The loss of a 45'sailboat from Hawaii to PNW after 17 years

thataway

This is a sad tale forwarded to me by a friend who has done World Cruising:
This very experienced couple who has been circumnavigating in their 45 foot very well equipped sailboat full time for 17 years, on passage from Hawaii to the PNW.

They had bad weather which increased, and the boat rolled and probably went over 360* with a huge wave. The lesson is what to do to be prepared. They abandoned the boat about 180 miles out of Astoria, and were picked up by a CG chopper at the extreme of its range--one gallon of fuel left when they landed.

They had tried 2 VHF radios with no response, and the Marine SSB/Ham radio was dead. The well maintained EPIB went off as programed, the contacts knew their position from the evening before (via ham radio), which allowed the CG to launch a chopper. The chart plotter was working, as were the VHF, when the chopper was in radio range, they could give co-ordinates, and give a long count to the CG chopper to hone in one. They had a trailing line for the rescue swimmer to grab on--the boat was going 5 knots under bare poles!

The dinghy, life raft and dodger were all ripped off and were lost when the boat rolled. The boat had several feet of water over the floorboards, The paperbacks plugged up the 4 bilge pumps. Most of the lockers doors were smashed during the roll, and gear was thrown all thru out the boat.

Perhaps the most important message is to have copies or the originals of all SD Cards, back up SSD from computers, your passports, the ships papers, money, your ID and credit cards, in a waterproof ditch bag, which is handy to grab, but will not come loose. Have the EPRIB or PLB, and be ready to save your life if necessary. Abandon the boat. This is not something which we would expect in a C Dory--but it could happen.

ken35216 · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 6:58 pm Post subject:

Barry Rietz · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 7:07 pm Post subject: Sailboat lost at Sea

Bob; Any chance you obtained additional details such as the vessel name, vessel type and manufacture, crew member names and their conditions, home port,etc.?

NORO LIM · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 7:37 pm Post subject:

HOLY MOLY, WHAT A TALE! I'm so glad they survived.

Be safe, everyone!

NORO LIM · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 7:37 pm Post subject:

Duplicate post

thataway · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 7:49 pm Post subject: Re: Sailboat lost at Sea

thataway · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 8:00 pm Post subject:

Here is a direct link to the CG video.

One should never second guess conditions, or decisions on whether to abandon a vessel. Both the crew were hypothermic, and the skipper had a serious gash. The wife needed forearm crutches to move about. I doubt if the engine was usable after the amount of flooding, and the pumps were not effective. The mainsail was probably damaged, although the genoa was intact--we don't know about storm or staysails. We also don't know about the weather forecast/expected conditions, and where the vessel would have ended up, if the storm had driven her further down and toward the Oregon coast.

Robert H. Wilkinson · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 8:54 pm Post subject:

Amazing story! So glad it had a happy ending. Their survival alone is testimony to their experience and courage under extreme conditions. The CG as well at their finest under extreme weather and time constrictions.

Rob

Barry Rietz · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 11:13 pm Post subject: James & Joy Carey

Here is an entry the Carey's made in the Seven Seas Cruising Association "Bulletin" in 2013. Use the link below and then scroll down to page 25 to read their article.

https://www.ssca.org/media/bulletins/ssca1303.pdf