I wonder what he hit?

[garymalmgren]

Solo sailor winched to safety in dramatic Indian Ocean rescue

Australian authorities executed the textbook helicopter rescue after the Canadian sailor's vessel began taking on water 1,000 kilometres south-east of Christmas Island.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Will Gilmore]

He might not have hit anything. The sea just came aboard.

...he failed to make two scheduled calls to family back home.

His brother alerted AMSA...

What happened to his EPIRB?

Why might a sailor in his position, boat swamped, but still afloat, not have set off his emergency beacons, or was it trapped, still inverted in its basket on the stern rail?

Two days like that. What might the options be for self-rescue? That man was in his RIB, not a life raft. Another item trapped beneath the surface? He must have been without water.

-Will

 

[kappykaplan]

He might not have hit anything. The sea just came aboard.

What happened to his EPIRB?

Why might a sailor in his position, boat swamped, but still afloat, not have set off his emergency beacons, or was it trapped, still inverted in its basket on the stern rail?

Two days like that. What might the options be for self-rescue? That man was in his RIB, not a life raft. Another item trapped beneath the surface? He must have been without water.

-Will

Great questions that we may never get answers to.

 

[garymalmgren]

RE: He might not have hit anything.
From AI. Western Australia hosts one of the largest humpback whale migrations in the world, with over 45,000 whales traveling up to 13,000 kilometers from Antarctica to the tropical Kimberley region and back.

My guess is that a whale took his saildrive out in the middle of the night.
It looks like he had to abandon pretty fast.
If his EPIRB was in the unflooded hull it would not have been submersion activated.
Even in the flooded hull it may have been located high enough to have stayed dry.

Lucky to have been found and rescued in that area.

gary