Tragedy Strikes.

[steamgoat]

I seriously hope I never need help from kmacdonald !!!!! A sad person obviously.

[kmacdonald]

Originally Posted by steamgoat

I seriously hope I never need help from kmacdonald !!!!! A sad person obviously.

I hope you don't either.

[JimandBlieu]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

Glad your generosity makes you feel good about yourself. That's the reason even the most obvious scams work. (I'm not saying this is a scam, and I'm not saying it isn't either.)

I think you have missed the point. I didn't say it makes me feel good about myself. How we feel is irrelevant to how we respond to others in need.

[offpist]

Check out the app Anchor Pro.
All you need is an smartphone or tablet with gps and it will sound an alarm when the boat moves outside the radius you set. And it can also send sms to another phone at the same time. Try out the Lite free version first.

[skipmac]

Hi Gil,

First, very sorry for the loss of your boat. Even worse when it is your only home and contains the bulk of your possessions.

Also sorry that some on the forum have judged and criticized you so harshly. From what I have read I think you went out much better prepared than many. One family whose name I won't mention, took off with much less knowledge and preparation than you mention and were championed by most for their spirit of adventure.

Regardless, without being on your boat and seeing what you did or did not do to prepare for the trip, any judgment is pure speculation. Maybe you were well prepared, maybe not as well as you should have been but from the perspective of the internet it is not possible to say for certain either way.

You are correct that no matter how much you study and prepare, you won't gain experience at the dock. Sometimes it might be better to gain some experience as a crew for someone that has already been through the process. Bottom line, sometimes it just comes down to luck, no matter how much experience and how well prepared. Certainly experience and preparation can dramatically improve your odds but even the best sometimes get caught. I would also wager that everyone on this forum has been in a situation that could have ended in a tragedy of one form or another if their luck had gone the other way.

If sailing is truly your dream I hope you can recover and try again and hopefully have learned a valuable lesson. Anchoring is a significant skill with many different modes of failure that can result in the loss of a boat. One big one that you experienced, never leave your boat until you are 100% sure that your anchor is well set and you have allowed for all conditions like changing current or wind, changing depth due to tides, etc. You may have read that many cruisers dive down to check their anchor ever time they drop in a new spot. Not always possible but in your situation it could have saved your boat.

NOTE: I have anchored off West End and the current does rip through there like mad. I once dropped an oar off my dinghy at started to swim after it until I thought about the 5 kt current and changed my mind. Better to buy a new oar than get washed out to sea. There is a slack between high and low when the current doesn't run and it would be save to dive your anchor but only then.

Originally Posted by gilgsn

The boat was well prepared, if not, I would like to know how it wasn't, so that I do not make the same mistake next time. Criticism means little without expanding a bit.

That I did not have enough experience to reasonably start the journey, I agree. However experience isn't gained at the dock, and I doubt many sailors start a first journey fully prepared for anything that could happen. I had all the knowledge I could get my hands on in a few years of studying, minus the sea miles. Without self-patting on the back, I think I did pretty darn well getting to the Bahamas. I encountered trouble, made the right calls and got there safely. I may not have much experience in sailing, but I do in much more dangerous activities, and I am used to preparing for challenging environments. Sailing, while certainly unforgiving and demanding isn't rocket science, and I hope I am not offending anyone here saying that. I have the utmost respect for sailors, especially solo navigators. In a very small way, I am considering myself a sailor, albeit a newbie.

I will accept criticism without flinching or getting offended. I just want to learn something from it, not just that I did something wrong. I will add that without knowing me personally, you are missing important data.

Like I've said, had I done something stupid like set my own boat on fire, headed inside a storm with all sail out or fallen off the boat while making way, it might have been easier to accept. I could blame myself for being a moron and move on, or maybe I would not be here to write this. I can't think of anything I might have done or not done given the circumstances that was blatantly wrong, and that is frustrating.

Gil.

[sanibel sailor]

Cell based solutions may not have helped as he probably did not have a chance to activate Bahamas service prior to needed it.

[WindwardPrinces]

Originally Posted by offpist

Check out the app Anchor Pro.
All you need is an smartphone or tablet with gps and it will sound an alarm when the boat moves outside the radius you set. And it can also send sms to another phone at the same time. Try out the Lite free version first.

That would work, but wouldn't it need to be a) on a cell plan, and b) within range of a cell tower?

Seems a spot would be cheaper for this purpose, but if you've got a spare spot on your phone plan, it might work.

[Prairie Chicken]

Originally Posted by thruska

Baloney !
Fate merely winks at preparedness.
Even well prepared people and boats find their demise.

Absolutely true! I'd have used stronger language though.

[s/v Beth]

I will leave my Inreach on with notifications of location given every 4 hours to my email for future reference.It is satellite based and to my gmail account. Learned a lot this thread. I would advise Gil to go to the US and wait for sightings, but that is only my opinion. I would think it is half way up the seaboard by now.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by sharkbait

OMFG
He went to the Bahamas , not Cape Horn, usually for that passage I get drunk , set the tiller pilot and take a nap. The dog is keeps watch.

I don't make the crossing quite that casually but yes, this is not a trip around the Horn.

Originally Posted by sharkbait

Let he who has never drug anchor cast the first stone

[kmacdonald]

Originally Posted by skipmac

I don't make the crossing quite that casually but yes, this is not a trip around the Horn.

Yes, it's a little more than a day sail but luck alone won't keep you safe.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

Glad your generosity makes you feel good about yourself. That's the reason even the most obvious scams work. (I'm not saying this is a scam, and I'm not saying it isn't either.)

"And I'm not saying it isn't either" So very kind of you. You do realize that by sowing un founded and meritless doubt in some others minds you could well be depriving Gil the sailor of a helping hand when one is so needed. Perhaps you are the type that would say to the person standing on the Street watching his house burn to the ground along with all of his belongings because he accidentally left the stove on and you turn to him and say you caused it yourself. You then see some kind neighbors give him a coat and a cup of soup and you then turn to him and say hey guy, you probably burnt your house down so that you could get hand outs.

I am glad that you are not my neighbor. One thing I have learned from this event that the cruising world is made up of a lot of great human beings. It also gas some very sad mean hearted people.

I learned long ago not to begrudge giving help to someone in need. Coming from pioneer stock in Australia I grew up with the belief in giving your fellow a helping hand when misfortune befalls them. A value that was an intrinsic part of life and played a major part in all of our mutual survival.

I find that the sailing world on a whole has the same mutual assistance community outlook that a grew up with and for this I am so very glad to see. I also see there are one or two strange folks that as they say in Australia, I wouldn't bother peeing on if they were on fire. The mean sons of guns who by their own meanness have excluded themselves from decent society.

[Tetra]

All I know is that my paranoia about leaving my anchored boat has now increased about fourfold.

[Shallowminded]

Gil, I honestly hope you find your vessel.

There's a fair amount of inexperienced people I would imagine who frequent the board and lurk so to speak to gain knowledge, I am one myself. You experiences and the circumstances surrounding this event may serve to help someone in the future. I certainly have reaffirmed a couple of my own beliefs on system redundancy and learned of a few more areas where I need to concentrate and expand my knowledge base. Your loss may very well save someone in the future, may this be some solace to you.

To the poster who wrote that their generosity should not be guided by the intent of the benefactor, but more eloquently written than I can recall; thank you, I had not heard this in a long time and needed the reminder.

I would also add don't judge a person until you've walked a mile in their shoes.

When you sign on to a forum you enter a community, all communities are made up of all likes, just like the big world out there. Opinions vary; agree, disagree, positive, negative, right, wrong, or indifferent they all have value in some way. If they get your gray matter working you can't ask for much more than that.

Wish I could do something to help, best of luck wherever the tide takes you.

[Blue Crab]

L, I was trying to distract from the nasty post just before. Didn't work. Without much much more, we have to take Gil at his word. It's tacky to kick him now.