Discussing what happened here, how and why it happened, what happened to the the hatches and
companionway, the
dinghy and
steering pedestal, the dynamics of the wave train, the forces a breaking wave can exert etc, are all good and valuable topics of discussion that may benefit the rest of us.
I personally and very strongly feel that the skipper's decision to abandon, being a "survival decision" which resulted in survival, should not be second guessed. That he made the correct decision is borne out by the results.... they both survived none the worse for the wear in the end. The recovery of the boat could not have been anticipated.... what a lucky break!!
Many years ago I made a similar survival decision that ultimately was very costly to me personally (financially devastating to me). Two lives were in my hands, and we both lived to tell the tale, and came out in good condition. The choice was clear cut to me. Stay at the risk of lives to save property, or focus on saving lives. Hypothermia was a very clear
danger, and as with these two, we were not equipped to deal with the conditions over the term that would have been required.
I endured literally years of criticism from people who were not there. People who have never faced looming hypothermia, as I have a number of times. The real deciding factor is the falling of your
core temperature. As your personal
core temperature falls you MUST take action, and quickly. Your ability to function and accomplish tasks, as well as make rational decisions quickly degrades with core temperature in an accelerating downward spiral. I know. I've been into the early stages of hypothermia a number of times. I have ZERO regrets over the choices I made. They were definitely the right choices under the circumstances. Good judgment may easily be set aside, knowing what you will be facing after the fact. Let's hope that some of the discussion here does NOT have that effect on one of our members at some future date, and perhaps resulting in loss of life in pursuit of saving pride.
For those not familiar with the
Pacific Ocean in the area where this boat was abandoned, it is absolutely icy. It feels like it came right off a glacier. It is far different from the waters most people choose to sail in, which while they may be cold, are nothing like this. Drenched in ice
water, a boat half filled with ice
water sloshing around in an ungodly soup of everything imaginable, no working pumps, an injured
skipper, essentially wrecked
steering pedestal.... though I would hope a tiller option was available (if it could be found). Apparently no survival suits, no way to bring body temperature back up except for what
food might be found floating in the
cabin. Facing rapidly degrading decision making ability, and physical ability to function..... I would hope that people reading this thread would choose the same option the
skipper of Kelaerin did. The wackos have a sign down the road that says "choose life". It's a good
rule to live by as the skipper of a yacht....
H.W.
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