Mysterious Disappearance

[Gary Wyngarden]

In case you haven't followed the story, Dr. Jim Gray 63, a well known and highly respected Microsoft researcher, left San Francisco Bay on his 40 foot C&C, Tenacious, in unusually calm conditions last Sunday for a day sail. He never returned.According to reports he was a highly skilled sailor and was on a mission out to the Farralone Islands to dump the ashes of his recently deceased mother. The round trip was to have been about 60 miles. His last contact was a cell phone call to his wife just before he was out of range for coverage. The boat was reportedly in very good condition and equipped with a life raft, EPIRB, etc. He also usually wore a harness and tether when singlehandingAn exhaustive Coast Guard and private search have found no clues and no sign of either Gray or Tenacious.The usual explanations don't make a lot of sense. If he fell overboard while peeing, where is the boat? Run over by a freighter? Visibility was good. And why no radio traffic or an EPIRB? Whales are mostly further south this time of year. Did he encounter a problem and is holed up in a cove somewhere? A grief stricken suicide over his mother's death? Did he run away? Kidnapped by Microsoft competition? Perhaps we'll never know.Let's hope he shows up. Meanwhile our thoughts are out to his family.Gary WyngardenS/V Wanderlust h37.5

 

[Ross]

The only thing known for certain

is that he has gone missing! There is the real possibility that he was run down by a ship. Almost half of his expected route is in the shipping channel. He could have been sailing after sundown. A ship running without lights would not be visible after dark and closing at 20 knots wouldn't allow much time for response.

 

[SweetTrade]

let hope

he is just missing and not dead. Perhaps he just got a little depressed and sailed into the distance to return or befound soon i hope! Anyway My prays go out to him, and his family and friends. God Bless and look after!

 

[catwithhat]

You can help search by looking at sat images

You can help with the search by looking at satellite images. Follow this link

 

[Jeff]

Pure logic

Let's use pure logic, as he would with a software glitch.There are 2 (obvious) possibilities: He either is in trouble or he's not.If he's not, then he's cruising and will turn up eventually to explain the unusual behavior. If he's in trouble, then it is due to going overboard or experiencing a severe medical issue. The arguments for this scenario are:1. He has an EPIRB, which I think is activated by submersion.2. There is zero debris. Any boat, especially a 40 foot cruiser, will float SOMETHING if it goes down. Especially if it were run down by a ship. Even if it did go down, there would still be a human somewhere, even if it were remnants of him, clothinglifevest, etc.3. No distress calls. Even if the keel fell off, he had time to put in a distress call. Unless there was a fire, in which case there would have been smoke and debris. Or he fell overboard or had a severe medical issue, in which case there would still be a boat somewhere. Of course it could be halfway to Hawaii.My logical guess (and it's only a guess) is that either the boat or both he and the boat will turn up sound. Let's hope it's the 2nd one.

 

[Benny]

Strange that a man goes to disperse

his mother's ashes on a day sail and not even his wife accompanies him. He takes no friends, no relatives. Wanted to get away or foul play? The IPERB has not gone off so it has not been submerged or was removed or disabled. Best hopes for him.