Merchant Bulker Rescues Four from Sailboat in Mid-Atlantic

[OldKetch]

Four rescued mid-Atlantic by bulker. Boat abandoned. Crew offloaded in Brazil.
https://www.maritime-executive.com/a...n-mid-atlantic

"We made contact through VHF radio and found out that everything was fine with the crew, only they were tired" Capt. Versic told media.

This makes little sense. Boat looks fine. Sails look fine. There is reference to "engine failure", an unlikely reason to abandon mid-ocean. I am wondering if anybody knows more about this story.

[Paul L]

Article says they rescued four people and a bulldog. No info on which one was captain.

The yacht is flying an interesting set of signal flags.

[OldKetch]

Originally Posted by Paul L

The yacht is flying an interesting set of signal flags.

Yes, it looks strange. There is a Spanish courtesy flag (mid-ocean??) and a Negative signal, but cannot make out the rest.

[Michael Cobbe]

If I was on that yacht I would have put the sails up, which we did when had engine failure. We stopped off a marina and called them on CH16 and a marina boat came out to tow us in.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Michael Cobbe

If I was on that yacht I would have put the sails up, which we did when had engine failure. We stopped off a marina and called them on CH16 and a marina boat came out to tow us in.

There's gotta be more to the story. Steering issues, illness, or something.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by Michael Cobbe

If I was on that yacht I would have put the sails up, which we did when had engine failure. We stopped off a marina and called them on CH16 and a marina boat came out to tow us in.

Or they could have towed with the dink - there's got to more to this. As it stands, it's just ridiculous to abandon a nice boat like that over an engine failure - I'm thinking maybe the Bulldog was the captain.

[Brewgyver]

Originally Posted by joelhemington

Or they could have towed with the dink (snip)

The article reports the rescue was in mid-Atlantic...

[Mystic38]

yes... that is exactly what they could have done...

sheeesh

Originally Posted by joelhemington

Or they could have towed with the dink - there's got to more to this. As it stands, it's just ridiculous to abandon a nice boat like that over an engine failure - I'm thinking maybe the Bulldog was the captain.

towing 15 tons in 4m seas with a dinghy for a thousand miles.. of course!! they are so silly for not thinking of that

[Island Time O25]

Here are some more details. French family of 3, plus Portugese skipper and a bulldog. Waves 10 to 12 feet.

https://www.total-croatia-news.com/l...oatian-sailors

[Tetepare]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

Here are some more details. French family of 3, plus Portugese skipper and a bulldog. Waves 10 to 12 feet.

https://www.total-croatia-news.com/l...oatian-sailors

Captain of the rescue ship reports sailboat crew “fine” but “tired”.

The shown photos indicate possible 4m rollers, but clearly not short period 4m “boat buster” breakers.

Perhaps they dropped sail when the ship approached, but I wonder if they didn’t sit floundering beam-on anyway.

Looks like the typical combination of too much money with total lack of experience.

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by GTom

I'd be interested what story they'll try to sell the insurance company...

If it's a European boat worth less than €100.000 they probably would not have gotten hull insurance at all.

Originally Posted by atoll

two solar panels in overcast conditions are probably not enough to keep up with demands from the auto pilot,fridge and nav gear.
lack of progress if they are unable to hand steer 24/7,seasickness ,no engine = low morale.
+2 on psychological or interpersonal breakdown

On my solo crossing I had 850w of solar, and still it wasn't enough it was overcast a good 50-60% of the time, and dark the rest of the time. I used the engine to charge a little, and also hand steered a little, as well as turing off the fridge and other non-essential items.

Originally Posted by Tetepare

Captain of the rescue ship reports sailboat crew “fine” but “tired”.

The shown photos indicate possible 4m rollers, but clearly not short period 4m “boat buster” breakers.

Perhaps they dropped sail when the ship approached, but I wonder if they didn’t sit floundering beam-on anyway.

Looks like the typical combination of too much money with total lack of experience.

Pretty much what I had, between 3-4.8m with a 7-8 second period (definitely not the nice smooth 15 second rollers from the North during the days of dead calm). First on the beam then eventually moving around more to the stern as I got closer to Caribe. I described it as uncomfortable in that you couldn't stand up with holding on to something with both hands.

I think the Weather for the Atlantic crossing has been pretty rubbish this year for those leaving in December on wards. Endless days of calm, waves/swell up to 5m often in on the beam and then a weeks of 30+ knot winds at odds with the swell.

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

This crew's predicament should be a required reading for all of those "I took two 1 week crewed charters in the Med and am now looking for a sailboat to circumnavigate right away" crowd.

And for the hundreds of people that going around the boats in the Canaries wanting to crew. "Do you have any experience?", "No but I can cook and clean". Complete with a Ukelele, and possibly a skateboard or some other piece of crap they expect to be stored. "For ecological reasons I'm cycling around the world and would like to crew on a boat" One of these delusional hippy weirdos even lived a f-ing cave.

[Snore]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

....

Looks like the typical combination of too much money with total lack of experience.

It appears they recognized their deficiency and hired someone.

As posted elsewhere, I will not pass judgement. As a licensed master, my only question is —- why did the delivery guy leave???

[Island Time O25]

From Sunda's fb page:

Our Good Captain Ivan Versic, with his officers and crew members of M/V Sunda, recovered from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a skipper along with a family of four members due to engine malfunction of their sailing boat. Congratulations to all our crew members for this successful, safe, and rescue operation!

[Cpt Pat]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

From Sunda's fb page:

Our Good Captain Ivan Versic, with his officers and crew members of M/V Sunda, recovered from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a skipper along with a family of four members due to engine malfunction of their sailing boat. Congratulations to all our crew members for this successful, safe, and rescue operation!

Maybe the batteries went dead after the engine failed -- and they couldn't keep the beer cold.

12 foot seas, no engine. Warm beer (drink Guinness - it's supposed to be warm). Sounds like my sail last weekend.

I shouldn't make light of their situation, but it's hard to believe they would abandon over only a dead engine. But then, it seems to me that too many "sailors" only know how to operate wind-assisted motor boats.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Cpt Pat

Maybe the batteries went dead after the engine failed -- and they couldn't keep the beer cold.

12 foot seas, no engine. Warm beer (drink Guinness - it's supposed to be warm). Sounds like my sail last weekend.

I shouldn't make light of their situation, but it's hard to believe they would abandon over only a dead engine. But then, it seems to me that too many "sailors" only know how to operate wind-assisted motor boats.

Either there is more to the story or you have it correct.