Call for Help/ This American Life (Merged)

[boatman61]

You'd be amazed what a body length of 6ft 2" combined with terror can achieve with toes and heels hooked into the guard wires as you hang over the side up by the bow.. try it sometime..

[Matt Johnson]

I though wax toilet bowl ring and dish towel were the cure to cracks in hull?

[Pelagic]

Eric... So glad you and your family have survived that compilation of offshore challenges and media scrutiny.

As far as I am concerned, only you have earned the right to judge "hindsight", .....but I do have one question...
...Do you think an extra pair of strong adult hands would have helped to ease the boat management pressures on you when the boats physical damages and your fatigue compounded upon each other?
Might that have made enough difference if your daughter's condition had improved and outside help was not available?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by boatman61

You'd be amazed what a body length of 6ft 2" combined with terror can achieve with toes and heels hooked into the guard wires as you hang over the side up by the bow.. try it sometime..

I find children held by the ankles to be remarkably useful leak inspection systems

Dave


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

I found personally a combination of frightened skipper , sinking boats and cushions to be remarkably effective in conjuring up solutions. I once lost 4 towels, two cushions and my favourite towing bathrobe to a god dammed leak.

Of course that assumes you can get to the leak. ?

Dave


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Indeed. I found a bunch of plastic grocery bags stuffed into a four inch gash just forward of the keel curtailed a gushing leak pretty good. Followed up with an improvised crash diaper made out of a poly tarp pretty much sealed things up until the boat could be pulled and proper repairs made. It was not pretty but, it worked.

[Palarran]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

As far as I am concerned, only you have earned the right to judge "hindsight", .....but I do have one question...
...Do you think an extra pair of strong adult hands would have helped to ease the boat management pressures on you when the boats physical damages and your fatigue compounded upon each other?
Might that have made enough difference if your daughter's condition had improved and outside help was not available?

Originally Posted by rebel heart

If I had to do it all over again I obviously wouldn't leave the dock, but there's not a whole hell of a lot I think in hindsight I could have reasonably done or any glaring oversights I made.

Not according to an earlier post.

It would seem to me that an easier question would have been "do you think you as a family should have sailed offshore for smaller distances before starting the biggest passage of them all".

[MarkJ]

On a 3,000 mile passage you got plenty of time to work out ways to plug a hole. And when it means you wont have to pump by hand every day you'll have it patched in no time.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Broad reaching... preventer...??
Heavy sea's/wind... why not reefed down...??
Squalls no problem.. if hove to the boat will adjust.. okay maybe bouncy for a few minutes.. fore-reaching.. whats the problem.. your miles from land... shut down and take it easy..
Sorry Eric.. I don't get it.. not from what I've read to date.. and at 900 miles off Mexico are you sure your in the ICTZ..
Not a criticism of your decision.. far from it.. you did the right thing as far as I'm concerned with a baby on board..
However your seamanship I do question... the only time I'd rig a preventer is downwind.. no way on a broad reach.
And even on a broad reach in the conditions you describe I'd be reefed to maximum.. but F5-6.. and I do know what the S. Pacific can be like.. you'll roll a lot.. but maybe you should put your A/P on max setting next time you go there..

A broad reach is a pretty downwind to me. Next over on the sailing chart is a pure run where you're talking ddw type stuff; I'd never sail like that except in a bay or in relatively benign conditions.

I was reefed down pretty well, I experimented with everything from 1-3 reef points.

I guess it's possible we weren't in the ITCZ, but we had constant squalls, periods of calms, and were south of the easterly trades. Sure seemed mighty ITCZ-ish to me.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

I though wax toilet bowl ring and dish towel were the cure to cracks in hull?

I've got three toilet bowl wax rings in my boat for just in case.

[boatman61]

You left from Mexico... I left from Panama.. now my E'lies were more from the SE... and to be honest until we were well W of the Galapagos there was hardly any wind of note.. but a shitty swell..
I am however still surprised that you were on a broad reach... why did you not take down the main and run under headsail alone..
That's what I did all the way to Vanuatu..

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by boatman61

You left from Mexico... I left from Panama.. now my E'lies were more from the SE... and to be honest until we were well W of the Galapagos there was hardly any wind of note.. but a shitty swell..
I am however still surprised that you were on a broad reach... why did you not take down the main and run under headsail alone..
That's what I did all the way to Vanuatu..

Tried that, both under yankee and staysail, but we weren't zipping along fast enough.

Plus, once I wanted to heave to I needed the main up.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by mbianka

I'm struck by the difference in outcome of Eric's ordeal and Ciro Stellges a sailor on Long Island Sound last week.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-125645-2.html
Rebel Heart 900 miles off the coast and MAC a sailboat just a few miles off the coast of Long Island within sight of homes on the bluffs. Coast Guard and other marine resources within a half hour and helicopter rescue literally minutes away but, very different outcomes. Eric hit the EPIRB and Stelleges used his cell phone.
Rebel Hearts VHF was working but, useless where they were and for some reason MAC's was not used or did not work though it probably would have been the better choice for a Mayday call in that location rather than the cell phone.
Another irony is that at Stellges cell phone worked while Eric's Sat Phone failed due to a change in corporate policy regarding the sim card. Though the "heads up" Eric was able to give the Coast Guard before the phone failed may have help expedite his families rescue. Having multiple backups in Rebel Hearts case lead to a successful outcome not having one in MAC's case tragedy.
Lesson Learned: I'm putting a personal EPIRB on my shopping list.

Yet there still many in your country decry carrying an EPIRB.

In my country Australia it is mandatory and the two timely rescues of Queensland this last week reinforces this situation. One was for a flooded Lagoon Cat offshore and the other of a 5M single power boater who was picked up at night in the water somewhat hypothermic.

Cheers

[Mycroft]

"Why didn't you do this, why didn't you do that." Perhaps Eric never encountered conditions like that? Perhaps he was concerned about his panicking family or his seriously ill toddler?

More constructive IMO would be something like "for future travelers, in the conditions you describe, I might recommend trying xxx or yyy."

I think Eric has learned a university degree from this excursion and I truly hope that he will be able to build on that knowledge in the future. The best he can do for us would be to pass down some of the things he knows for sure.

The primary lessong that I've taken from this situation is to spend a two or three weeks out in the great big blue before setting out on a very long passage. To give myself and my crew a chance to see how we handle long term underway conditions.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Tried that, both under yankee and staysail, but we weren't zipping along fast enough.

Plus, once I wanted to heave to I needed the main up.

Yaayyyy... yer biting...
Its not how fast you get there... its you get there... mate.. don't make a plan..
Seriously.. and this could cost me work but sod'em... its just down to getting there.. how long it takes don't matter.
You matter,,, the rest of the world don't give a ****..
Sorry.. bit drunk right now..

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Yaayyyy... yer biting...
Its not how fast you get there... its you get there... mate.. don't make a plan..

For most situations you're absolutely right Boaty. However, Eric's already said that he's pretty sure the boat would have arrived just fine. But with a sick toddler and no comms, it was time to push the button.