Urgent help needed to recover abandoned yacht NW Barbados

[weavis]

I wondered what I would do in this situation.

I think I would probably go and look too. Odds may not be good but I know I wouldnt find it sat at home... and the activity would be good for my psyche.

Miracles happen...

I had a friend whose business failed in the UK... with his last 100K he went to Las Vegas and picked a high paying machine and reserved it... he was 47K down when it hit the big one... Sometimes you just have to do the impossible..

[Exile]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I work on the principle if I can see where the hull meets the water its roughly 3 miles away.. the bridgedeck on the horizon 6-8 miles.. this is in daylight.
Lights at night however, in good visibility.. can be seen up to 12miles away.. and that's according to AIS positioning..

Of course if you kept your dang radar on Boatie, you could verify! Not that we don't trust you.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Exile

Of course if you kept your dang radar on Boatie, you could verify! Not that we don't trust you.

Good to see I'm not the only one who thinks AIS is over rated..

[Bill Seal]

How much would a SPOT tracker have cost?

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by Bill Seal

How much would a SPOT tracker have cost?

Battery is still and issue with those devices.. We have one and it has a very short battery life (maybe 1 day).. Yes you could plug it in to a USB port (if you have one).. USB ports don't work like you expect on the ocean. Corrosion is a big issue and we usually have to "jiggle" the cable every day to keep things charging! I highly doubt it would do any better than AIS!

[Exile]

Originally Posted by Bill Seal

How much would a SPOT tracker have cost?

Would have only been helpful so long as the (AAA) batteries lasted. Not long on mine, even with lithiums. See previous discussion about the DeLorme. Given the limitations of Class B AIS, you would really need Class A or an auto-tracking device like what is available through sat phone subscriptions. Also solar/wind for house bank recharging and as many other 12v loads as is practicable turned off before leaving the boat. Still . . . may or may not last as long as is likely needed.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Bill Seal

How much would a SPOT tracker have cost?

Only any good for Tracking and S&R for as long as you have fresh batteries.. I use it for half hour every 4hrs or so for folks to track my progress.. as a stand alone trace mechanism 48hrs max.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Bill Seal

How much would a SPOT tracker have cost?

Hindsight is of course 20/20.
That being said we are a Garmin dealer and I can get Garmin employee discounts.
The new Garmin inreach will be released on Feb 20 and I intend to buy one.
So far I have never lost a USB plug, but mine are in the boat, and mine are three yrs old. But I figure any decent amount of Solar can run AIS, bilge pumps and an inreach until something happens to the Solar.
If I were having issues with USB plugs, I'd bet a drop of silicone grease when it was new would prevent those issues.
I figure months or until a storm wipes out the panels, but if you have accurate nearly exact position data, you go get the boat once you have arranged how. The problem shifts from finding the boat to how to recover the boat. I'd have to hope that is an easier problem to solve

[Bill Seal]

Some genius should be able to figure out how to hardwire one of these type devices to the 200AH battery bank.
Also, AIS only talks to another ship within 20 miles, while SatPhone devices communicate almost anywhere in the world. (Iridium just launched another batch of satellites using a SpaceX rocket)
And, if you have one of these devices on board, -or on your Deuce Roadster it will never really be *LOST*

[a64pilot]

How about Hum by Verizon
I have one of those in my Daughters car.

[Bill Seal]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

How about Hum by Verizon
I have one of those in my Daughters car.

Only if you never sail more than 10 miles from the nearest cell tower.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Bill Seal

Only if you never sail more than 10 miles from the nearest cell tower.

That was purely a joke, plus I doubt many Sailboats have an OBDII port to plug the thing into.

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by weavis

I wondered what I would do in this situation.

I think I would probably go and look too. Odds may not be good but I know I wouldnt find it sat at home... and the activity would be good for my psyche.

Miracles happen... c

I had a friend whose business failed in the UK... with his last 100K he went to Las Vegas and picked a high paying machine and reserved it... he was 47K down when it hit the big one... Sometimes you just have to do the impossible..

These days only religions believe in miracles, that said you certainly can get lucky, fortunate or pick another word but miracles. ...meh, don't think so. Must have been quite the experience for your friend to hit the jackpot.

[Exile]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Hindsight is of course 20/20.
That being said we are a Garmin dealer and I can get Garmin employee discounts.
The new Garmin inreach will be released on Feb 20 and I intend to buy one.
So far I have never lost a USB plug, but mine are in the boat, and mine are three yrs old. But I figure any decent amount of Solar can run AIS, bilge pumps and an inreach until something happens to the Solar.
If I were having issues with USB plugs, I'd bet a drop of silicone grease when it was new would prevent those issues.
I figure months or until a storm wipes out the panels, but if you have accurate nearly exact position data, you go get the boat once you have arranged how. The problem shifts from finding the boat to how to recover the boat. I'd have to hope that is an easier problem to solve

So I only have an older SPOT and am not up on the newer SPOT/DeLorme/Garmin sat tracking devices. Do I understand some of these posts to be saying that the batteries inside of them can be recharged (or kept on a continual charge) via a USB port on the device and a 12v plug on the boat? If so, then this sounds pretty good for indefinite tracking if the boat has solar/wind, and especially if the device has reception below decks and can thus be kept dry. My old SPOT does not work below decks, and I've read mixed reviews on whether the Delorme does. Seems like all the newer Garmin gps devices have much better antennas for below decks reception, and so maybe the new Garmin/DeLorme would fit the bill.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by weavis

I wondered what I would do in this situation.

I think I would probably go and look too. Odds may not be good but I know I wouldnt find it sat at home... and the activity would be good for my psyche.

Miracles happen...

I had a friend whose business failed in the UK... with his last 100K he went to Las Vegas and picked a high paying machine and reserved it... he was 47K down when it hit the big one... Sometimes you just have to do the impossible..

Each new day is another opportunity she will be found, but that is more due to luck than accurate search intelligence.

I think the OP has done as much as he possibly can at this stage.

Makes more sense now to reserve funds for recovery if/when located.

In his place I would be optimistically fatalistic that it will be found and focus on stabilizing family life and stop second guessing myself.

Fingers still crossed!