How a Shipwrecked Crew Survived 10 Days Lost at Sea

[carstenb]

Hmmm - sailing west to east across the Pacific in December? Nobody but me thinks this is a bad time of year to make this attempt?

Oh well - happy they survived, but gotta question their original purpose here

[er9]

isn't a snapping shroud and a catastrophic dismasting a very loud and violent event? I would think even being stoned and drunk I would notice. how do you not notice this? very confusing but iv'e never experienced it personally.

[Dsanduril]

The Coast Guard has some decent video that shows the shape the boat was in at the time of the rescue:

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/1...thwest-hawaii/

https://dod.defense.gov/News/Special...videoid=732617

https://www.latitude38.com/lectronic...-joint-effort/

[Group9]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Please do. Will you cite your source(s), perhaps with twenty-seven eight-by-ten color glossy photographs with circles, and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was, to be used as evidence?

Unless it's a case of blind justice!

[er9]

what a shame. looks like a nice boat.

[WSMFP]

This reminded me to check the expiration date of my "smoke bombs and rockets" on board.

[Discovery 15797]

I'm pretty sure the EPIRB and food and water the USCG C-130 dropped them helped the Kalamazoo locate them much better than the bathroom 'signal mirrors.'

Last known position was east by northeast of Hawaii Islands. They were rescued 656 nm west by southwest of Hawaii. Seems that's way more than 8 miles from his estimated position...unless he was headed for Apia or Pape'ete.

He was reunited with his wife and 8 year old son in Hawaii. Maybe, he has another girlfriend and son in the Philippines. (I'm not judging.)

I'm not quite sure how you lose your drinking water, even if the boat is turtled. Also, batteries and floorboards flying around doesn't seem like the boat was well-prepared for an offshore voyage. And losing virtually all rations? (Along with other provisions, I always carry 24 sealed MREs, not counting the 4 emergency ration bars in a ditch bag...just saying.)

The rescue videos show the boat sitting pretty high in the water. I guess they spent their days bailing and pumping water.

I am not denying these men went through a horrible ordeal. I remember it well as it was highly publicized in Hawaii at the time (and someone even posted it here). I look at each of these rescues to gain insight for prevention or preparedness. The Pacific is a vast expanse of water.

However, it does seem as time goes by some of the details have become a little distorted...maybe it makes for better reading I guess, and perhaps the hopes of a book or movie deal.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by carstenb

Hmmm - sailing west to east across the Pacific in December? Nobody but me thinks this is a bad time of year to make this attempt?
Oh well - happy they survived, but gotta question their original purpose here

Indeed!
Schedules kill.
"On November 25, 2019, Chris Carney and his two-man crew, Pete Brown and Jun “Sumi” Sumiyama, set off from Japan on their way to Hawaii in a 42-foot sailboat, the Coco-Haz III. They had four weeks to cross the world’s largest ocean. The boat’s owner, a retired Japanese dentist, needed the trip done in a hurry—he’d lose a boat slip he’d rented if it didn’t arrive in time. Carney didn’t think they would make it on schedule, even if everything went right. But things went far worse than he imagined when two catastrophes left them stranded in the middle of the sea...

Previous CF post ➥ https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ii-228842.html

[Wulf]

Originally Posted by GordMay

...twenty-seven eight-by-ten color glossy photographs....

And he looked at the judge...and he looked at the judge’s seeing eye dog....

Haven’t thought of that or in a loooong time. Now have an ear worm that I can’t get rid of. Thanks Gord!

[EmeraldCoastSailor]

Good read. Thanks for posting.

[Smokeys Kitchen]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Please do. Will you cite your source(s), perhaps with twenty-seven eight-by-ten color glossy photographs with circles, and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was, to be used as evidence?

Thanks for posting Gord.

And thanks Arlo Guthrie for the lines ...

..though I've never eaten at Alice's Restaurant

[Dsanduril]

From all the comments here I guess we're going to send the crew of Coco Haz III to the Group W bench

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by carstenb

Hmmm - sailing west to east across the Pacific in December? Nobody but me thinks this is a bad time of year to make this attempt?

Oh well - happy they survived, but gotta question their original purpose here

No one standing watch? Glad they survived.

[robert sailor]

Did they not carry an EPIRB?

[robert sailor]

Forget the question, just read one of the articles and they chose not to carry one. Can't say that the skipper is capable of making proper seamanship decisions. I have no problem if a single hander chooses not to carry one, totally ok with that but when you have 2 other crew members that rely on you then its incumbent to think about their safety.