The significant danger of "rescue at sea"

[s/v Faith]

Good article focusing on the real risks of being "rescued" at sea by a passing freighter.

Given the seeming increase in folks getting spooked and setting off their EPIRBS in recent years, I thought this was a good article to take a look at.

http://www.cruisingworld.com/how-to/seamanship/rescue-at-sea-what-happens-when-the-freighter-arrives?

The author focuses on several problems with getting from a small boat to a big one underway... I like the description of the consequences of triggering the EPIRB where he says that from the time it is done decisions are largely out of your control.

Also interesting to me is the description of the imagined circumstances when the EPIRB is triggered... Two days of 40+ knot winds, and equipment failure would not be a valid reason to pull the plug in my mind unless the failures resulted in an ingress of water greater then could be controlled..... 

No doubt the EPIRB has saved many lives, but the decision to trigger one must be considered long before someone is in that position.....


What are your thoughts?

[Kettlewell]

I met a couple in Bermuda who decided to abandon their sailboat after being pummeled during a hurricane, but they told me "never again!" They said being "rescued" from their damaged boat was very dangerous and they nearly died in the process. Their advice was the classic wisdom that the time to abandon your boat is when you have to step up to get into the liferaft. It is one thing to be rescued by professionals who know what they are doing, like the Coast Guard, and it is another to be pulled onboard by a freighter crew that has little experience or training in this. Also note how often we read of someone being "rescued" and yet their boat turns up days, weeks, or months later. The Westsail 32 that was featured in the Perfect Storm washed ashore, was salvaged, and as far as I know is still sailing. Same thing with many of the boats abandoned during the huge Queen's Birthday Storm out in the Pacific (read Rescue in the Pacific to learn more). Some of those boats were abandoned with severe damage, in a storm with seas well over 50 feet in height, and yet they washed ashore or were found afloat long after the storm. Of course people do get injured or have other medical emergencies, and there are other reasons you might have to abandon your vessel. But, it is true that the typical vessel can take a lot more than her crew. Personally, from reading lots of these accounts I think a huge factor is poor decision making, exacerbated by cold, exhaustion, hunger, and physical disorientation in the storm. Modern so-called "wisdom" is to practice active storm-management techniques, which are all well and good until eventually you get exhausted, become hypothermic, etc. This is a reason why more passive techniques, like heaving-to, sea anchors, or drogues, can be most effective on small, short-handed vessels. Sometimes the best result is achieved by staying below out of the weather, wedged or strapped in a safe bunk, maintaining your energy by eating and drinking, and monitoring the situation from a safe vantage point.

[CharlieJ]

An addendum-

The Westsail 32 in Perfect Storm was Satori, and yes, she's still sailing. She was in my marina here in Port Lavaca for some time, and is now in Corpus Christi.

Ray Leonard was forced to abandon, against his wishes, by having a threat of losing his masters license. The costs of salvaging the boat ran so high he had to sell her to pay for it. His crew triggered the Epirb, not him.

[Kettlewell]

I met Ray Leonard in Bermuda a few months before the perfect storm. We were anchored up near each other, and we had him over for a cocktail one night. He seemed like a sober, thoughtful sailor who knew his stuff, and it was a shame the movie portrayed him in a bad light. Some other friends of mine spotted Satori and alerted the authorities. They said she looked in pretty good shape after sailing herself back to the U.S.

[s/v Faith]

An excellent point.  I keep the EPIRB under my positive control offshore.

[Kettlewell]

Without looking up the details, I believe Ray called the CG using SSB and was in touch with them in order to alert them that the situation was bad and where they were, but his crew secretly asked to be taken off when Ray was off watch. When the CG showed up they basically ordered him off the boat, though I strongly suspect that if he didn't comply they would have had a tough time pressing any charges against him. You can't order someone to abandon a seaworthy boat at the risk of their life. The CG can declare a manifestly unsafe voyage, but are they going to come over in the midst of a big storm and force you off your boat against your will?

[Captain Smollett]

Without looking up the details, ... they would have had a tough time pressing any charges against him. You can't order someone to abandon a seaworthy boat at the risk of their life.

Yes, the devil resides in the details.

The problem in Ray's case, as I understand it, is that he was a licensed Captain.  If he had refused to abandon when ordered to, he would have lost his ticket.

That's the way I have always understand this particular case.

Neal Peterson represents a good counter case.  When his boat was damaged at sea, they tried to order him off his vessel and he refused.  He had the damage under control and continued his passage across the Atlantic.

[CharlieJ]

From what I read in his postings, the GC threatened him with revoking his Captains license.

He once had a series of posts up on a blog. gone now. Interesting reading from a guy who was involved vs outsider stories.

I know Linda Greenlaw had nothing but contempt for Junger. She was the captain of the other sword boat out there at the time

[Kettlewell]

Junger got a lot of stuff wrong in the book, including many maritime and weather details. I believe the book was rejected by another publisher partly due to inaccuracies in the manuscript. Made him a lot of money though. I was on my boat in Norfolk, and it was a doozy of a storm. We arrived at Waterside with winds gusting well over 30, which made docking a nightmare, and eventually we had a full gale with the water level over the fixed docks and burying the power pedestals. The Caribbean 1500 started right after it--imagine if a fleet like that were caught in the perfect storm! We'd have a lot of fodder for us to mull over here on the forums. As to the original topic, we will never know how many people are truly "saved" by EPIRBs, because without them and SSB and all the other nonsense everyone considers essential equipment these days, a lot of folks would manage to muddle through and survive.

[CharlieJ]

I know Waterside- was in there for several days in 81 or 82. October it was. We enjoyed it. Looked really different when I was by in 2011.

October 2012, I sat and talked to Richard Woods ( of Woods Multihulls) about his and his crew being taken off a boat in the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Many on various boards had poo poo'ed his being rescued, but having him tell about it, made a huge impression. The helicopter pilot told him she was having to fly at 60 knots to stay still!!! And was at 100 feet, instead of the normal 60, due to waves.

Glad it wasn't me ;D

[Kettlewell]

Another thing I wonder is how many people wouldn't head out there in the first place if they couldn't bring along devices that they think will save them? It sounds quaint today, but when I first got into sailing the wisdom of the cruising fleet was that one should be prepared to face whatever you encountered on your own and deal with it, and it was actually immoral to call for help and possibly risk someone else's life in an attempt to rescue you. When the first EPIRBS became available a lot of well known and famous sailors refused to carry them or even SSB radios because they believed that they were taking the risks with their eyes wide open and they had no desire to ever ask someone to come help them. I had some friends in that camp who managed something like 6 or 7 transatlantic trips on homemade boats less than 30 feet, including at least one hurricane encounter. I don't think they carried even a handheld VHF radio. Navigation was all by sextant and chronometer. They came and went with no fanfare--I might get a postcard from the Azores or South America noting some interesting details of their trip, which was the first I had heard of them even leaving. Did most of the ICW under sail too, which is a difficult trip. He only used horn signals for the bridges.

[Kettlewell]

Here's another recent example of what happens when you get rescued by a ship. Don't know the details yet of what happened to the boat. http://bermudasun.bm/Content/NEWS/Human-Interest/Article/Rescued-sailors-arrive-in-the-States/24/896/75858