Aground at Elbow Cay

[earlgray]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

They have sails, they have an anchor......they have a rudder and a windvane, I’d bet at least one magnetic compass.

It is, IMHO, a colossal failure to end up on the beach! Lost and tired sure. But on a beach?!

...or sextant and paper charts.

[Matt Johnson]

Solar panels are off now and bimini has been crushed by waves. It's already creating a large sand dune and will be under sand pretty quick if the waves don't die down. I'm guessing they were trailing wraps or a drogue to slow down and wrapped around the prop and rudder.

Matt

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

Solar panels are off now and bimini has been crushed by waves. It's already creating a large sand dune and will be under sand pretty quick if the waves don't die down. I'm guessing they were trailing wraps or a drogue to slow down and wrapped around the prop and rudder.

Matt

So the rudder is immobilized by line around the prop? Interesting......

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

Solar panels are off now and bimini has been crushed by waves. It's already creating a large sand dune and will be under sand pretty quick if the waves don't die down. I'm guessing they were trailing wraps or a drogue to slow down and wrapped around the prop and rudder.

Matt

Were there weather reports that were up in the carry a drogue category?

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by earlgray

...or sextant and paper charts.

Right ! a compass and/or sextant for close in shore work especially in rough weather. Obviously you've never tried it.

It's always interesting to see the self righteous jump in with no knowledge of the events.

[Vasco]

You know the history of the folks in those islands. The boat won't go to waste.

[Matt Johnson]

Got a bit more info from someone that actually spoke to the sailor the next morning after the wreck. Seems they deployed a drogue a few days before, but didn't have it out when they came ashore. The lines wrapped around the prop were done after they hit the reef, but before actually ending up on shore.... it was a last minute issue and did not contribute to them running aground.

The damage on the starboard side of the boat was from Hurricane Maria before they left they left Puerto Rico. The cap rail is torn off in a lot of places and the hull to deck joint was just caulked to stop water coming it. Maybe water coming in caused some of the electrical issues (just a guess).

That's it for now.

Matt

[Matt Johnson]

Here she is as of 5:30 today:



Matt

[Group9]

Sad to hear. And, see.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by flee27

No problems mentioned other than no power/electricity.

A common theme.

[Boatwright]

Lucky they fetched up on Elbow Cay - nothing much between there and the Azores except the deep blue Atlantic.

I expect that a key piece of this sad tale will be the mental incapacity of the crew. It's over 1,000 miles from PR to Elbow Cay. Battling winter storms, the never-ending ground swell for weeks, and I imagine the famous Hopetown Light (which though visible from the Atlantic side is unfortunately on the other side of the island) looked like salvation to the tired brains of those aboard.

By the way, Hopetown Harbor is one of the best.

[earlgray]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Right ! a compass and/or sextant for close in shore work especially in rough weather. Obviously you've never tried it.

It's always interesting to see the self righteous jump in with no knowledge of the events.

yes, (hand held) compass and sextant. have you ever heard of Pothenot problem or that with sextant you can take high of lighthouse/ hill and find out distance off, with one bearing you have fix. same with hand held compass, you can take two bearings and have a fix. they did not "navigate" 100 yards from the shore, did they, so everything that I just mention they could "perform". As far as I red, boat was in perfect working/sailing order after loosing power, so if that's happened to me, lost of "electricity" I would not even noticed it.

by the way, I am master mariner unlimited and British (RYA) yacht master ocean certified.


have a nice day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eooqcaFFz9o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmOTMbkrsD4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8j00E89Bq4

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by earlgray

yes, (hand held) compass and sextant. have you ever heard of Pothenot problem or that with sextant you can take high of lighthouse/ hill and find out distance off, with one bearing you have fix. same with hand held compass, you can take two bearings and have a fix. they did not "navigate" 100 yards from the shore, did they, so everything that I just mention they could "perform". As far as I red, boat was in perfect working/sailing order after loosing power, so if that's happened to me, lost of "electricity" I would not even noticed it.

by the way, I am master mariner unlimited and British (RYA) yacht master ocean certified.


have a nice day

I once witnessed a sailboat try to anchor in Dry Tortugas. After 8 or 9 failed attempts by someone who clearly had no idea, someone on a near by boat called out some advice. The wife of the hapless anchorer became quite indignant and yelled back I'll have you know my husband is an RYA Yachtmaster who has crossed oceans. The helpful boater called back .... What has that to do with anchoring.

You clearly have never attempted the methods you suggest on a small boat in a rage in the dark of night.

PS. I also have several Masters tickets that are irrelevant to this discussion.

[earlgray]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

I once witnessed a sailboat try to anchor in Dry Tortugas. After 8 or 9 failed attempts by someone who clearly had no idea, someone on a near by boat called out some advice. The wife of the hapless anchorer became quite indignant and yelled back I'll have you know my husband is an RYA Yachtmaster who has crossed oceans. The helpful boater called back .... What has that to do with anchoring.

You clearly have never attempted the methods you suggest on a small boat in a rage in the dark of night.

PS. I also have several Masters tickets that are irrelevant to this discussion.

rage, what rage. it was not 10 was it. if they could use engine in that "rage" so they could continue with sails after loss of power. couple of reefs on main, or just with storm jib or whatever. any way if they regularly had their position on the paper chart they would had DR so after losing "power" they could still know their approximate position and continue on their way. they did not lost "power" 100 yards from shore, did they. actually I would like to know how far from shore they lost engine. and so what if was dark, there must be some lighthouses around. I suppose they knew how to "reed" lights and then find them on the chart, take hand held compass and have at least line of position.

for heaven sake how people use to sail just before 30 years, let alone 100.

But what my PPL instructor once long ago said..."there is no good or bad pilots.all pilots are good, until something happen".

There will always be excuses, there will always be, De mortuis nil nisi bonum

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by earlgray

rage, what rage. it was not 10 was it. if they could use engine in that "rage" so they could continue with sails after loss of power. couple of reefs on main, or just with storm jib or whatever. any way if they regularly had their position on the paper chart they would had DR so after losing "power" they could still know their approximate position and continue on their way. they did not lost "power" 100 yards from shore, did they. actually I would like to know how far from shore they lost engine. and so what if was dark, there must be some lighthouses around. I suppose they knew how to "reed" lights and then find them on the chart, take hand held compass and have at least line of position.

for heaven sake how people use to sail just before 30 years, let alone 100.

But what my PPL instructor once long ago said..."there is no good or bad pilots.all pilots are good, until something happen".

There will always be excuses, there will always be, De mortuis nil nisi bonum

You make it more and more clear that you have never navigated through a reef in the dark in a rage and have no understanding of the conditions. Close to the island on that side there is a hill between. the lighthouse is probably not visible at closer than 1/4 mile from the reef. I suggest you look at that chart before you belittle others that have less than your perfect skills.