My boat is merrily drifting west in the Caribbean sea

[Emouchet]

That is unfortunate.

AIS signal can be grabbed from satellites receivers, but usually you need a different antenna to propagate the signal vertically towards satellites. The usual horizontal propagation with normal VHF antenna have a weak vertical gain. Some satellite may grab it, some other not. Do not desesperate.

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by waterman46

It will be hard for most unwanted salvagers to reach her until she is closer to land, which is not a bad thing until you are ready for a retrieval effort.

I think you made the right decision if the boat was un-steerable with only the one rudder and really glad this was not another vessel disappearance.

Also I'm pretty sure other owners of the same design would like to know how the other rudder failed.

Steering on these is always a bit of a topic. The original 3 steering boxes are either broken now or been replaced on most models. None of the 35' models are less than 40 years old now.

Mine had twin hydraulic cylinders. these were mounted outside and needed to be replaced each year or two due to corrosion. A very poor setup.

I changed to a higher quality cylinder that could stand up to the elements. This used a mechanical tie bar to connect the two rudders (again externally mounted). In hindsight the 1.5mm wall thickness was probably not enough. As in this incident the waves hitting the rudder beam on bent the bar.

It could have been reinforced. I had some carbon poles or even the spinnaker pole, it would been a 5 day wait until conditions were well enough to make the fix.

The whole loss was mostly just down to time. If the adverse weather was shorter then under watch from other vessels it could have been toughed out, but the coastguard was keen to stress the conditions were going to worsen and stay that way for up to 4-5 days.

I wasn't comfortable with the boat lying beam on to the seas without being able to steer or do anything.

It was amusing though on the Coast Guard Cutter, as I though the movement on my boat was difficult, but no-one could sit down on the Cutter without being thrown off the seats. Every so often you'd see an officer go sliding a couple of meters and end up on the floor, often with computer monitors and other equipment following. At point I was thinking "better here than on my boat then."

Originally Posted by Emouchet

That is unfortunate.

AIS signal can be grabbed from satellites receivers, but usually you need a different antenna to propagate the signal vertically towards satellites. The usual horizontal propagation with normal VHF antenna have a weak vertical gain. Some satellite may grab it, some other not. Do not desesperate.

This could be why it was getting a signal during the bad weather, which has mostly past now. Without the boat rolling and pitching, the signal will be more horizontal.

Originally Posted by Scorpius

I'm glad you are safe and I agree with your attitude towards material possessions although it's unfortunate you have lost your pride and joy. I would expect finding, retrieving, and repairing her, before a reef finds her first, will be VERY expensive.

I'm surprised that with a sea anchor out she drifted broadside to the waves and suffered the resultant damage - and that it wasn't possible to adjust the bridle to get her into a more tenable attitude.

Take care and good luck going forward.

Thanks. I'm happy for people to criticise or ask questions also.

The guys on the Coast Guard boat, say most vessels they reduce end up beam on.

I removed the drouge (Sea Brake) so not be a hazard to the boat rescuing me. Otherwise I would have left the anchor down also (if I could have got to the bow safely)

[Montanan]

Would this be your gone drifting about boat?



https://gcaptain.com/containership-a...eid=5626ef2c30

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by Montanan

Would this be your gone drifting about boat?



https://gcaptain.com/containership-a...eid=5626ef2c30

Yep.

Aww, just baby 7' seas. Haha. They were 12' when the coast guard was questioning if it's wise to try and continue. could the difference between signification wave height (33% of waves) and the others though.

It's interesting how much the boat drifted. At one stage I in the high 80s to low 90s off St Croix.

I was cuffed and shackled for crimes against seamanship on my arrival in Puerto Rico. Apparently it was the only way immigration could transport me. Protocol.

[Montanan]

Glad you are safe, hell of way to end 2020.

Hope your 2021 goes smoother and with out such adventures.

Welcome to the US.

Maybe someone will gather SV Jade up and salvage her.

[Chris Cringle]

A Prout 35 can't be sailed down-wind wind with "only" a main and staysail? Interesting.

[Compass790]

I don't know the area sadly but the Tasman sea down here can be unforgiving & look how this boat did unattended:
https://www.sail-world.com/Australia...?source=google.
Interesting about the difference in behaviour between your cat & the CG cutter.

I wish you the best of luck retrieving her

[Snowgoose35]

Originally Posted by Chris Cringle

A Prout 35 can't be sailed down-wind wind with "only" a main and staysail? Interesting.

It can be most certainly - I cant comment on the circumstances here and I suspect as is usual in these sort of cases fatigue of the crew trying to singlehanded in bad conditions for days plays a bigger part than the design of the boat.

My own choice would have been to move the staysail to the forward foil to catch better wind and the spare main (with bolt rope) to the stay sail foil and go down wind wing and wing under what would be the equivalent of reefed fore sails - of course this is easier said than done given the conditions but I had the same boat in 3-4m beam seas in Biscay and was able to get a jammed up headsail down - I did get very wet though! Circumstances vary though and I have no idea if Carl could have done the same in this case.

As Jade was my old boat I hope she is recovered safely - she looked after me for several years and is a tough old girl. I'm glad no one was hurt and I suspect other than some tire canvas that when she is found she'll be afloat and dry inside as is usually the case with cats

[Palarran]

Sorry about the loss of your boat.

Several years ago a new boat doing a transatlantic with a family lost it's rudder. After many attempts to save the boat, the captain finally left it adrift. AFAIK it was never recovered. But someone on this site posted that in situations like this, before you get off the boat, let your anchor all the way out, as far as it can go even if you have to tie additional rope to it. The idea is that before it goes onto a reef it just may grab. Better to have it salvaged then to wreck on the rocks. Just posting this as IMO it's a very good last resort when abandoning the boat.

[Nani Kai]

Originally Posted by Snowgoose35

It can be most certainly - I cant comment on the circumstances here and I suspect as is usual in these sort of cases fatigue of the crew trying to singlehanded in bad conditions for days plays a bigger part than the design of the boat.....

Condolences to "Mikedefieslife" in the loss of his vessel. It must be wrenching to leave a boat you love in the midst of a crisis.

In concert with Snowgoose, not having been there, I also cannot comment on decisions made to address the emergency. When the situation began to deteriorate, Mike took early action which approvingly led to a successful rescue with no loss of life.

I would however like to hear from other catamaran owners as to what might have been tried in addition to Mike's efforts in order to sail and steer the boat.

We have a Leopard 39, sloop rigged, Yanmar 3YM30's. Three reef points in the main. If we lost the use of our genoa in a similar situation, with the main fully reefed, would applying power from the windward engine be enough to compensate for no head sail in order to sail somewhat to windward?

If a bridle were attached to a drogue could the boat be steered by attaching one end of the bridle to a winch and shortening or lengthening the bridle leg as needed?

Other ideas?

[Boatguy30]

Upwind from the ABCs on an old Prout! What could go wrong!!??

[MarkSF]

I'm missing something here. My nav lights use about 5A, without the steaming light. That would exhaust a 280Ah bank in about 56 hours. Then won't the AIS stop transmitting?

If you have LED nav lights you get much longer of course.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by MarkSF

I'm missing something here. My nav lights use about 5A, without the steaming light. That would exhaust a 280Ah bank in about 56 hours. Then won't the AIS stop transmitting?

If you have LED nav lights you get much longer of course.

In the modern world we have solar and led. If I was to leave our nav lights and AIS on with nothing else the solar would support them indefinitely

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by Chris Cringle

A Prout 35 can't be sailed down-wind wind with "only" a main and staysail? Interesting.

It can DDW or close, no problem. Slowly though. Don't forget the Genoa is between 27-36m2 (depending on the cut) and the main is less than 14m2 set as far aft as possible.

Honduras and Nicaragua would have been the down wind and down current directions. Just about 1000nm away. At 3 knots it might take some time but comfortable.

At some point you have to decide if the boat is worth saving given it's low value, or is it better to get out. I'm sure others who place more value on their boats/homes might opt for a different strategy. Mine was to get more fuel and carry on to land and sit out the weather.

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

Upwind from the ABCs on an old Prout! What could go wrong!!??

Yes my thoughts exactly. I never wanted to make the journey to begin with, so subconsciously it wasn't starting on a good note. I was buoyed by the recent crossing of a lagoon and a Seawind. Though the Seawind did take a while.

Originally Posted by MarkSF

I'm missing something here. My nav lights use about 5A, without the steaming light. That would exhaust a 280Ah bank in about 56 hours. Then won't the AIS stop transmitting?

If you have LED nav lights you get much longer of course.

I had some fancy new LED Aqua-signal ones installed in St Maarten. To replace any of the remaining incandescent ones. The tricolour was already LED i believe. 1kw of solar too.