Urgent help needed to recover abandoned yacht NW Barbados

[SFS]

Battery life on a DeLorme would still be an issue, but when set for maximum interval between outgoing pings, it would last a while. Company claims 100 hours on a fresh battery, but I don't know if that's based on one ping every 10 minutes, or one ping every 4 hours, which are the two ends of the spectrum, IIRC.

[Scout 30]

In my work I access satellite photos every day. I can zoom in & out and they're amazingly clear. I've often wondered why in this day & age we can't get something like Google Earth in real time to aid in searches. At least give the Coast Guard access to satellite photography. It would be a much more efficient use of resources and a much quicker and safer way to find survivors.

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by Kemp

How about renting long range surveillance UAV? Something like this https://uavsystemsinternational.com/...illance-drone/

It's got a 30 mile range.

[jongleur]

Maybe this boat has met up with SV Dagny. jk...

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

It's got a 30 mile range.

But.. with a Leopard as a 'Carrier' it would be useful for 'over the horizon' scanning to port and starboard once one closes the search area..

[allwentwrong]

Anyone in St Martin know of any bargin yachts forsale?

[boatman61]

I doubt very much it'll turn up/be found East of St Martin.. they were a self estimated 2 days out of Barbados when the rudder went.. to my reckoning the boats more likely to be closing the islands well S of Antigua.. Martinique or Dominica.. it would be a miracle for it to make that much Northing to St Martin.. assuming they abandoned 240nm E of Barbados.. that's 350nm roughly to the 1st island in the chain.. average current is between 20-30nm/day.. double that for beam to wind drift is 40-60nm/day..
10+ days puts her on a rocky W coast somewhere.. or through a channel and on her way to Cuba.
Maybe the best bet would be head for St Barts and then run S outside the islands.. also as MarkJ has said before.. get the word out to the Fishing Fleets etc with maybe a reward posted to forestall/limit any salvor's claim..
a simple finders fee.
All you need is a position report so you can organise the retrieval.. the longer you stall the smaller the chances.
Find her.. then argue the toss about suitable rewards.

[hellosailor]

Scout-

The problem with satellite photos is simply the vast amount of territory they must cover. And, no one is interested in tasking satellites to cover generally "empty" ocean with no financial return on their investment. On top of that, the size and shape of one boat, even a 53'er, white hull and white sails against whitecaps on the ocean, means you need a battery of photo analysts to go over the results, or programmers to code software for that job.

It has been tried and done MANY times before, using existing satellite imagery for locating missing boats, missing small aircraft, and of course debris from commercial jets as well. Bottom line? "The sea is so big and my boat is so small."





Allwent-

Have you subscribed to a satellite AIS company, to see if there are satellite reports from your AIS? AFAIK that information is only available by purchase, it is not given out to the usual AIS streams.

The last beacon I found online was from December 23rd, moving at 2.4 knots, so at roughly 50 miles per day, roughly ten days now, the boat could be 500 miles further in the indicated direction of drift.

The good news being, if that beacon was right, that your boat is nowhere near beaching on Antigua. The bad news being, it is well offshore and out of range of any reasonably inexpensive search aircraft, and headed only further into the deep blue. Doesn't seem to match your expectations of position, but does seem to confirm why no air assets were/are dispatched to the location. And out there, privately sold satellite AIS streams would be the only way to track it, assuming the beacon was still working.

[Scout 30]

This boat's been on Craigslist for quite a while now.
https://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/boa/5926256484.html

[Scout 30]

[QUOTE=hellosailor;2292672]Scout-

The problem with satellite photos is simply the vast amount of territory they must cover. And, no one is interested in tasking satellites to cover generally "empty" ocean with no financial return on their investment. On top of that, the size and shape of one boat, even a 53'er, white hull and white sails against whitecaps on the ocean, means you need a battery of photo analysts to go over the results, or programmers to code software for that job.

It has been tried and done MANY times before, using existing satellite imagery for locating missing boats, missing small aircraft, and of course debris from commercial jets as well. Bottom line? "The sea is so big and my boat is so small."


It's still got to be way quicker & cheaper than flying around in a C-130. I can scan the whole west coast of Florida in a few minutes.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by SFS

Battery life on a DeLorme would still be an issue, but when set for maximum interval between outgoing pings, it would last a while. Company claims 100 hours on a fresh battery, but I don't know if that's based on one ping every 10 minutes, or one ping every 4 hours, which are the two ends of the spectrum, IIRC.

With my Solar panels and the Delorme plugged into a USB charging port it would work until weather tore up the panels or something and a 660 AH bank running just bilge pumps and the Delorme and position lights would last a long time, weeks I would think.
I don't have one so I'm not sure as to how it works, but if I understand if the OP had one, finding the boat is a non issue, all you have to do is arrange a way to her.
I had thought AIS would do this too, but I am finding out that is not the case
From a legal standpoint I have to wonder, can someone salvage a boat if the owner knows its exact position? Wouldn't that be a bit like salvaging a boat at anchor while the crew was in town?
I'm no Lawyer either, but to me it sounds like a case could be made that if you know the location at all times, its not abandoned, you left with the intention of coming back.
Plus there is the one in a million stolen boat tracking issue.

Apologies to the OP, but each post does bump your thread to the top. I think a reward posted for information may not hurt

[RPZ]

Originally Posted by boatman61

But.. with a Leopard as a 'Carrier' it would be useful for 'over the horizon' scanning to port and starboard once one closes the search area..

And how do you land the drone back on the deck of your Leopard?

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by RPZ

And how do you land the drone back on the deck of your Leopard?

You land it on the tramps... Its much easier than you think... You can even hover it and grab it out of the air (maybe not in 5M seas)..

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by RPZ

And how do you land the drone back on the deck of your Leopard?

I was thinking more along the lines of one of these to be honest.. or similar, not being a drone nerd.. allows for 20mins flight time.. does not say what winds are to strong tho'.. or how far off the video can/will pick things up with some clarity.
Have no idea what the previous mentioned drone looks like.. or its size.

[Kemp]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

It's got a 30 mile range.

It is the first one I found on google. It should be with a longer range. Maybe it would be possible to use boat as a base and setup flight patern with waypoints.