5000 miles off course

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Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Scott T-Bird said:
Yes, I'd assume they scuttled the boat (I didn't have any audio for that video clip). It's a shame ... the boat may have not been very pretty, but didn't deserve that fate, given that she took care of the crew for months while they couldn't manage to sail her to a port. :(
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Yep. Normally the skipper of the abandoned boat gets to make the call... pop the plugs, or let it drift. If they drift they’re just a hazard to navigation.
 
D

Dan_Y

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Oct 13, 2008
517
Hunter 36 Hampton
The odd growth line looks like fresh paint on the hull from the deck down to where they could reach maybe and did some painting from a dingy, but not to the water line? That's about how mine looks when I try to scrub the hull from the deck...ha!
 
Head Sail

Head Sail

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Nov 13, 2013
723
Catalina 34 Tacoma
Dan_Y said:
The odd growth line looks like fresh paint on the hull from the deck down to where they could reach maybe and did some painting from a dingy, but not to the water line? That's about how mine looks when I try to scrub the hull from the deck...ha!
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That's what growth looks like when you've been bobbing in the ocean for months. Similar to buoys where there's lots of wave action.
 
Franklin

Franklin

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Jul 20, 2005
2,422
Whitby 55 Kemah, Tx
Everybody develops growth on the lee side in the South Pacific on the long runs.

You would be surprised on what sailors think is a safe boat out here and their lack of spares.
 
DayDreamer41

DayDreamer41

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Oct 29, 2016
1,929
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
Bet they won't try that again, something to say about being prepared and knowing how to use a sextant and charts for navigation, sure beats a phone when you run out of signal............ :yikes:
 
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Chris & Lenore

Chris & Lenore

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Apr 24, 2006
868
Aloha 32 Toronto, Lake Ontario
The story I read was that all was fine util one of the spreaders broke, then the engine failed while trying to motor to port followed by the rudder breaking while trying to sail with an improvised rig. That would mean it wasn't a question of them not knowing how to navigate...
Still, an EPIRB or Delorm InReach would have changed things considerably.
 
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Dave Gibson

Dave Gibson

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Aug 3, 2005
56
Currently boatless - Eastern Seaboard
I checked in here specifically for the purpose of seeing your take on this.

My first thought was that the women were crossing the ocean on what looks to be a large, expensive boat. They were well prepared with a year's supply of food. But no EPIRB? Not even a SPOT?

The odd algae growth looks to me like they were sailing on a starboard tack for long time, and there is nothing really odd about it.
 
NYSail

NYSail

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Jan 6, 2006
3,136
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
A 2,600 mile estimated month long crossing and no EPIRB or Sat phone? Can't wait to hear the story......
 
DayDreamer41

DayDreamer41

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Oct 29, 2016
1,929
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
I don't get it they spent 6 months at sea sailing to Tahiti and ended up 900 miles off the coast of Japan which is the opposite direction to Tahiti, which means they never crossed the equator and road the North Pacific current right past their starting point of the Hawaiian islands. They must have got caught in the doldrums at the equator with no engine and the currents pulled them North West.
 
RussC

RussC

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Sep 11, 2015
1,605
Merit 22- Oregon lakes
Perhaps they thought being adrift at sea would make a good book deal? just a thought.
 
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