Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. Advertise Here
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 24-05-2016, 17:58   #1
Registered User

Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 3
Boat lost adrift in Pacific

I'm reaching out to see if anyone knows of a registry of 'lost & found' boats. The boat in question is a Westsail 32, named 'TLC'. She was left adrift 520 miles south of Easter island, abandoned in late December 2011. A malfunction of the back stay affected steering though Thomas L. Corogin persisted two days attempting to jury rig and sail to Chile. Failing that, he called for aid and was pulled aboard a freighter. The boat was left adrift but with the main hatch left open. Corogin had assumed he would be allowed to go back to retrieve personal items. That did not happen. The Chilean Navy met the freighter and he was brought ashore.

My connection to the boat is that it was my family's boat with interior built by my dad, named 'Running Free', and a name appropriate for a boat we believe may still be doing just that! Westsail boats are tough and we imagine it might have landed somewhere. Tom Corogin passed away in Nov. 2015 but our family still wonders of what happened to our boat. If anyone has any ideas of how to find her, greatly appreciated.
triallamerica5x is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-05-2016, 03:45   #2
Senior Cruiser
 
GordMay's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,139
Images: 241
Re: Boat lost adrift in Pacific

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, 5x.
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"



GordMay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-05-2016, 06:29   #3
Registered User

Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 21
Re: Boat lost adrift in Pacific

Hi, welcome aboard! I can't help you with your question but I just wanted to add that I knew Tom Corrigan as he was the owner of Harbor Park Marina in Port Clinton Ohio where I dock my boat. I remember seeing the boat at the marina. Are you related to him? Sounds like your family was the prior owner of the boat.
PatSea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-05-2016, 06:36   #4
Registered User

Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 21
Re: Boat lost adrift in Pacific

Just had another thought. I remember talking to Tom Corrigan in 2014 after he lost the boat. He had been in contact with the Chilean Navy that rescued him and they told him that with the prevailing currents and winds they thought there was a good chance that if the boat survived it would wash up on the southern Chilean coast. But that's a large area!
PatSea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-05-2016, 06:37   #5
Registered User
 
lilbabypenguin's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Atlanta, GA
Boat: 1976 32' Downeaster
Posts: 70
Re: Boat lost adrift in Pacific

Oh man- I hope it can be found. This liveaboards forum may not get the most broad reach of viewership as other forums. But not sure where the most appropriate place to put the word out would be.
Best of luck- it would be wonderful if someone were to spot it out there.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum
lilbabypenguin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-05-2016, 06:43   #6
Registered User

Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 21
Re: Boat lost adrift in Pacific

Two other thoughts. I remember talking to Tom Corrigan in 2014 after he lost the boat. He had received a phone call from the US Coast Guard at least a year after the accident at sea and they indicated that a signal had been received from his EPIRB which would indicate the boat may still be afloat at that time.
Also, he told me that he had been in contact with the Chilean Navy that rescued him and they indicated that if the boat survived long enough there was a good chance that prevailing winds and currents would push the boat towards the southern Chilean coast. That's a large area!
PatSea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-05-2016, 07:24   #7
Registered User

Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: between the devil and the deep blue sea
Boat: a sailing boat
Posts: 20,420
Re: Boat lost adrift in Pacific

Quote:
Originally Posted by triallamerica5x View Post

If anyone has any ideas of how to find her, greatly appreciated.
Fly to Chile, get two MTBs and some trekking equipment and scout every mile of the coast. Talk to shoreside villagers and policemen. With so much of the coast being rock and not accessible, and zero certainty that the boat ended up there, I would call this an exercise in vain.

Hugo Boss has recently popped up in Patagonia I think.

You can try talking to Taverna del Puerto and ask if they have any Chilean members. Then ask these members for ideas.

Cheers,
b.
barnakiel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-05-2016, 08:40   #8
Registered User
 
Wanderlust's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: NSW Central Coast
Boat: Lagoon 410 (now sold)
Posts: 514
Re: Boat lost adrift in Pacific

Quote:
Originally Posted by PatSea View Post
...... a signal had been received from his EPIRB which would indicate the boat may still be afloat at that time......
Yes, that is a reasonable assumption. There are two types of EPIRB ... those that are activated manually, and those that activate automatically when immersed. In the first case (and I think most likely), it means somebody activated it, so was probably aboard the boat and was fiddling with it. In the second case, the boat may have been sinking and the EPIRB acivated when it was immersed. This type is usually set to self release and float.

You may be able to contact the Coast Guard and get the coordinates from when it activated. If they can find the incident and will pass on the details, they should also be able to advise which type of EPIRB it was.
__________________
Steve
Wanderlust is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-05-2016, 09:29   #9
Moderator Emeritus
 
a64pilot's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Jacksonville/ out cruising
Boat: Island Packet 38
Posts: 31,351
Re: Boat lost adrift in Pacific

Westsails are tough ole Gals for sure, but four and a half years at sea, especially with an open hatch is a long time.
I'm afraid she is gone.
a64pilot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-05-2016, 09:48   #10
Long Range Cruiser
 
MarkJ's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Australian living on "Sea Life" currently in England.
Boat: Beneteau 393 "Sea Life"
Posts: 12,822
Images: 25
Re: Boat lost adrift in Pacific

Quote:
Originally Posted by a64pilot View Post
Westsails are tough ole Gals for sure, but four and a half years at sea, especially with an open hatch is a long time.
I'm afraid she is gone.
On the balance of probabilities it would be crackers to spend a cracker sess{arching for this boat.

If it2 is still at sea with the hatch open the interior will be destroyed.
More likely is its on the bottom of the sea if the EPIRB self activated.
If someone set the EPIRB off themselves they are now the owner of the boat.

There are romantic notions about ghost sailing ships but 500nms SE of Easter Island, 4.5 years, a rocky coast on any landfall?

BTW 500nms SE of Easter Island is 1,500nms from the Chile coast... that's 3,000 nms.



Sent from a stupid phone that replaces words with weird stuff.
__________________
Notes on a Circumnavigation.
OurLifeAtSea.com

Somalia Pirates and our Convoy
MarkJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 27-05-2016, 06:04   #11
Registered User
 
denverd0n's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Tampa, FL
Posts: 5,009
Images: 6
Re: Boat lost adrift in Pacific

Quote:
Originally Posted by triallamerica5x View Post
I'm reaching out to see if anyone knows of a registry of 'lost & found' boats.
Well, first off, the short answer to this question is: No, there is no such "lost and found" registry. In the maritime vernacular, when you find an abandoned boat, you "salvage" it. In essence, this gives you a claim to some percentage of the value of the boat ranging from very little up to, possibly, its entire value.

That said, I see two possibilities here: 1) Someone found and salvaged the boat, and are now happily using it. There would be virtually no way to find them, or the boat, at this point. 2) The boat sank or broke up on a rocky shore somewhere. Personally, I think this is the much more likely scenario.

Probably not the answer that you were hoping for, but there it is.
denverd0n is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
lost

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Sailor Reported Lost Found In Gulf Of Mexico Adrift crazyoldboatguy Cruising News & Events 69 16-03-2015 14:46
Lost Thrust! Lost Prop? OffSeason Monohull Sailboats 20 06-06-2009 23:57
Set Adrift Stede The Sailor's Confessional 8 29-11-2007 13:31

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:27.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.