Missing 75´s.y. Lady Domina

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Anne

GJordan - thank you for an intelligent contribution. At last, someone is thinking positively.

Anne, you are the ultimate lurker! Three posts since 2005. Wow!

[neilpride]

Dont know the weight of this particular boat but i guess between 20 and 40 tons , a 220 hp mercruiser i read in other forums, a tired jib, and no mainsail, can make under power maybe 5 or 6 knts in ideal conditions, if the boat choose to cross the Azores Hig presure and the engine quit there can be becalmed for days and days , some years agoo i meet in Horta a Old Man sailing in a 20 ft small heg shell with no engine and a big wind vane the size of the boat, he spend 48 days at sea from The East coast of USA to Azores , Lady Domina carry a big Liferaft in deck , i asume VHF, and distress flares ,i think food and water onboard is not a problem and i believe this boat is going to show up somewhere sooner or later , my 2 cents , the Capt is very skilled in repair things and is from Norway lol!! a tough Viking!!!

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by neilpride

Dont know the weight of this particular boat but i guess between 20 and 40 tons , a 220 hp mercruiser i read in other forums, a tired jib, and no mainsail, can make under power maybe 5 or 6 knts in ideal conditions, if the boat choose to cross the Azores Hig presure and the engine quit there can be becalmed for days and days , some years agoo i meet in Horta a Old Man sailing in a 20 ft small heg shell with no engine and a big wind vane the size of the boat, he spend 48 days at sea from The East coast of USA to Azores , Lady Domina carry a big Liferaft in deck , i asume VHF, and distress flares ,i think food and water onboard is not a problem and i believe this boat is going to show up somewhere sooner or later , my 2 cents , the Capt is very skilled in repair things and is from Norway lol!! a tough Viking!!!

Its taken me 40 from NC to Horta in a H37... so they're not that unusual..

[sinbad7]

With all the SAR and other search facilities activated,I am very surprised we´ve not had ANY sighting of the boat,even when leaving St. Martin´s Marigot Bay. I inquired with the US Coast Guard as to whether they could obtain permission from the US Military to do a search of recorded satellite imagery of the area around the presumed track St. Martin to the Azores but I have not had any replies. Google has permission to use this material,at least once per year,and you´d think it would be possible in the case of missing vessels at sea.

Lady Domina,it now seems certain,bunkered 4000 l of diesel on departure. This should be sufficient for 24 days running on a 7/24 basis. It is now 40 days since their departure. If they have had a total engine breakdown,they must be drifting around somewhere following the Atlantic currents and wind conditions.

Tore

[sinbad7]

I have also put an announcement in NOONSITE in the hope that someone has seen Lady Domina. Atlantic: French Yacht in Distress 500 miles west of the Azores and 2 other yachts missing — Noonsite

Tore

[barnakiel]

1) contrary to a piece of information (somewhere up the thread) there WAS some bad wx in the area of the crossing in the last month,

2) it is a heavy cargo traffic area and it seems probable that any boat in distress may hope to be able to contact a passing ship by VHF or other means,

b.

[barnakiel]

Is 4000 (liters?) of diesel enough to drive a 75', 220 hp boat, from Carib to the Azores?

For, to me, it sounds, it is not.

b.

[sinbad7]

barnakiel..

According to the 220 hp engine specs it consumes 5l per hour=120 pr day=33 days on 4000l diesel. She has an estimated speed of 5-6 kn in optimal conditions.

You are right about the weather situation. We had a report from someone who should know that there had been no extreme weather in the Atlantic for the whole month of April,with a bit more weather to the north of the Azores. From the NOONSITE report we learned there had been gale/storm force wind with 10-12 m waves exactly along the estimated track of both the French yacht and Lady Domina. At an estimated speed of 3kn,Lady Domina would have been in just about the same location as the French yacht on the 24th April when the first distress message came from their EPIRB. The French navy have given up the search with plane and research vessel but a volontary private group have continued the search using a sailboat from the Azores. So far,nothing is heard from either.

Tore

[europaflyer]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Is 4000 (liters?) of diesel enough to drive a 75', 220 hp boat, from Carib to the Azores?

For, to me, it sounds, it is not.

b.

Not by half, by my calculations. 15 l/hr is my best guess for fuel consumption, that gives 267 hours/11 days running, which equals 1,600 miles range. 2,200 nm trip. Oh dear. Tore says enough fuel for 24 days. Maybe there have been some chinese whispers here, or maybe we've just smoked the reason they haven't arrived. Either way, they're out of fuel by now. The next move of a skipper who would set off across the Atlantic in a sailing yacht with no proper sails, even if he does have enough fuel, is anybody's guess. Sailing boats aren't powerboats. We can only hope for a successful outcome here, which in my mind would be drifting back in to port somewhere in the Caribbean given present (and indeed usual) wind conditions. But then again, who can second guess the actions of a skipper who sets off without sails. As for the EPIRB debate, well, you can't legislate against human stupidity. Someone will always invent a better fool.

[europaflyer]

Originally Posted by sinbad7

According to the 220 hp engine specs it consumes 5l per hour=120 pr day=33 days on 4000l diesel. She has an estimated speed of 5-6 kn in optimal conditions.

Yet you've just posted a picture showing a calculation of 15 l/h which by good fortune was exactly the same figure as I calculated above. 1 litre per hour per 4.8 HP (1 US gallon per hour per 18 HP) is a rule of thumb for marine diesels. If the 220 HP engine was running at 70 HP output (best guess) that gives us 15 litres per hour consumption. 4000 litres fuel, 6 knots speed yields 1,600 nm range. QED. I think the next step has to be finding out exactly how much fuel was on board when they left (and if 4000 litres is true then we know what has happened to them), working out where the engine would die, then working out where wind and currents would take them from there.

[David_Old_Jersey]

They probably went somewhere else.....

[foolishsailor]

I think it would be safe to assume we can double the distances listed by europaflyer at the 15l/hr rate as it was mentioned earlier in the thread the boat has a fuel capacity of 2000 gallons - not the 1000gallons (~4000litres) mentioned.

Therefore instead of 1,600nm in ideal conditions they would instead male 3,200nm in same conditions.

The fact that they bunkered 4000l does not mean that is the fuel for the trip - it only means that is what they took onboard prior to departure. I would assume they were topping up their tanks and their fuel was based on tank capacity - 8000l

Would anyone who was crazy enough to take a sailboat with no sails across the atlantic also be crazy enough to begin the journey with half empty tanks? Maybe, but I doubt it.

Still find it hard to beleive that with the ability of the owners to support the immense running and fuel costs of this vessel that they wouldnt pay for used genny and main, sheets and halyards - it would cost less than a single trip to the fuel dock.

Hopefully they are merely battered and afraid - but alive.

[europaflyer]

Originally Posted by foolishsailor

I think it would be safe to assume we can double the distances listed by europaflyer at the 15l/hr rate as it was mentioned earlier in the thread the boat has a fuel capacity of 2000 gallons - not the 1000gallons (~4000litres) mentioned.

Missed that. Still, they're out of fuel now, but with 2000 gallons of water on board they should be able to survive until someone finds them.

[foolishsailor]

They are only out of fuel if they had been motoring nonstop. This is likely true however It assumes that they did not have engine trouble and in fact were spending a large portion of time not motoring while drifting and making repairs.

Ugggh cant imagine the discomfort in a wallowing sailboat with no sails drfting beam on to wind and swells...

What long distance comminication did they have? Ssb? Sat phone?

Did they have a generator? Solar panels?

[Blue Pelican]

We heard a one sided VHF conversation between US Coast Guard, Puerto Rico and Lady Domina broadcast 3rd May as we were passaging along the Puerto Rico coast.
It seemed Lady Domina was requesting weather information only, certainly not assistance. Their position we presumed was most probably lust north of Puerto Rico. Our interest was piqued because we knew of the boat, her owner and one crew member from our time in Hartman Bay, Grenada. We suggest any interested party contact the US Coast Guard Puerto Rico to see if they may know anything further.