Wow... just,
WOW... Where does one even
begin?
Waiting to see if jon or Dave know these delivery skippers.
Nope, not me... I would remember if I had ever seen a yacht delivery captain who weighed 300 pounds...
Actually, one of the most surprising aspect of this sorry saga, is that these fools bypassed the legendary 32 oz. Prime Rib dinner at Coinjock Marina, in favor of the much longer route out around Hatteras...
They were professionals....just doing the job that only professionals can do.
Sorry, but nothing could be further from the truth... Rarely does one see an example of a more profound ignorance and dismissal of the risks of rounding Cape Hatteras in the winter. The fact that they even considered any of those inlets as viable bail-out options conclusively eliminates the possibility that they were anything remotely akin to "experienced East coast delivery captains". Despite the fact they may have possessed some sort of ticket from the Merchant Marine Academy, doesn't make some reporter's description accurate...
ANYONE can say they are a 'delivery captain', after all, plenty of folks out there making such a claim...
Also need to add they depended on their IPOD for weather forecast while at sea.
Yeah, yet another example of an "advances in technology (that) only enhance safety, increase abilities and add enjoyment... And mean an increase in "seamanship" ..." (grin)
"The storm went off-******", he said.
Yeah, don't you just hate it when that happens? Who'd a thunk
THAT could ever occur? "Hey, although a serious winter storm was drawing a bead on Hatteras before we would make it around Cape Lookout and cack into Morehead, my iPhone told me the 'waves' would be 'bumpy, but manageable'..."
Again, absolutely mind-boggling that a 'professsional mariner' would expect the most powerful winter storm of 2013 to that point, to behave precisely as forecast in the vicinity of Cape Hatteras...
By 10 a.m. they'd pulled within a mile and a half - they could see the beach houses of Hatteras village.
"In our minds, this is almost over," Schoenberger said. "In an hour, we'll be standing on the deck with a cold drink."
One really has to wonder whether these clowns have ever run an East coast inlet... To be off Hatteras Inlet in a developing winter storm, and assume a safe entry is a done deal, or virtually guaranteed, well... Seriously?
The choices were now two: eight hours north with a following sea to Oregon Inlet, or 12 hours into gale-force winds to Morehead City.
They headed north, the waves 14 feet high and breaking at the crests. An hour later came another call: "Andante, we have to tell you that Oregon Inlet has been closed to navigation."
"That hit me like a punch in the throat," Southward said.
Now there was no option but to turn south and push into the Gulf Stream...
Actually, there may have been another option - to have run off to the north, and back towards Cape Henry and the Chesapeake Entrance...
Why did they not just put the sails up and head out to open water instead of risking the CG's lives in a dangerous night rescue. They say they are sailors- then sail......
The conditions do not look that bad, paper says 40 knot wind and 10 foot seas. That is a day sail. Why does the sailor say he was lifted 30 feet but when you see video, you do not see anything rising and falling 30 feet?
Actually, after viewing the degree to which that boat is laid over on her ear by some of the gusts by the windage of the rig and freeboard/pilothouse alone, not sure unfurling any sail in those conditions on that thing would have been a particularly good idea... (grin)
Plus, I am fairly certain their lines were not led back to the cockpit!
The first IP SP Kroozer I saw at the boat show a few years ago remains the only 'sailboat' I've ever seen with jib sheets led thru rope clutches in the aft cockpit... Not exactly the sort of rig I'd choose to attempt to beat a major winter storm out around Hatteras...
I could go on, and I no doubt will... (grin) Sure would love to hear their rationale for undertaking such a voyage, in such a boat that was ICW-capable, in the face of such weather, via a route offshore that was far longer than going south to Morehead inside on The Ditch... I'm sorry, but placing the lives of CG Rescue Swimmers and helo crews in such danger by the willful excercise of such stupidity, well... if it does not verge on the criminal, it certainly qualifies as amoral, in my book...