65-Year Old Woman, Newlywed, Lost at Sea near Land's End

[Dockhead]

Has anyone been following this story?

Hope fades for missing yachtswoman | Yacht News | Yachting World

It's quite horrible. 10 days after her wedding, she bought an old Moody 31 in Falmouth, and sailed out into the Channel single handed despite limited experience. She somehow made it around the Lizard to Mousehole -- a tough piece of water by itself. He plan was to sail on around Land's End into the Bristol Channel and to her home in North Devon. She never made it -- pieces of her boat, smashed to bits, washed up in a cove near Land's End.

The Western part of the English Channel, with frequent gales, mountainous seas, tidal races, precious few safe harbors, and rocks as far as the eye can see, is not a place to be trifled with. Thousands of sailors have perished here over the millenia. Looks like this bit of water has just claimed its latest victim

[atoll]

after 30 acrimonious pages on ybw!,the evidence points to her falling overboard,some time after rounding lands end,in fairly reasonable weather,that swung to f4 sw later that night.

[GaryMayo]

I smell a mouse in the woodwork

The couple divorced, just remarried. She either had a great deal of money, or a wonderful personality. (See photo)

Fell off the boat? In calm seas? Then bad weather hits? Sailed alone?

I smell insurance issues.

If she truly met her demise in this way, I am so sorry for her family.

Ten bucks says this gal shows up in a Google maps image in south America on the beach.

[pillum]

Even in good weather this coast can be dangerous, and for someone not used to a boat's motion and perhaps not aware of the dangers, it's too easy to see a scenario where she simply went overboard.

RIP, looks like she had got her life together with a new husband, just to see it ended prematurely.

Single handed, don lifevest and clip on at all times you leave the cockpit.

[Mr B]

You cant swim at 5 knots.I was very aware of that one,

what is it, 75 % of men that have gone overboard have been found with their fly undone,

So many ways to fall over board, Hit with the boom, Just losing balance, sudden wave action, A moments inattention,

Very unfortunate,

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by pillum

Even in good weather this coast can be dangerous, and for someone not used to a boat's motion and perhaps not aware of the dangers, it's too easy to see a scenario where she simply went overboard.

RIP, looks like she had got her life together with a new husband, just to see it ended prematurely.

Single handed, don lifevest and clip on at all times you leave the cockpit.

That iron-bound coast is one serious bit of water. You can be bucked off a 31 foot boat like off a wild bronco. Clipping on would probably only make it worse -- strangled on your lifeline, over the side, no one to pull you back on board. I think the only answer is you just don't go there on a boat that small, except in good weather, and especially not solo, and especially especially not solo and without experience. That coast will not forgive that kind of mistake. Very sad.

[Mr B]

You make sure your life line is not long enough to allow you to go over the side in the first place,
You will never get back on the boat if you do go over the side, The water force will kill you,

[zeehag]

from yachting monthly....



Wreckage could be missing yachtswoman's boat
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 Dick Durham



Moody wreckage identified by Coastguard



The wreckage of a sailing boat, believed to be that of a missing solo yachtswoman has been found by Coastguards in Sennen Cove, Cornwall, but there is no sign of a body.

Millionairess Ona Mary Unwin, 65, bought Seagair, a Moody 31 with a banker's draft for £32,000 last Thursday.

She planned to sail from Mousehole in Cornwall to her home in Bideford, North Devon and set off on Saturday against advice by the agency who sold the boat, Falmouth Yacht Brokers, not to make the trip on her own.

Relatives in Bideford raised the alarm on Sunday after she failed to appear.

Jayne Hobkirk, of Falmouth Yacht Brokers, said Mrs Unwin had a 'captain's ticket', but deduced she hadn't done any sailing for many years.

Lifeboats from Penlee, Sennen and St Ives and helicopters from RAF Culdrose searched the area.

Mrs Unwin, 65, had remarried her millionaire husband Carol, 61, just days before he bought her the second-hand 31ft yacht with a banker's draft on Thursday.

A Coastguard spokesman told YM: 'We have been using photographs of the boat and have identified it as a Moody from some wrecked piece of the cockpit.' Soft furnishings from the wreck have also been recovered.

The search continues.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Mr B

You make sure your life line is not long enough to allow you to go over the side in the first place,
You will never get back on the boat if you do go over the side, The water force will kill you,

I'm not sure it's even possible on a 31 foot boat to rig a jackstay and lifeline in such a way that you can't go over the side

Note that in another fatal accident, I think last year, in Portugal, a boat was knocked down trying to enter a harbor in a gale. Two guys were clipped in -- both died. One guy was not -- he swam to shore and survived.

I bet a majority of jackstays are rigged in a way that being clipped on may easily do more harm than good. I can tell you that mine are -- despite the fact that it should be much easier to prevent crew from going overboard on a 54 footer with wide side decks. I just don't think there is any geometry which would allow you to stand while being clipped on and at the same time, you can't go over the side, and least not on a smaller boat. I think they are of any use only if you are walking or crawling up the windward side, and the windward side doesn't happen to turn into the leeward side at the moment you are falling off the boat.

[Mr B]

10.6 feet beam on the Moody would be a bit of a struggle, But I am only 14 feet wide, and 34 foot long. You can shorten the halyard on the harness, even tying knots in it, will shorten it,

my jack line runs along under the boom, in the centre of the boat, and I cant go over the side no matter which side of the boat I am on. Or the conditions I am in, even unconsious, I stay on the boat,

My harness has a quick release right in front of my chest, Its about 4 inches long and has little plastic balls on it, so its easy to grab and release me from the harness,

It releases me from the safety line, instantly, the harness stays on my body along with my Auto inflate PFD 1,

My jack lines rigged, so That I have both hands to hang on while crawling along the deck,

I was previously crawling along the deck and hooking and unhooking the safety line as I went, But I thought that was too dangerous, as I only had one hand to hang on with, and a wave could hit me at the wrong moment, and hanging on with one hand might not be enough to keep me on the boat,

The force of water is astonishingly powerfull,
Mere man has no hope against its force, I have been caught a few times with water forces over the years, I was exceptionally lucky to survive, So I do all I can, not to get caught in it,

I never have enough sail up to over turn, But **** happens, and fast, out there,

Another cat driver told me that he came apon a cat sailing across the ocean with cormorants roosting on it, he came along side and the owner had gone over and was dead still in his harness and was being dragged through the water.

[boatman61]

A lot of speculation and no facts... but if wreckage has been found... be honest guys... don't matter a damn if you were hooked on or not...
Your screwed...
Condolences to the family... and I apologise for what follows but...

Personaly... would /do not ever hook on to anything more than a beer or a rum...
64 n so far... so good....

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

I smell a mouse in the woodwork

The couple divorced, just remarried. She either had a great deal of money, or a wonderful personality. (See photo)

Nice car, though.

[S/V Alchemy]

The only known fact in this story is that the sea doesn't give a damn about your skill set. Eric Tabarly comes to mind in this respect.

The most useful comment so far here is that on a narrow boat (meaning that your body length exceeds more than half the beam, I suppose!) is more logically rigged with jacklines on the centerline than along the sidedecks.

Centerline is more awkward, but if you slide under the lifelines, you want to be stopped before your hips are past the toerail if you want to "self-retrieve".

Having been in some, uh, "instructive" solo sailing situations (although not ones involving such heavy tides or boat-eating coastlines), that's been my experience when it comes to tethers/jacklines.

[boatman61]

[QUOTE=S/V Alchemy;1064878]The only known fact in this story is that the sea doesn't give a damn about your skill set. Eric Tabarly comes to mind in this respect.

The most useful comment so far here is that on a narrow boat (meaning that your body length exceeds more than half the beam, I suppose!) is more logically rigged with jacklines on the centerline than along the sidedecks.

+A1... as stated before... I don't use them.. but if you are going to use them the centre line is the most sensible... running along the side deck is just sheer stupidity and a vain attempt at seamanship... bad seamanship at that...

[foolishsailor]

My understanding is that she was warned by the sellers not to go and they stated when interviewed that is was obvious that she had sailing experience but that it also was obvious that it had been a long time since she sailed. It may sound harsh but the sea is a harsh mistress and she doesn't have time for fools. It was foolish for this person to not heed the advice given her and to think her skills were greater than they were. She didn't deserve to die for these mistakes, but we all know how harsh the justice is that the sea metes out to those who don't fear her enough...