo at sunset and on sunrise, I learned this the hard way. Never go through tricky tides for the first time at night. Man it would have been so much nicer to just learn that from someone!

[Steve1944]

Today's June 9 what's the update?

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by steve1944

Today's June 9 what's the update?

There is none. If you want any updates, try 'lectronic Latitude at Latitude 38.

Boat sank, he died, no one knows anything else. Most likely never will.