Schooner Nina - MERGED 3 THREADS

[Friend of Nina]

Sorry ignorant. So would that be 163 NM farther away from the last known lat/long or closer?
Update is P3 Orion 160nms north of North Cape!

[ternmarine]

Originally Posted by Friend of Nina

Ok now last lat and long from Spot on board was:


-34.13174 Lat 173.02081 long.

Does that mean about 63 miles difference? From last lat/long and when Spot quit??

screen capture from google earth

[ternmarine]

Originally Posted by Friend of Nina

Sorry ignorant. So would that be 163 NM farther away from the last known lat/long or closer?
Update is P3 Orion 160nms north of North Cape!

Yes and that is the area the Orion is currently searching in. Nothing on the midday news here yet.

[MarkJ]

Hmmmmm but the current heads to the east....

the green arrows show the direction of the current.

Things can be blown by the wind or the current depenting on the nature of each. But a dismasted full keel yacht (or life raft with drogues) 50NM north of North Cape should have gone with the current... to the east... at 5 to 10 nms per day... and would now be 100 nms NE or 260NM E of North Cape.

The SAR guys would have factored it all in, but you could just check with them and make sure they have.

[ternmarine]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Hmmmmm but the current heads to the east....

the green arrows show the direction of the current.

Things can be blown by the wind or the current depenting on the nature of each. But a dismasted full keel yacht (or life raft with drogues) 50NM north of North Cape should have gone with the current... to the east... at 5 to 10 nms per day... and would now be 100 nms NE or 260NM E of North Cape.

The SAR guys would have factored it all in, but you could just check with them and make sure they have.

From today's SAR update

"RCCNZ Mission Controller Jeff Lunt said the search area, centred 160 nautical miles north of North Cape is expected to cover approximately 3,780 square nautical miles, has been calculated for a life raft search. If time is available and there’s daylight, the search area will be extended"

[opusnz]

Cheri,

That Spot position must be several days earlier. They were well past North Cape when they ran in to trouble. So is that the last Spot message you had and when was it? Was it from Evi? The other positions appear to have been either via voice message or text on the Iridium Sat phone but if there were more Spot messages I would like to know. Send me a personal message if you like...

[bazzer]

Did they not have a shared spot page?

[Pelorus32]

Based on RCC NZ saying they are conducting a liferaft search centred 160nm N of the top of NZ and that the last known position (4 June?) was approx 160nm W of the top of NZ then my rough calcs show that they are basing their search on:

Set: ~ 045 degrees

Drift: ~ 0.35 knots (based on roughly 225nm and 650 hours)

It would also explain why a search of the Three Kings was included the other day.

My calcs are inhibited by a lack of access to a chart where I am and by the assumption that the last known position was due W of North Cape when it wasn't quite. Still it gives a rough picture of what the calcs are.

A review of the MSLP charts also shows why there is the assumption of some northward as well as eastward in the direction of the set.

My thoughts are very much with the crew and the searchers, having sailed a great deal and been a member of a search crew. It's not a job I am in any hurry to repeat.

Just refining this a little, on the assumption that the last known was 50nm north and 160nm west of north cape then the figures are:

Distance: ~ 195nm
Set: ~ 035 degrees
Drift ~ 0.3 knots

Not much different really and in line with (though lower than) some estimates I've seen of life raft drift.

[Albro359]

1 July 2013: 5.00pm
The search for the crew of an American schooner missing en route from Opua in the Bay of Islands to Newcastle, Australia, is nearing the end of its sixth day, with no sightings of the missing vessel or its liferaft.
The 21m (70ft) Nina, with seven people on board, has not been heard from since 4 June.
The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) tasked an RNZAF P3 Orion to carry out a radar and visual search of an area north of Northland today. The P3 Orion departed for the search area, centred 160 nautical miles north of North Cape, at about 8.45am. The aircraft is expected to complete its search in the next hour and return to New Zealand.
RCCNZ mission coordinator Geoff Lunt said the search to date has been extremely thorough, covering an area about four times the size of New Zealand. RCCNZ determined the search areas on the basis of drift modelling from the last known position of the yacht on 4 June and two days of coastal searching.
Mr Lunt said RCCNZ has been in contact with family and friends of the crew and is keeping them informed about the progress of the search effort.
He said the results of the search effort so far will be fully reviewed overnight. “RCCNZ will evaluate all the areas that have been covered and the information we have gathered, with a view to deciding on the next steps to take.”
RCCNZ is liaising with Rescue Coordination Centre Australia (RCC Australia), which is assisting with broadcasts on coastal radio. New Zealand Maritime Radio is continuing to conduct broadcasts in New Zealand’s search and rescue region.

[foolishsailor]

This has been a tough year for cruisers, many boats lost - but not all that were lost stayed lost. Keep the faith!

Best hopes for the crew

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Pelorus32.

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Good memory... Boat was 'Windego' but their route was quite different, and well to the north. They left Tonga to head to Bay of Islands, NZ and hit the big red button a week out during a storm.
That was in the second week of November (the hurricane season there) and the boat was found in NSW, Australia near Seal Rocks second week in february. Which means the boat without crew did a prety fast passage. But that was much further north and it would have had Easterly trade winds the whole time.


http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...elp-93248.html

Mark

Yes Windego is the boat I was thinking of. Thanks for the particulars of that incident. Still hope Nina can eventually turn up like Windego did though a lot sooner.

[Pelorus32]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Pelorus32.

Thanks GordMay happy to be here...except I would prefer the circumstances of this thread were happier.

[Friend of Nina]

Update was kindly given in thread before mine. Laz, Evi's son met with the UA Embassy in NZ. Said went well. Tuesday he's flying down to RCC in Wellington. They will show him everything so will post when find out. Double edged sword... No debris but no sightings! Cherie

[Jim Cate]

See Bob McDavitts "weathergram" issued yesterday for his take on the situation, and the details of his comms with Nina. Includes more detail on the wx he expected them to face.

Cheers,

Jim