Sailor Lost; 406 EPIRB Activated 30nm N of Key West

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by capngeo

And here with no patch at all....


Asked him about it once, and he dodged the question; I didn't press it.

Closet Cap'n Ron fan....??

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by capngeo

17 May, 2000hrs Update: The USCG has officially suspended the case. Godspeed Jay; you are on your own.

Very sad update….. seems they could have searched a bit longer…..

[GaryMayo]

Reading this thread from land locked Nebraska, saddens me, saddens all of us. Lost at sea, does not mean gone forever. We can keep hope alive he will turn up. Lots of news stories lately with good endings of missing persons. Two predominate ones, hopefully his will be success story #3.

[Group9]

I didn't know this guy, but I am sad to hear this news. Our lifestyle/hobby/sport is definitely not hazard free.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by Group9

I didn't know this guy, but I am sad to hear this news. Our lifestyle/hobby/sport is definitely not hazard free.

Specially in a boat that won't point. In 40 years, some owner or other could have created a centerboard or daggerboard. Bingo.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

Specially in a boat that won't point. In 40 years, some owner or other could have created a centerboard or daggerboard. Bingo.

You guys know more than me, and I'm CERTAINLY not going to criticize someone who has only been saiiing for a year for not knowing what people who have been sailing for 30 - 40 years know ... but wouldn't a boat that doesn't point well be more vulnerable to a lee helm? This could be a serious problem if other weather-related problems pop up.

Did he have strategies and skills in place if the boat became over-powered -- a good reefing system, knowing how and when to spill the sails, maybe how to deliberately set the sails so they spill air instead of using it all kinetically? i don't know how well these things work on a trimaran, but I know they work on my monohull.

NOT criticizing Jay. A person can only learn so much in a year. I'm also struck by the fact that we just had the Tampa Bay - Key West race. I think all those boats have arrived, and there's been no report of anything related to Jay that I'm aware of. Those boats generally monitor 16 as they're supposed to, and surely would have heard CG calls to BOLO for Jay's boat. I also suspect the GC has been in contact with Cuba in case he drifted that far.

I hate to say it, but he might have had a medical emergency first that incapacitated him and prevented him from doing what he needed to do to manage his boat.

It's got to be so hard. In the hospital, they can tell you exactly the time of death and the cause. We faced the possibility of seeing my husband linger on for weeks or maybe months, and it was actually a comfort to know exactly when he died, and why. Nothing makes such a situation good, but some things can make it easier to handle. My heart just aches for those who know and love Jay.

[boatman61]

Boat and crew disappear so close to land and cannot be found... what hopes Grain de Solil and the others out by the Azores...

[Kettlewell]

I'm not sure of the particular characteristics of Jay's Piver, but numerous other examples of these designs have circumnavigated and sailed just about everywhere. Nothing wrong with the design in terms of seaworthiness, assuming it was in decent shape. And, I highly doubt you could capsize one with full sail up in anything short of a full gale. They are much more stable, and have a much lower sail area/weight ratio than many modern catamarans that are considered "bluewater" boats. Keeping fingers crossed here...

[Blue Crab]

On the med emergency note. Two days ago my buddy Roger Evans died of a heart attack. 56. He was coming out of the water, the story goes, with his son down in Wilmington, NC where they were cleaning a bottom or changing props or something. A brawny ex-marine and a frickin newly-wed, and well-known in these parts as R and R Dive Service.

RIP Roger.

[cheoah]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

On the med emergency note. Two days ago my buddy Roger Evans died of a heart attack. 56. He was coming out of the water, the story goes, with his son down in Wilmington, NC where they were cleaning a bottom or changing props or something. A brawny ex-marine and a frickin newly-wed, and well-known in these parts as R and R Dive Service.

RIP Roger.

Bummer; young man.

Hoping the best for skipper Jay, I would not rule Cuba out although I'm hesitant to say so. Hopefully he's just been misplaced, but the evidence is sobering. It is a bit hard to understand the boat completely vanishing, but would not be the first time. We're essentially talking the Gulf of Mexico, right?

Warm regards to the friends and family of the missing sailor.

[Kettlewell]

It is a bit hard to understand the boat completely vanishing, but would not be the first time. We're essentially talking the Gulf of Mexico, right?

This is a real mystery. Yes, it is a big Gulf, but they did find the EPIRB, so they know he was located within a few miles of that position fairly shortly before they found it. Is it possible anyone has the coordinates of where the EPIRB was found so the Internet wisdom can start to work on what the winds and currents would do to a vessel in that position?

[capngeo]

I wrote them down, but they're back on the chart table and I'm on shore... IIRC, it was 27 05.? 082 00.6

Edited to add:

Last known EPIRB position:
25° 04.8 N
082° 00.6 W

34 nm NW of KW

[capngeo]

Any of you KW Locals want to get together tomorrow and drink a warn beer toast to Jay?

[Kettlewell]

I wrote them down, but their back on the chart table and I'm on shore... IIRC, it was 27 05.? 082 00.6

Probably not correct--that latitude is way up by Venice.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Probably not correct--that latitude is way up by Venice.

I think he means wind 27 degrees five knots, current 86 degrees .6 knots.




Condolences.