Interesting Read

[Bad Obsession]

http://manysuchplaces.com/2014/11/02/mayday/

That was an interesting read. It was a pretty good description of a bad situation.

you have to hand it to the coast guard on this one. They did a great job in this case. It is amazing how hard these guys work to save lives and this is considered to be just their job. It is more than them just doing their job, it is them being everyday heroes!

 

[Jackdaw]

This whole story does not make sense.

As someone that races offshore it sounds funny while you read it, lots of holes and things that would never happen. But then the part where he anchored somewhere off Cape Fear in a storm and waited for the coasties made me think.

I'm pretty dialed in with the offshore racing community; I thought I would remember a story like that.

Why change the name of the boat and owner, the whole deal would be a matter of public record.

Speaking of public record, I searched for the bloggers name with other keywords that would denote a USCG rescue. I personally know people that have been rescued at that station. Search for their names and they come up. This Guy? Nothing. Go figure.

 

[kappykaplan]

How did he get the boat anchored in those conditions? Why wasn't the owner tethered to the boat while on deck in those conditions? You're right - the story doesn't make sense.

 

[Kermit]

I'm pretty sure he meant Charleston, SC. He spelled out North Carolina. I did find a Charleston, NC but I'm pretty sure he didn't sail from there. Odd.

 

[NCNoviceCouple]

The incident supposedly happened near Cape Lookout, not Cape Fear, as mentioned in a comment above. If the boat was close enough to Cape Lookout for the shoals to be an issue they were within a few miles of the Cape. The USCG station at Fort Macon is 12-15 miles away so the response times by boat or air, even in a storm. do not ring true. Having a helicopter turn back due to being low on fuel does not ring true (unless it responded directly from another mission). The USCG does not leave for a mission with half a tank of fuel. Having the USCG telling someone on an anchored boat in a storm to jump to the rescue boat does not ring true. They would use a helicopter to retrieve the person from the deck or water, or send a swimmer to the boat in distress to put a line on the person being rescued.

I think the early reference to Charleston, NC was a typo. I grew up around Fort Macon and live in the flight path of a USCG station in NE NC where I've met some of the pilots and swimmers who make these rescues. It's a good story that seems to fall apart at the end.

 

[justsomeguy]

Yep, it is a good story.

 

[All U Get]

A story without accurate details becomes fiction. Nearly every day while cruising there would be a boat calling for assistance, I wonder if we had heard this one.

All U Get

 

[Chris Patterson]

And finding the owner of the boat in the water BEFORE the guard approached the boat proper? Hmm.

Without any relevant facts, I would have just kept it to myself..

 

[Jackdaw]

And finding the owner of the boat in the water BEFORE the guard approached the boat proper? Hmm.

Funny but that's one of the the only parts I found believable (or at least possible). When we race or sail offshore we have VHF radios with DSC/GPS capability attached to our vests. Pressing the DSC mayday button will paint you on any AIS receiver, which rescue choppers have.

The only problem with that is the rest of the story... any skipper who would leave the cockpit in a storm without any crew on deck would probably NOT have such gear or take such precautions. I find the whole store as told unbelievable.