Many thanks to the many readers who sent in comments regarding the story in last week’s Just Cruising column on the abandonment of Time Aut 150 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras in the aftermath of a of a storm. Here are a representative selection from many sailors with offshore experience. GD
My husband and I crossed the ocean twice and sailed the east coast often. The problem today, is electronics. Sailors go to sea with their digital maps and GPS. Many don’t bother to learn basic seamanship, how to plot on a paper chart or know what to do in rough seas. We should start making those items I mentioned above more of a priority and like Europe, passing a test for a license. Too many incompetent sailors out there. The Coast Guard isn’t out there for the babies. We all pay for this.
Linda Niederbuehl
I worked for Search and Rescue for the Louisburg 3 Canadian Coast Guard crew on the Cape Breton coast of Nova Scotia. People are dumb, or sometimes they just need help in a bad situation, so we go and help them, dumb or not. Life at sea can be rough, no pun intended. Stay safe, think safe, prepare to be safe.
Paul Matheson
After reading the story of Time Aut I am not really too surprised at the crew abandoning ship. I have always firmly believed the boats will take more punishment than the crew – especially in this case apparently.
Pretty darned sad that someone would just give up such a beautiful yacht! There are a number of lessons to be learned here. Also, the big issue as far as I am concerned is the Coast Guard that had to put themselves at risk to save these guys. Hopefully these guys stay far away from any body of water anywhere!
Mike
S/V Bears Mistress II
Those morons should have to pay for their rescue, and for cleaning up any boat wreckage and environmental damage that might occur.
Robert Farmer, MD
Hi George,
Excellent commentary at the end of this report:
“The upshot is that this skipper and his inexperienced crew put the lives of a Coast Guard rescue team at risk because they we unprepared, tired, possibly scared, and incapable of the most basic seamanship skills, such a heaving to.”
As you know, I have been beating this drum for years.
I will make one comment/suggestion. It seems quite likely that people knew of this skipper’s plans, some of whom were probably experienced recreational sailors who had an inkling of the experience of this skipper and crew. Someone should have said: “Please reconsider this plan. December brings lousy weather to this segment of the North Atlantic and you will be near the Gulf Stream.” Many might not have been so polite. But the point is that I believe that we recreational boaters need to police ourselves much better and speak up when we see someone planning something unwise: A SAR crew may be saved an injury or death.
There are too many SAR call-outs where That boat with That crew should not have been There at that Time.
I do not know about fines or penalties or the like, but I do want to ensure that every SAR call-out is for a boat that has encountered bad luck and not a boat poorly prepared/designed for the possible challenging conditions and/or manned by an inexperienced skipper and crew.
My best,
Dick Stevenson
s/v Alchemy
I agree with your assessment regarding the outcome for this vessel and crew. I believe that I am qualified, perhaps more than some others who have not had our sailing experiences, to comment on your article, George.
I (Charles Hall) was rescued from our sailboat/home by a Spanish helicopter crew in the Bay of Biscay one December in a full gale on a trip from Great Britan to the Canaries. This was our third gale on this leg; our boat was fine. I had a medical emergency which required inpatient treatment in Burela, Spain.
Unlike the vessel in your article, my wife (we were just the two of us aboard), insisted on taking our boat (Hans Christian 33T, First Light) solo to the coast where we reunited. The Spanish Coast Guard kept a close eye on Kathy and our sailboat/home. The skipper in your article could have sailed to Bermuda, however, as I stated, that is too large a boat for one crew. This incident hurts all of us who want boat insurance for offshore sailing.
In summary, we would not abandon our boat as the skipper in your article did, given the reported conditions. We have sailed in worse I imagine. However, I would not sail that large a boat offshore with a short-handed crew and I would not sail that route with anyone I did not know well and who had not completed such a trip.
Regards,
Charles Hall
Besides all the question the article raised, I think such events also explain why insurers have raised significantly their contracts.
In my humble opinion, as a sailor of approx. 35 years and having done voyages from Nova Scotia to Bermuda and on to Antigua last November and previously Nova Scotia to Bahamas and several deliveries from Florida to New York and beyond, I feel in cases like this the owner of vessel should be fined the cost of rescue service.
Too often the brave folks from Coast Guard are sent unnecessarily at risk to themselves.
My 2 cents for what it is worth.
Respectfully,
Greg Gromack
Hi George,
Sounds like an incompetent/inexperienced skipper.
Have made a few passages in conditions like that in much smaller boats, but given my vintage the first couple were before most small yachts had VHF radios. Once out of shouting distance we were on our own so had to muddle through. I have also requested lifeboat assistance to take a charter crew off in an anchorage when there was a serious risk of dragging into a cliff face. Winds around 70 to 85 knots plus gusts. This was after discussion with the Coast Guard and fishing boats near by would not risk letting go their moorings to assist. We managed the situation but I did not want to put the crew’s lives at risk.
Am reluctant to say he should pay for the rescue as the question then arises where is the line drawn. Perhaps, at the time, he genuinely thought there was a “grave and imminent danger” that justified a Mayday. It’s all too easy to be “an armchair expert”.
Sean Milligan
I normally enjoy your emails but criticizing the crew of Time Aut who were caught out offshore in truly horrendous conditions? That shows a lack of experience from the author. Peter Swanson is known for being highly opinionated and stoking division within the cruising industry and speaking from experience (having been caught out in a rapidly increasing storm in southern Biscay that arrived 12 hours early), I don’t blame the crew for bailing. Those who criticize have generally never been offshore, or caught out in remotely rough weather in a modern boat.
Disappointing you chose to join the criticism train.
Regards,
Nathan Pincher