Missing 75´s.y. Lady Domina

[rebel heart]

Slettvold reportedly purchased a hand held VHF radio along with a hand held GPS shortly before his departure.

Oh well then everything should be fine.

[la vida nueva]

"...and never seen again" works great in fairy tails. I have never seen a yacht go down that didn't cough up it's share of flotsam. As crowded as the sea lanes are today, most of those who are lost at sea had a sending off party, a parting of the ways, a tally-ho leaving harbor. None of that happened here. No one saw the yacht leave, saw the yacht en route, has seen any wreckage or flostasm or squat. I find that odd.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by la vida nueva

"...and never seen again" works great in fairy tails. I have never seen a yacht go down that didn't cough up it's share of flotsam. As crowded as the sea lanes are today, most of those who are lost at sea had a sending off party, a parting of the ways, a tally-ho leaving harbor. None of that happened here. No one saw the yacht leave, saw the yacht en route, has seen any wreckage or flostasm or squat. I find that odd.

In Adrift Steve Callahan went weeks without seeing any other boats and his went down in a jiffy. And as crowded as sea lanes might be the open ocean is a lot more barren and extremely hard to search.

I've covered hundreds of miles of "busy" waterways and never saw a thing.

[mcarling]

Originally Posted by la vida nueva

Strange how a yacht can simply disappear with no one having seen or heard from her.

A non-coded (i.e. under 24 meter) monohull with a large enough hole in the hull will sink in less than 60 seconds. Even if the liferaft deploys, there may not be anyone in it. At night, with an immediate power failure, people may be awakened by the cold sea water flowing over their bunk in absolute darkness. At that point, finding either a flashlight or a way out is difficult -- even if one doesn't panic.

There is still a chance they will turn up unharmed, but the time when a good outcome was likely has already passed.

[la vida nueva]

I appreciate the great points and all of them true. Rebel Heart, did anyone see you while you were in the sea lanes, or before you left, were you able to resist the last vhf call to a friend in passing, a last toot of an air horn as you recognized a familiar sail (this yacht has been in the caribbean for 12 years)? Sure, the yacht could have gone down without so much as a cork bobbing up, and with all of the rotten weather, even a liferaft would have had difficulties surviving without damage, but nothing the entire route? Nothing? No witnesses to the yacht leaving, no witnesses to enroute, not a peep on the VHF in all the time they were out...five people on board all who no doubt would have enjoyed a moment on the radio...

[la vida nueva]

STILL LOOKING FOR ANYONE WHO KNEW THE SAILORS OR WHO HAS INFORMATION ON THE LADY DOMINA.

Sailing Savoir Faire: Lady Domina Disappears, Family Shattered

[Faodave]

Originally Posted by la vida nueva

I appreciate the great points and all of them true. Rebel Heart, did anyone see you while you were in the sea lanes, or before you left, were you able to resist the last vhf call to a friend in passing, a last toot of an air horn as you recognized a familiar sail (this yacht has been in the caribbean for 12 years)? Sure, the yacht could have gone down without so much as a cork bobbing up, and with all of the rotten weather, even a liferaft would have had difficulties surviving without damage, but nothing the entire route? Nothing? No witnesses to the yacht leaving, no witnesses to enroute, not a peep on the VHF in all the time they were out...five people on board all who no doubt would have enjoyed a moment on the radio...

FYI - Katie Lee did have a VHF conversation with some friends as she was departing. They were arriving and LD was on their way out. I spoke to the Captain of the other vessel who confirmed this to me.

[sinbad7]

Faodave...

At Last!! Someone who has ACTUALLY had VHF contact with LD as she departed St. Martin. At least the departure point is now definitely established. Thank you.

Tore

[la vida nueva]

Could we get the names of those friends? Do you have contact information for them? Thanks, Tim

[sww914]

Originally Posted by la vida nueva

I appreciate the great points and all of them true. Rebel Heart, did anyone see you while you were in the sea lanes, or before you left, were you able to resist the last vhf call to a friend in passing, a last toot of an air horn as you recognized a familiar sail (this yacht has been in the caribbean for 12 years)? Sure, the yacht could have gone down without so much as a cork bobbing up, and with all of the rotten weather, even a liferaft would have had difficulties surviving without damage, but nothing the entire route? Nothing? No witnesses to the yacht leaving, no witnesses to enroute, not a peep on the VHF in all the time they were out...five people on board all who no doubt would have enjoyed a moment on the radio...

I don't think that you understand. You can't necessarily make out which vessel is which at more than a couple of miles. To make out a vessel's name is difficult even with binoculars. Even then, you won't recognize most boats unless you're familiar with them. We see many hundreds of boats that we never interact with at the dock. We mostly only recognize our friends' boats.

[la vida nueva]

I am looking for anyone who had a conversation with any of the crew. It sounds like you are as close as we have come. Would you relate a short account of what the "captain" said when you talked with him? Please send to my email, paynterlawfirm@gmail.com. You could also help by putting the word out, we are seeking the actual person who had that conversation, plus other people who spoke directly to any of the sailors. We are seeking anyone else who overheard VHF communications with the LD. We are trying to establish whether there was any discussion of a change of plans, how long these people planned their route to be (multiple versions exist), what the scuttlebut was about the condition of the yacht, the condition of the engine, the food and water stores, condition of the raft. We are looking for anyone who took pictures of the boat or video which we can analyze to see if there is any extra clues to be gained. Thanks for your honest response. Tim

[Briansfriends]

I am writing on behalf of some friends of Brian Fritzner, a member of the Lady Domina crew. We are all obviously very concerned and have been checking this forum daily for positive news. None of us have much experience of cruising or sailing and we're logging in here desperate for information. we appreciate that due to lack of contact both prior to departure and since there are no definitive answers, but it would be really appreciated if someone with experience could fill in some of the blanks. any answers to the following, or indeed other questions that we should be asking, would be hugely appreciated.
1. is it possible that they might have decided to bypass the Azores and cross directly to Europe. if so, what would be a realistic timescale for that journey?
2. how likely is it that they wouldn't encounter/sight other vessels for this length of time at sea?
As I said, we are all very concerned and this forum is our only real source of information, even if that information is just speculative. Many of the posts on here give us hope but some ... not so much. any clarity that any of the experienced sailors on this forum might provide would be greatly appreciated.
many thanks
Craig

[mcarling]

Originally Posted by Briansfriends

1. is it possible that they might have decided to bypass the Azores and cross directly to Europe. if so, what would be a realistic timescale for that journey?

Yes, it's possible that they decided almost anything -- even to attempt a circumnavigation without any stops. It seems more likely than simply changing their minds that they might have accidentally sailed past the Azores due to any number of reasons such as navigational error. However, they should have reached Europe already, no matter how (realistically) far off course they might have been. Even if they dropped every compass overboard, they would still know that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

Originally Posted by Briansfriends

2. how likely is it that they wouldn't encounter/sight other vessels for this length of time at sea?

The more likely scenario is that they would have encountered other vessels but without any communication or identification. If they didn't sink, then someone probably would have spotted them on radar without having any idea who they were.

We all hope for the best but, at this point, you should prepare your friends for the possibility that nothing more will ever be learned.

[la vida nueva]

Thank you so much for your interest. I have been hoping people who know the sailors personally would start communicating with us. I am investigating as a journalist, with limited resources, and honestly, limited cooperation.

I can't say much about the feasibility of skipping the azores. We are coming to a variety of scenarios, they are all speculative. What I am trying to do is pin-point location through witness accounts, plus obtain witness statements regarding the condition of the boat.

So far we have a third party account "someone said they said" they heard Katy Lee on the VHF as the yacht left. If that is true, we know only the yacht left. The problem is, we don't know who the third party is, so even that is dubious.

We have accounts saying the Lady Domina had only her foresails and no main sail. I received another account about a potential problem with the boat that was disconcerting.

Here are some of the scenarios:
1. The yacht was hijacked. If that is the case, we need to get as much information into the press as possible on chance the crew have become prisoners and someone can identify the yacht.

2. The yacht lost it's engine. If that is the case, with only her foresails for power, the boat would move, but not always in the direction desired. There were significant stores of water and food, the crew should survive this with no problem. This is a likely scenario. If this is the case, we should publicise information about the missing yacht keeping it fresh in every sailors mind on chance someone will bump into them.

3. The yacht changed destination and is unable to advise anyone about the change. This is a likely scenario. If this is the case, we should publicise pictures of the yacht on chance the Lady Domina is spotted and the anxious relatives and rescue services are advised.

4. The yacht sank. That could put the survivors in the emergency raft. If that is the case, we should publicise the fact the yacht is missing on chance someone spots the raft.

I have been speaking with the Mosteid family. They have sent me photos of their son and told me what they knew about the Lady Domina. I ask you do the same. My email is paynterlawfirm@gmail.com, or immigrants2bfree@gmail.com I am seeking information about any story, all last conversations, scuttlebut about the crew, the condition of the boat, anything.

My suggestion is we prepare a press release and get this to the English press. A lot of English speaking sailors head over the same route and may not know about this boat.

As a parting thought, the worst thing anyone can do is lose hope. The skipper had experience, was known to be a stickler for detail regarding sticking to course. There was a lot of food and water on the boat. Many sailors have been found when all hope was lost.

Please check the following thread: Sailing Savoir Faire

[hpeer]

Brian's Friends,

It is hard to advise you or provide any real information that you so desperately want.

Many, many years ago I was in the USCG and participate in aerial searches. Sometimes you find them, sometimes you don't.

Sometimes folks just WANT to be missing for a while. The ocean is a different place and it can be nice to not have the world intrude. I accidentally did that to my Wife once, she called a search for me, and I had no idea.

But, it is possible for a boat to simply dissapear and never e be heard from again. Even today that is possible.

I can only imagine the pain of waiting and not knowing.

Best wishes.