Sailboat went off course into Algeria

[atoll]

Originally Posted by arcticcatmatt

Got thru to MRCC in the UK. They took a bunch of information and are making phone calls to check on the safety of the vessel. I hope everything is OK and she doesn't kill me for this. The man sounded concerned that the boat went right to an Alergian Navy Dock.

good stuff,no harm done if it is a false alarm,that is what MRCC is there for.

probably ducked in there under preassure of weather,and since they have no visas the marine police have accomodated them in a secure area.
though surprising that they have not ,managed to call out as european mobiles do work there

keep us posted, will be interested in any feedback

[arcticcatmatt]

They are Safe!! That was fast!
The coast guard found and called emergency contact for the boat. That person told coast guard he heard from them this morning. The professional skipper on board said weather was too bad to continue. They were experiencing force 9 winds. They headed into Algeria and are OK there and headed out tomorrow by the sounds of it.
Thanks all for the help.. I've been worried for 1-2 days.

[atoll]

Originally Posted by arcticcatmatt

They are Safe!! That was fast!
The coast guard found and called emergency contact for the boat. That person told coast guard he heard from them this morning. The professional skipper on board said weather was too bad to continue. They were experiencing force 9 winds. They headed into Algeria and are OK there and headed out tomorrow by the sounds of it.
Thanks all for the help.. I've been worried for 1-2 days.

well 10 out of 10 for MRCC,they are allways happy to help,thanks for letting us know the outcome.

[Paul Annapolis]

This whole thing seems fishy.....re-read the OP and his follow posts...it does not pass the smell test....

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Paul Annapolis

This whole thing seems fishy.....re-read the OP and his follow posts...it does not pass the smell test....

i think you will find that the MRCC uk hold all the details for epirbs registered to yachts,it was probably a simple job of cross referencing boat name,to contact number of owner/next of kin something that the op did not have at his disposal..

what ever the ops reason is, is immaterial,the fact that a yacht strayed into algerian waters,and was detained there is enough reason for concern.

[Paul Annapolis]

Algiers weather records do not suggest any winds over 25 mph for the past couple of weeks...not quite force 9 ??? But there are so many other reason why that post seemed odd....https://weatherspark.com/history/285...lgiers-Algeria

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Paul Annapolis

Algiers weather records do not suggest any winds over 25 mph for the past couple of weeks...not quite force 9 ??? But there are so many other reason why that post seemed odd....https://weatherspark.com/history/285...lgiers-Algeria

not according to my weather info,currently low pressure over sardinia,with westerly f9 in their area,not nice in the med with steep waves and short seas as you would know if you had sailed in the area.

[Paul Annapolis]

Yes--if a boat actually had to go into Algiers it could have been a serious situation--if it happened. And yes--it could be a simple job to track down the boat--unless of course your girlfriend is on the boat and you don't have a floatplan or communication information so you go online to a sailor's forum and try to find the US Dept of State on Facebook. And no I have never sailed in the Mediterranean and I am not making light of what could have been a serious situation. I stress"could have been" but it might not have been a situation at all. And there might have been a serious low over the Med but look at the link I found--it shows winds of 10-25 for the last week.... ????

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Paul Annapolis

Yes--if a boat actually had to go into Algiers it could have been a serious situation--if it happened. And yes--it could be a simple job to track down the boat--unless of course your girlfriend is on the boat and you don't have a floatplan or communication information so you go online to a sailor's forum and try to find the US Dept of State on Facebook. And no I have never sailed in the Mediterranean and I am not making light of what could have been a serious situation. I stress"could have been" but it might not have been a situation at all. And there might have been a serious low over the Med but look at the link I found--it shows winds of 10-25 for the last week.... ????

and your point is ?

further,you as a profesional skipper should know that algiers is situated behind some mountains protected from the west.
try looking on passage weather for a more accurate synopsis of CURRENT weather,before you jump to conclusions based on your own" it seems" warped agenda.

[Sailing Cowboy]

Originally Posted by Paul Annapolis

Yes--if a boat actually had to go into Algiers it could have been a serious situation--if it happened. And yes--it could be a simple job to track down the boat--unless of course your girlfriend is on the boat and you don't have a floatplan or communication information so you go online to a sailor's forum and try to find the US Dept of State on Facebook. And no I have never sailed in the Mediterranean and I am not making light of what could have been a serious situation. I stress"could have been" but it might not have been a situation at all. And there might have been a serious low over the Med but look at the link I found--it shows winds of 10-25 for the last week.... ????

Are you suggesting a jealous ex fiancé trying to track the love of his life, while she is sailing with another Bo having fun on the other side of the world? I did think of that.

[El Pinguino]

Maybe they had to go to the navy dock to check in? Not unknown for that to be required.

That and the fact that she then moved to another berth would suggest to me that nothing too bad has happened.

Now if she had stayed at the navy berth........

[Paul Annapolis]

Please. I am not jumping to conclusions about anything except that a number of things about that posting seem quite odd and lead me to believe it might be false. I am not in any way downplaying the seriousness of this situation if it were true. Instead of questioning my knowledge about sailing in the Med which is admittedly zero (I did swim at Tel Aviv beach!) and making a negative statement about me that because I have a captains license that I should should know there are mountains in Algeria --which is not really relevant anyhow...you then accuse me of having some warped agenda. I have no agenda other than to know the facts here but if I am correct, it is certainly not warped. Why not consider that my hunch about this OP being false might be correct? As I said, it does not pass the smell test. I am simply uncertain about it but it appears to be conjured up in which case the OP would have a warped agenda. Can we get some more facts and details here to verify this is true and can you please stop being so negative toward me? Heck, if I am wrong, let's find out. But if I am right, what might that say? Fair enough?

[atoll]

having sailed up and down that coast many times,and been caught out in a few f 9's in the area i find the ops request quite plausable,and can see why the skipper chose to take the lesser of 2 evils and risk seeking refuge in algeria.

i can also see that in terms of the algerians concern for the security of the vessel they allowed it to stay in a guarded military area.

again by the ops own admission he professed to be a non sailor,and little traveled,

a quick search on the internet will bring up cruisers forum links for any sailing related matter.

perhaps the op would care to comment to put the "consipiracy theorists" minds at bay!

[Paul Annapolis]

I am not arguing with Atoll about anything--not about weather, or sailing in the Med or ducking into Algiers...simply saying the whole post just seems really odd for many reasons. Shall I list them all? I am 100% with you Atoll-let's find out but my hunch is not about any kind of conspiracy....or piracy...but maybe about cons. We seemed to be more concerned about following up on all this than does the OP--so sure, let's get complete details and substantiation and then Atoll will have the pleasure of saying "See-I told you so" and he'd be right but there is no conspiracy theory here--just a hypothesis that this story is hype. Anyone else think the story seems "fishy"?

[jtsailjt]

I've reread it a couple of times and cant tell what might be fishy. Rather than leave us all hanging, why not spell out what about the post seems fishy and why? The OP sounds to me just like a young kid with no clue about sailing or foreign travel which is pretty normal, not fishy.