Missing Sailboat

[emeraldsea]

just heard the report of the other missing vessel, a 30' Tahitian ketch with 2 people on board, left Hilo Nov.7 for Van. Nov.& Dec. are always the worst months for storms on this coast. About 2 weeks ago we had a 967 low, tonight we have a 975 about 150 mile NW of us, with another moving in by morning. As for the government being able to find lost sailboats with there satalites.......yea....to much x-files.

[GordMay]

International Boat Watch Network: International Boat Watch Network

”If you have lost track of loved ones at sea or you need to get an urgent message to them concerning a medical emergency or perhaps a death in the family, then we believe we can help. Please review the information made available here so that you may learn what we do and how we may assist you. Please remember to return frequently as we continue to add new features.”

Current Watch Full Text: International Boat Watch Network - (Current Incident)

Includes:

10/21/07 0200 UTC
This is USCG RCC ALAMEDA in Alameda, CA. We have received a report from RCC Victoria, BC of a vessel overdue. If you hear anything on the vessel, please contact the Search and Rescue Duty Officer at 510-437-3701.

The vessel is a 30 ft Tahitian Ketch with a white wooden hull, and
tan sails. It has a 10 HP diesel engine; the name of the vessel is TAKAROA II.

There are two people on this vessel; the owner/operator is Chris Malchow, a Canadian citizen, and his passenger is Courtenay Steele, also a Canadian citizen.

The vessel has a 406 EPIRB and a handheld VHF radio, but unfortunately no HF radio.

The TAKAROA departed Hilo, HI on September 8th en route Victoria B.C and was due to arrive on October 16th. They were not set up on a communications schedule.

[lapirate]

I've received information on Takaroa II regarding the vessels abilities.

This vessel information last updated September prior to Chris and Court departing Hilo.

We’re all set for safety gear: harnesses (with built-in inflatable pfds) and jacklines; man-overboard equipment; EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon); 2 gps; depth sounder; self-steering windvane; liferaft, flares and abandon bag; first aid kits (our lovely Canadian friends donated some expired seasick pills and heavy-duty painkillers, yay!); extra water in jugs; backup anchors, rope, sail cloth; full set of storm sails and para-anchor; and SSB receiver (for weather reports and time signals.) Plus we have our sight reduction tables and sextant, and a laptop with full “CMAP” software loaded with charts for the entire world.
"Chris"

RoJo:
Any Ideas on how we get a message to Chris and Court over SSB weather FAX to attempt making VHF contact with ships in his vicinity they have no long range transmitter? Likely Chris and Court are minimizing power usage on the long slow crossing and may possibly be forced as far south as California/Baja, or where ever the conditions draw Takaroa II. I'm advised they have provisioned for a 3 months passage (wise). It appears they both have recent experience (leg 1 and 2) and know intimately the limitations of Takaroa II, so it's likely if they've encountered a storm, they'll be keeping the boat south of 45 North where they through SSB weather and we have seen recent Oct/Nov storm action.

Anyone have experience engaging commercial shipping mid Pacific? Let me know? Lapirate@msn.com

More info on Takaroa and the intrepid crew
Flickr: Photos from island-bound
Island Bound

Chris and Courtney did register a principal contact and sail plan with Chris' Dad Robert Robert Patterson, P. Eng. I'll update Robert's point of contact info as soon as available

If you can be of assistance please do
RoJo skipper S/V Mercury RVYC Victoria BC
lapirate@msn.com cel #250 889 6551
Robert.Johnson@gov.bc.ca
or
Jesse.Piccin@gov.bc.ca

[btrayfors]

lapirate,

I sincerely hope they're OK. Suppose the absence of a 406 EPIRB signal from them gives one some hope they're still afloat.

I can't think of a way to get a message to them via the weather broadcasts. And, given they only have a handheld VHF, it might not do much good for them to broadcast in the blind, anyway.

IMHO, it's pure folly to venture to sea with only a handheld VHF. The normal range is something like 3 miles or so (or approx. 28 square miles coverage). A properly installed VHF with a mast top antenna and 25 watts output has a range of about 25 miles (or nearly 2,000 square miles). Even a mast top VHF antenna connected to the handheld would extend it's range considerably.

Conspicuous by its absence from your listing of safety and navigation equipment is a GPS. Tell me they didn't really leave Hilo without a GPS onboard?

Hope also they have a Nautical Almanac aboard, in addition to the sextant and sight reduction tables mentioned (else the sextant is virtually worthless).

And, believe it or not, the Reeds Nautical Almanac no longer includes an almanac! When I spoke to a representative from Reeds at the Annapolis Boat Show this year he said, "Well, we just don't have much call for that anymore". Jeez....change the friggin' name, then :-)

I do hope they're OK. Just being a worry-wort!

Bill

[Caspar_s]

Originally Posted by lapirate

...radio beacon); 2 gps; depth ...

They took two

[Jackstee]

Hi all
Actually, Iv'e never had any type of radio at all.Mind you my first engine, a Stewart Turner only ever worked at home, when I put it in the boat, I ended up taking the spark plug pout and using the starter motor ( Dino) to power the prop.
I sailed most every where.

Steve

[Kanani]

The worst thing that they could do is contact a passing ship unless they are sinking or starving or in some other genuine life threatening situation. I am not referring to bad weather either. They have a para-anchor on board and can set out the worst storms in relative comfort.

If they contact a passing ship, the ships Captain will relay a distress message to the USCG. The USCG will divert the ship to their position and try to talk them into abandoning their vessel. If they refuse, The USCG will fly out with a fixed wing aircraft and phsycologically beat the yacht owner into submission until he agrees to abandon ship.

This is not a theory, I have seen it happen a couple times. One time was with my best friend, off of the coast of Costa Rica. All my friend did was request the ships captain to relay a messge to the nearest port asking for a possible tow.

The next thing he knew, he was bound for Korea on a container ship. His yacht eventually drifted all the way to Hawaii, where he recovered and rebuilt it (Long depressing story) and is currently in Honolulu to this day, nearly 2 years later.

Being rescued onto a large ship is very risky, dangerous business. I'd much rather take my chances with my crippled boat on the open ocean as long as I have food.

I even knew of a guy that got dismasted on his way to Catalina from Long Beach. He was recovered 9 months later, drifting off of Costa Rica. A person can live a long time out there if they have to. If they abandon ship, they will regret it for the rest of their life.

BTW, any decent hand held radio with a good battery will trnsmit to any vessel that you can see with the nakid eye.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Kanani

I even knew of a guy that got dismasted on his way to Catalina from Long Beach. He was recovered 9 months later, drifting off of Costa Rica.

I imagine you're referring to the infamous Richard Van Pham, and his unscheduled drift down the west coast of Mexico and Central America in the late spring and summer of 2002. If that is indeed the case, he actually drifted for four months, not nine, but that he survived at all is noteworthy.

Here are links to a couple of stories about it:

First, from BBC News:

~ ~ ~

"Man adrift recounts four month ordeal

Van Pham: "If you travel at sea, you take what you find"


"A 62-year-old man in the United States has been telling the story of how he managed to survive nearly four months adrift at sea. . ."

~ ~ ~

For entire story, go to:

BBC NEWS | Americas | Man adrift recounts four month ordeal

And from 'Lectronic Latitude:

~ ~ ~

"Something Fishy About the Van Pham Survival Story

"September 27 - San Diego

"Yesterday, the L.A. Times ran a long story about Richard Van Pham, the Vietnamese fellow whose 26-ft sailboat Sea Breeze was reportedly dismasted on the way from Long Beach to Catalina - and who then drifted helplessly for 3.5 months until he was picked up by the U.S. Navy well offshore of Costa Rica. To our thinking, some parts of the story just don't add up."

~ ~ ~

For the whole 'LecLat take, go to:

September 27, 2002

TaoJones

[Kanani]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

I imagine you're referring to the infamous Richard Van Pham, and his unscheduled drift down the west coast of Mexico and Central America in the late spring and summer of 2002. If that is indeed the case, he actually drifted for four months, not nine, but that he survived at all is noteworthy.

Here are links to a couple of stories about it:

First, from BBC News:

~ ~ ~

"Man adrift recounts four month ordeal

Van Pham: "If you travel at sea, you take what you find"


"A 62-year-old man in the United States has been telling the story of how he managed to survive nearly four months adrift at sea. . ."

~ ~ ~

For entire story, go to:

BBC NEWS | Americas | Man adrift recounts four month ordeal

And from 'Lectronic Latitude:

~ ~ ~

"Something Fishy About the Van Pham Survival Story

"September 27 - San Diego

"Yesterday, the L.A. Times ran a long story about Richard Van Pham, the Vietnamese fellow whose 26-ft sailboat Sea Breeze was reportedly dismasted on the way from Long Beach to Catalina - and who then drifted helplessly for 3.5 months until he was picked up by the U.S. Navy well offshore of Costa Rica. To our thinking, some parts of the story just don't add up."

~ ~ ~

For the whole 'LecLat take, go to:

September 27, 2002

TaoJones

Ya....tht's the one I was thinking of. I guess I got the time confused with this guy's ordeal.
Shipwreck Survivors: Three Men in a Boat

I'm not sure what the writer of that story thinks doesn't add up. The story makes perfect sence.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Kanani

Ya....tht's the one I was thinking of. . .

<snip>

I'm not sure what the writer of that story thinks doesn't add up. The story makes perfect sence.

The writer of the 'Lectronic Latitude piece doesn't express doubt about the drift from Long Beach to well off Costa Rica, rather he is dubious about:

1 - Van Pham claimed to live aboard his 26-foot Columbia, but Shoreline Marina officials said he'd only spent four days there.

2 - Van Pham's claim to have sailed his small sailboat to Chile and back in six months would be almost impossible for a good sailor (which Van Pham was not) in a bigger, better, faster vessel.

3 - Van Pham claimed to have put two month's provisions aboard for his (typically, about 4-6 hour) sail from Long Beach to Catalina.

4 - Van Pham claimed to have seen not a single plane or vessel between Long Beach and Catalina.

That last one really fails the laugh test.

TaoJones

[seagypsywoman]

Regarding Takaroa, in my opinion anyone who plans a voyage into the Pacific North West in September and October on a 9m wooden boat is not an experienced sailor. I only hope that they got blown down wind to southern California or further.

The most dangerous piece of equipment on a sailboat is a calendar.

[cathyoz]

Nicole Van De Kerchove
Solo sailor women from France , alas who just pass away , has sail solo in the mid 90 on a 30 fts production boat , across the Atlantic just with few kites and no mast.
she took 26 ( or 28 ?)days .
She wanted to show that even without a mast , an sailing baot can make way..ect..
it is a very interesting story , and i have been always interested by this concept , especialy , the modern Kites are much more easy to handle and better perform and they float too now.
there was proof many years ago that a life ratf could be tracted by kites too, but the manufacturor did not take the idea as ".too expensive".
an other French women , Anne Quemere did cross the Atlantic last year with a boat , only with kites, ans she is preparing to cross the pacifique soon .
Anne Quéméré
i saw her "boat" in Paris last december at the boat show..

i really beleive in kites, i will hate to be dismasted and hopeless to try to go anywhere..
especialy when you read some surviving stories that people where so closed to land and so far at the same time because of currents..ect..
there is also a kyte to be used for detress signalisation ,( i got the pattern in my files somewhere..),
i will made or have one made in fluo fabric , when you think that you can have a line of 100 meters , well , it make your chances to be spote by a ship or people on land easier ? is it not ?

[cathyoz]

but one has to have them aboard in the first place.[/quote]

i do ,Mike ,intend to have one or two ,
i have "Nasa" design alrealdy that mysister made, but there are not inflatable one , just "nasa" design for using on land , buggy ..ect ..or o.k on water for fun with harness but you need someone with a tinnie by to help.
i have few sizes, and play sometime on the north shore beach here in Noosa, or when i go sailing for fun on the beach ..

[Mike Banks]

Basic traction kites are easy to make. I used them, for fishing--and after the war lots of us kids bought big ones from military surplus stores. They pulled rubber rafts along. Some also lifted distress antennae, usually box kites. The traction kites also lifted antennae but were designed to pull and were much larger. They were both tail-less kites.

There should be plenty of information on them. The poles were aluminium alloy. I think the sails were parachute material, probably hemp or silk.

Modern kites with the inflatable leading edge would be much larger and extremely powerful--but one has to have them aboard in the first place.

(this was deleted but I put it back because the post had been answered--)