Yacht Adrift - My Curiosity is Getting the Better of Me Now!
Discussion
Yesterday the company I work for was passed information that a yacht had been sighted and appeared to be in distress. We passed the location to the relevant rescue coordination authorities and offered our assistance if required. I should say that this is in the Med somewhere.
Long story short, both a commercial vessel and SAR helo investigated and found there to be no one on board. The yacht was around 50ft long, white and in relatively good condition. There was no engine running and the mast was either stowed across the deck or had been broken. Unfortunately I don’t know the exact findings of the SAR helo so can’t say if it looked to have been lived in recently however, the fenders were deployed down one side and there were two red lines dragging in the water, probably around 50ft in length, one from the front and one from the rear. I also eventually found out the name of the yacht and its home port.
The boat looked relatively expensive so I can’t see someone not reporting it missing if it had broken its moorings, although I’m no expert in valuations.
Do Coast Guard agencies worldwide have a list of boats and owners in order to track them down in these circumstances? Do people report a missing boat to anyone in order to stop full scale SAR Ops being initiated unnecessarily? This one has easily run in to tens of thousands of pounds in fuel, commercial vessels being diverted off course etc.
I have seen aerial pics of the boat so can report the above with some certainty but I’d rather not share them publicly. My curiosity is getting the better of me now.
Feel free to PM me if you think you can help.
Long story short, both a commercial vessel and SAR helo investigated and found there to be no one on board. The yacht was around 50ft long, white and in relatively good condition. There was no engine running and the mast was either stowed across the deck or had been broken. Unfortunately I don’t know the exact findings of the SAR helo so can’t say if it looked to have been lived in recently however, the fenders were deployed down one side and there were two red lines dragging in the water, probably around 50ft in length, one from the front and one from the rear. I also eventually found out the name of the yacht and its home port.
The boat looked relatively expensive so I can’t see someone not reporting it missing if it had broken its moorings, although I’m no expert in valuations.
Do Coast Guard agencies worldwide have a list of boats and owners in order to track them down in these circumstances? Do people report a missing boat to anyone in order to stop full scale SAR Ops being initiated unnecessarily? This one has easily run in to tens of thousands of pounds in fuel, commercial vessels being diverted off course etc.
I have seen aerial pics of the boat so can report the above with some certainty but I’d rather not share them publicly. My curiosity is getting the better of me now.
Feel free to PM me if you think you can help.
Boats going walkies from their moorings is a pretty regular occurrence and doesn't mean it's a Marie Celeste. You'd be amazed how many people don't pay that much attention to their boats when they aren't on them.
I've had my RIB almost disappear after the line between the seabed and the mooring buoy it was moored to parted. Luckily it got caught up on another mooring just before it disappeared out into the North Sea and one of the local launchmen realised something was wonky and grabbed it. Needless to say I was more than mildly miffed with the company providing the moorings...
I've had my RIB almost disappear after the line between the seabed and the mooring buoy it was moored to parted. Luckily it got caught up on another mooring just before it disappeared out into the North Sea and one of the local launchmen realised something was wonky and grabbed it. Needless to say I was more than mildly miffed with the company providing the moorings...
Sounds like the story of Wolfhound, a lovely looking Swan 48 abandoned off Bermuda
http://afloat.ie/sail/cruising/item/21432-wolfhoun...
http://afloat.ie/sail/cruising/item/21432-wolfhoun...
Honestly can't say but I do remember reading something about if the boat has thrown its mooring on its own accord then it is considered marine salvage. I know from being in the RNLI we have applied this logic when something 'looks' abandoned, however we have only ever picked up sun faded damaged kayaks which we then used for training.
I have no idea how you would apply it to a full yachts.
NickCQ said:
ecsrobin said:
Coastguards keep a record as it’s all digital.
A modern British flagged yacht was abandoned off Bermuda earlier this year but can’t find the article at the moment. Could be that?
I think that's Wolfhound (although she was maybe Irish), a nice Swan 48.A modern British flagged yacht was abandoned off Bermuda earlier this year but can’t find the article at the moment. Could be that?
This was the one http://www.sailingtoday.co.uk/news/bluewater-rescu...
Red lines look to have been used to hold the liferaft.
Red lines look to have been used to hold the liferaft.
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