Overdue sailing vessel NIBIRU (Found Safe)

[Davidhoy]

Trying to locate the catamaran NIBIRU which left San Adres off the coast of Nicaragua a week ago, headed for the Florida Keys. There's been some rough weather in the area in the past few days, so hopefully they diverted to another destination, or were just slowed down. Last reported AIS position was their departure from San Adres. They had left some basic information with a friend, who contacted me as she did not know how to report an overdue vessel. I have been in touch with the Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center in Miami, and given them all the info I have.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais...705H6HXKATDuJI

If anyone has any info on Nibiru or her crew, please reach out to me or the CG RCC in Miami. Hopefully this is a false alarm, and they are drinking a beer in some shoreside bar somewhere.

Regards,
David

[Davidhoy]

I found a more recent AIS position report, as of three days ago. Looks like they may just be making slow progress, only around 4.1knots, hopefully that is all there is to it. They were not yet halfway to Key West at the time.

https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels...MMSI-368071860

[JPA Cate]

David, will they be going far enough offshore (as a matter of course, no pun intended), for there not to be a reliable AIS position for them for part of the journey? Cause if so, we should factor that in, and not worry if it goes for days without updating. Slow progress will get the job done, and they may want it to take long to count towards their quarantine on arrival in the US. Days on the water have their own routines, and blessings, that people on land don't "get", and therefore, tend often to become worried too soon. Sailboats run by people for their own pleasure do not adhere, for the most part, to predicted schedules. No one worries if you arrive early, and their idea of "overdue" and one's own is often very different.

Ann

[Minggat]

Originally Posted by Davidhoy

Looks like they may just be making slow progress, only around 4.1knots, hopefully that is all there is to it.

As Ann mentioned, that 4 knots sounds like possibly calculated "as the crow flies".

[Davidhoy]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

David, will they be going far enough offshore (as a matter of course, no pun intended), for there not to be a reliable AIS position for them for part of the journey? Cause if so, we should factor that in, and not worry if it goes for days without updating. Slow progress will get the job done, and they may want it to take long to count towards their quarantine on arrival in the US. Days on the water have their own routines, and blessings, that people on land don't "get", and therefore, tend often to become worried too soon. Sailboats run by people for their own pleasure do not adhere, for the most part, to predicted schedules. No one worries if you arrive early, and their idea of "overdue" and one's own is often very different.

Ann

Hi Ann,

AIS is definitely not consistent offshore, but the fix three, now four, days ago did show slower than expected progress. The captain of Nibiru had filed a float plan with my friend, expecting to arrive in the Keys on Friday morning, and asked for the Coast Guard to be notified if they had not arrived by Saturday night. I think that he was a bit optimistic in his schedule, as he would have to average 6 knots to travel the 1000 miles from San Andres to the Florida Keys in 7 days.

So hopefully this is all just an exercise in caution, and they will arrive safely in a day or two. I will update the thread with any new info.

Regards,
David.

[Davidhoy]

Originally Posted by Minggat

As Ann mentioned, that 4 knots sounds like possibly calculated "as the crow flies".

The 4.1 knot speed was simply an instantaneous value at the time of the AIS fix, not an average. But, the straight-line distance between their departure and the then-current position showed slower-than-expected progress. Could be headwinds, mechanical issues, or a variety of other reasons.

[Davidhoy]

Good news! Just got a call from the CG rescue coordination center in Miami, and they were able to get in contact with Nibiru through other vessels in the area. They are safe, and making steady progress towards their destination, and expect to arrive tonight.

[BugzyCan]

Great news.

Question though, why would they take their boat Into the Hurricane area when they were outside it before?

[boat driver]

Originally Posted by Davidhoy

Good news! Just got a call from the CG rescue coordination center in Miami, and they were able to get in contact with Nibiru through other vessels in the area. They are safe, and making steady progress towards their destination, and expect to arrive tonight.

great to hear-

in future, with or without authorities assistance- you can email Marinetraffic.com and plea your need for checking on vessel last signal/general area location and they will often send you the latest position. This happens on workday email, so be aware the response may be delayed. They do receive offshore via satellite AIS B although not as often as AIS A (transmit power) and understand a single request, Do it daily and they may charge you.
USCG has same service access.
A good reason to carry a transmitting AIS.

[fatherchronica]

Back in the 80’s and early 90’s San Andreas was a pretty wild place. I lived then in Puerto Cabezas. There were a group of young wealthy Colombians for awhile in Port who always invited me to accompany them to San Andreas, but they all were armed to well for my taste and pushy. They used to buy LSD 25 from pharmacies there. I imagine it is less wild now. I don’t know it for a fact, but I assume if I still lived in Puerto Cabezas I would never have any employees get their heads chopped off, which was not the case back then. I had an exContra General, Wycliffe Diego, on my payroll and as a friend most of the time.

[Gaia]

Originally Posted by boat driver

great to hear-

in future, with or without authorities assistance- you can email Marinetraffic.com and plea your need for checking on vessel last signal/general area location and they will often send you the latest position. This happens on workday email, so be aware the response may be delayed. They do receive offshore via satellite AIS B although not as often as AIS A (transmit power) and understand a single request, Do it daily and they may charge you.
USCG has same service access.
A good reason to carry a transmitting AIS.

Interesting, good to know.

TX

Jim sv GAIA

[sanibel sailor]

Does seem quite slow, especially as they should be getting a good boost from current

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by fatherchronica

Back in the 80’s and early 90’s San Andreas was a pretty wild place. I lived then in Puerto Cabezas. There were a group of young wealthy Colombians for awhile in Port who always invited me to accompany them to San Andreas, but they all were armed to well for my taste and pushy. They used to buy LSD 25 from pharmacies there. I imagine it is less wild now. I don’t know it for a fact, but I assume if I still lived in Puerto Cabezas I would never have any employees get their heads chopped off, which was not the case back then. I had an exContra General, Wycliffe Diego, on my payroll and as a friend most of the time.

I'm glad when we visited we did not see any such issues! Anyway San Andres is a different country then Nicaragua. We loved San Andres, but had a problem leaving. Didn't know it was necessary to check out via radio when departing the harbor. We cleared all our paperwork earlier in the day, and assumed our papers were enough. So after we got out a few miles we saw a police boat chasing us. They had been calling us on the radio and I heard someone speaking, but did not understand their pronunciation, in typical rapid fire spanish, of our boat name. Besides being super busy threading an unfamiliar channel in the dark then setting sails. I realized my mistake, and returned to shelter of the harbor channel. Handed over my papers to the police boat, apologized profusely in my limited spanish, invited them on board, which they declined. After looking at us for a few minutes they returned our papers and let us go. A bit embarassing at the time, but learned my lesson.

Seems many port authorities on the west coast, which we have a lot of experience with, are much more relaxed than on the east coast, where we are newbies. Suppose its due to having more drug problems.

[Davidhoy]

Nibiru made landfall in Key West a short while ago. They lost an engine, and had a boarding attempt over night during their trip. But they are safely ashore now, probably having a stiff drink :-)

Ann, since you’re a moderator, could you update the title of the thread to indicate they are no longer overdue?

Thanks to all who read and commented!

Regards,
David

[a64pilot]

I added “found safe” to the end of the title
Curious about the boarding attempt though