Coffee Boat
I know the boat that was in distress off the coast of Galveston. It's called "Red Cloud" and it was a home made steel hull boat. I use to see it several times a week moored at the Taylor Lake entrance just off of Clear Lake (Seabrook, Kemah, Texas area). It had coffee written on the side. There was a write-up in the local paper about their intentions of sailing to Belize to retrieve 10,000 lbs of coffee beans for their new business. They seemed to actually have a coffee shop on the dock. They only had 4,000 lbs on board due to certain restriction in Belize...or something of that nature. The rescue was on the local news several nights and there have been follow-ups about their attempt to retrieve the vessel. As of Friday, the USCG was still receiving the EPIRB signal. The first story indicated that they were caught in 20 foot seas, taking on water, and the roof of the pilothouse was being pealed off by the high winds. Later, they reported that the steering had failed and possibly punctured the hull. Then another report stated they had lost engine power as well. The Galveston Daily News stated the seas were 25 feet. I kind of question the sea height. I was offshore about 40-45 nautical miles this last October in my Cape Dory 28 when we hit high seas and winds from an identical cold front as we were returning from the annual Harvest Moon Regatta. NOAA reported 5 to 6 foot seas at the time but I know for sure some were over 12 feet. What happens, as most of you know, is sometimes one wave sucks up the energy from another causing it to tower above the rest and every now and then one will catch you. My Cape Dory 28 had no problems with any of these waves but I had steering (Cape Dorys are great little blue water sailors). During footage of the rescue of the crew from "Red Cloud" the seas looked similar to when I was out in October, but who knows what they were facing before. Supposedly they put out a sea anchor, then a drogue, and finally drug a spare mainsail behind. That would definitely indicate that they were trying to slow down their decent over huge waves. The only real issue I see here is whether or not 4,000 lbs was overloading the vessel. No one seems to really know much more about their boat. Obviously they had an EPIRB on board but not a 406 EPIRB which is required now. The USCG doesn't monitor the older EPIRBs except from craft in the air or water during a search. In my mind a 406 EPIRB would be a requirement for sailing to Belize. But, they are costly (I purchased one this last October before the Regatta and I was gritting my teeth) but still worth the price when you think of how well they work. The report on the local news was that the USCG helicopter made 200 miles in 50 minutes...after the mayday call was relayed to them from a ham operator. After it's all said and done, I hope they find their boat and I'm glad they are OK. The lived on this boat as well and it was uninsured (they said on the news it was too old an no one would insure it). I don't really know what to make of it all. They seem to be worried about someone else getting to the boat and claiming it by salvage rights laws. We should know something here in the next day or two. I thought I would just relay you guys what I know. Good sailing to you all...
