Emergency crews puzzled by yacht find Yacht Lead

[Sandero]

Here's what happened.

These guys robbed a bank or something and wanted to disappear. So they went off sailing and were laughing it up about their heist and their get away boat arrived to take them to Indonesia where they will spend their ill gotten gains.

Now everyone thinks they were drunk and fell overboard having a pissing contest after drinking too much beer and champagne. Nice touch leaviung the food on the table and the engine in neutal idling.

The perfect crime.

[cooper]

Not really....as in all these situations ,if crime was involved then l say "show me the money"...If you already own a boat of that size and value, you are of retirement age....have the time to cruise for weeks on end in beautiful surroundings .....have families that care.......what more are you likely to gain by some strange exploit ? The "rule of threes"....a rule that a lot of cruisers know of....simply says that when somthing goes wrong it can trigger unforseen happenings which in turn can cause somthing else ...and again. The number of times is not important its the principle that a suprise,crapy situation can easily set off a chain of disasters.........ie "he drowned because he fell overboard.....he fell overboard because his hand got threaded through the furler block..........his hand got threaded through the furler block because....................someone let it off at the wrong time".......its that simple.....

[mudnut]

Latest in the paper says the daughter states "Dad was a stickler for safety"Not exact words,but,gives the same message.
The one thing that sticks out is the amount of safety equipment that is not deployed.That suggests that "Dad" wasn't a stickler for safety,or at least, that he was the first overboard.
Inside cruisers forum we have our own little"Murder on the orient express"full of knowledgable people, all holding a piece of the puzzle.Or not.I can just imagine the sailors up Airlie beach way waffling about the big mystery.All local.And all on the same train.Mudnut.

[viking69]

Well as i live in airlie i can tell you there is far more imagination happening on this forum then amoung the yachting world there. they are more interested in the real issues of the initial search for the people and now how their family is coping with the tradgedy. But you all keep going with your little fantasies. My one and only post on this subject!!!

[GordMay]

I have to agree with Vinking69's sentiments.
Presumably, 3 people lost their lives, and we’re indulging ourselves in fanciful banter.
Not my proudest moment, as a cruiser.

[hellosailor]

"Pirate's are out of the scenerio,we don't have that crap here yet,"
Mudnut, are you within sailing range of Indonesia? Might you be considered a target-rich expansion area for pirates coming down? Point only being, at some point in time you ARE likely to have a crime problem that you didn't have the day before, one never knows.

I do agree with you that the simplest explanation is "oops" "grab hold, oops" "oops again" and all three go overboard in one incident. In SCUBA fatalities, the usual scenario is that one gets in trouble and then takes the other (buddy) or others down with them, so this is not a new idea or a rare one.

And I agree with Gord on this. It probably IS that simple, and they probably have died at sea. Even if it is possible that they are committing an insurance scam (in this day and age, that also has been known to happen) and it is possible they were kidnapped for revenge or money or rare organ types, whatever. But it is most likely that someone slipped, and his friends made the unfortunate mistake of going overboard with/after him.

No conspiracy theories needed, just the routine "---- happens" that sailors all know, all too well.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

But it is most likely that someone slipped, and his friends made the unfortunate mistake of going overboard with/after him.

This would be my vote. Especially as I gather that the weather was not so bad, makes it easier to underestimate the seriousness of a situation and also to take too much of a risk yerself.

Fenders out? well, I am never a stickler for always untying them, quite often just pull them over the bulwarks (it's a "proper" toe rail ). Table set? why not? before someone fell overboard one of them probably was getting all set for lunch / dinner.

[GordMay]

Australian coroner ends mystery of 'ghost ship'

“... In the scenario he laid out, the coroner said one of the brothers attempted to free a fishing line that had become wrapped around the yacht's propeller when he fell overboard. The other brother fell in while trying to rescue him.

Mr Batten tried to drop the sails so he could turn around and go back for his two friends but a change in the wind's direction caused the yacht's boom to swing and knock him overboard ...”

Australian coroner ends mystery of 'ghost ship' | World news | The Guardian

Australian coroner ends mystery of 'ghost ship' // Current

[Pelagic]

Do you buy that Gord?

[MidLandOne]

This is the link to the copy in the Townsville Bulletin <i>Kaz II</i> inquest in Townsville: coroner finds trio that drowned at sea | Townsville Bulletin News

It reads a bit more sensibly than the Guardian copy but still quite a chain of events if it represents what really happened.

I was in Townsville during the inquest but didn't hear anything important that has not already been said.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Do you buy that Gord?

Not exactly. He "sold" me on an accident as the likeliest , then bought it back by reaching too far with his "scenario".

It seems reasonably plausible that as “Coroner Michael Barnes said evidence put before him during a four day inquest led him to conclude that "an unfortunate series of events," befell the trio, who were all relatively inexperienced sailors, only a few hours after they set sail...”

Further speculation upon any specific scenario* is pure conjecture, although perhaps more credible than alien abduction.

* “...In the scenario he laid out, the coroner said one of the brothers attempted to free a fishing line that had become wrapped around the yacht's propeller when he fell overboard. The other brother fell in while trying to rescue him.
Mr Batten tried to drop the sails so he could turn around and go back for his two friends but a change in the wind's direction caused the yacht's boom to swing and knock him overboard...”

[hellosailor]

Don't worry, Gord. Next week's episode of "CIS: OZTales-ia!" will document it all for you. The coroner simply forget to tell your local press that he found fishing line wrapped and embedded in the port engine, and cranial matter on the port side of the boom.

All hard facts, no speculation needed.

Or, possibly not.

[MidLandOne]

I was surprised that the coroner gave his decision immediately rather than needing (taking?) time to consider what he had heard. Maybe the decision was pretty much decided before the coroner's inquest was actually held ?

Small point - as I understand it the fishing line was found wrapped on the port rudder (not a propeller) and the vessel had scooped transoms which makes the possibility going overboard while attempting to retrieve the line off them at least believable - but from then on the coroner's decision turns into a long shot to me.

I am familiar with one case where the two man crew of a yacht were lost through one going overboard then the other going over during his attempts to rescue the other. They were both on tethers though so stayed with the boat but were dragged until they drowned.

[BrewGuru]

Hi all, New to this sight and very interested in the kazII 3 MOB incident, personally I am happy with the decision by the coroner, I am still confused with the fenders being over the side, but the senario sonds plausible.
Just recently on the Sunshine coast of QLD a trawler was grounded on the beach with, no skipper. there was two below having a kip, whilst the skipper was on watch.
It was documented he was talking to his girlfriend on mobile/cell phone just prior to MOB situation.
I am planning a trip from Brisbane to Thursday Island in October next year and I have genuine concerns about a possible MOB, I have just purchased a VPIRB and I reckon passage makers doing overnight trips and trawler operators doing watch should have one, they have certain advantages over a PLB, you don't have to be conciecous to activate the device, it swarks an alarm at your UHF and then sends a DSC to every VHF within range, be it a another vessel or a shore based reciever, it send your GPS location and is equiped with a flashing strobe light for $800 USD I reckon all coastal vessels should have one and make it mandatory that the watchkeeper is the custodian, They were made for commercial vessels, but If the guys from Kaz II had one or the skipper of the trawler at Mooloolaba they would be around for a drink at Xmas

http://www.mobilarm.com/cat/index.cg...duct_id=702294

Cheers

Ed

[Little Otter]

Hi all I know this is an old thread but I don't buythe coroners story. so here is what i think. They don't want to be found. If for some reason they thought that their families were to nosy or they didn't like the econo. situation so they rent a boat, yall forgot that the liferaft was missing by the way, put the fenders out to make everyone think that they were kidnaped, leave the motor running and with places set to eat to make it plauseible then start a small rip in the sail that they know will take the boat a good distance while getting ever bigger until we see it in the pics to make it look like they were damaged in a storm and were kidnaped by the people that came to help them. this way everyone overlooks the missing liferaft and they can get a friend to pick them up and take them to a tropical island or something and while everyone thinks they are dead they are doing fine and dandy sipping margaritas under a palm tree and watching hula dancers.