Cheeki Rafiki

[j.sabourn]

I personally have nothing against making these expressions of showing how good they are, only thing I would ask for is that they werent allowed radios etc. the same as the Pilgrim Fathers, and let others who use the oceans of the world carry on with their legitimate business. JS

[happy daze john in oz]

For every dister such as thiis there have been dozens of successful ones. no matter what rules are put in place reagrding the carrying of safety equipment including life rafts there will always be those who think they know better.

[j.sabourn]

#1... Obliged is a funny word Jim. They would have been obliged to report it as a danger to surface navigation. As to pulling it aboard doubt very much would be obliged to pull on board unless requested by a Maritime Authority who would also have to pay any expenses incurred. Normally a distress message going to air, the Maritime Safety Services of the country closest would delegate any ship in the area they thought suitable for any lifesafing they thought imperative and the Safety Authority would delegate as he sought fit. Any other ship in the area which was in radio contact with the distress would have been at liberty to communicate directly with the ship in distress as long as his messages were not interfering with rescues put in place and might discuss with the other master the possibility of salvage. However nothing should interfere with the communications in play re the rescue in progress. This ship discussing salvage would also have had to report his position to the Maritime Safety Authority. Any ship receiving in plain language a mayday would report the Mayday, and say Mayday Relay 3 times and the facts as known such as ships name position etc what type of assistance required , numbers on board etc. and any other relevent information. Have seen floating world war 2 mines in the North Atlantic, but certainly had no intention of picking up, just reported as a danger to navigation. A good example of this is the present or recent past of the deserted passenger vessel floating around in the North Atlantic for months on end, no one will take resposibility for, should have been used as target practice by the RN, probably to frightened of pollution apart from the other over 3000 ships lying on the bottom, comes back again to politics. JS

[Keith Tindell]

John ref 41, These were seamen in trouble, going about legitimate business, you yourself have stated that you have sailed on many occasions in unseaworthy ships, if you had got into trouble with those ships and made a distress call , you would expect every effort to be made for your life. These guys were not your normal ruffie toughie MN seaman, in bad weather on the bridge or a warm messroom, they were not doing this for fun, but to return a vessel back to its home port. I would say to all who think this was *play* by these guys, give it a go, and see what you think then. KT

[j.sabourn]

Keith, had more in mind someone rowing across the North Atlantic or paddling a canoe and going where wind and tide took him, or even in a bath tub which beleive was attempted at one time.( A sailing vessel doing a run job is a lawful vessel going about its business.) All I beleive trying to do as a means of being some sort of celebrity, and knowing there were people out there obliged (that word again) to come to their assistance when in dire straights. Cheers John S,

[robpage]

I have seen some brave , and at times foolish men in my eyes sailing in conditions where the troughs in the waves were twenty feet higher than their masts , if they are yachtsmen sailing for "pleasure " albeit to return a yacht to another country to take up its summer charters , we shake our heads and condemn , if they are fishermen they are the bravest of the brave . We , I expect have seen some of the idiots who foul the Solent throughout the summer and do some very stupid things , and it is so easy to judge all yachting types by them . I personally think crossing the Atlantic , or Pacific for that matter in any small craft is taking a calculated chance , Two things have surprised me in this incident , One , the container ship who stopped by , looked and sailed on , reminds me of the Levite in the Good Samaritan , and secondly how much the US Coastguard will have spent on this search . I know regulations are already overburdening , and we collectively hate the safety elves , but to submit a Risk assessment to the Coastguard , and file a sailing plan , might just have helped .

[John Arton]

The one thing about all of this tragic event I cannot understand is that there appears to be a time difference between them sending a message saying they were taking on water and the receipt of the first signal from the personal epirbs. Did they not have enough time to get the liferaft deployed. Surely even if it was stowed below decks it should have been situated where it could be easily and quickly deployed because after all it was their only means of escape in a disaster?
rgds
JA

[robpage]

My guess ! is that if the keel was ripped off then it would be soon turned over , although the stowage for the 12 man liferaft is below the helmsman's seat , it should be deploy-able easily from there despite it's size

[Keith Tindell]

A lot of this we will never know, the things i have pondered on is, have they inspected the inside of the hull ?, they could have been lying ahull, with everything battened down, and trying to contain the water coming in, when she lost the keel she would have gone over with them inside, and could still be there. They could tell the liferaft was still intact because it would be in the cockpit. If they were in the cockpit when she went over, they should have been attached by lifelines,in which case their bodys would still be there, lifelines are essential practice on these yachts, so these are as yet unanswered questions. I still have an idea that they are still in the hull, it would take a diver to search the inside of the vessel, KT

[Captain Kong]

I am surprised that a vessel with lifting gear could not have been sent to the position to recover the wreck.and that would assist in finding what happened and if indeed there are any bodies in there.
But I guess it is all down to the cost.
Cheers
Brian.