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BFS Proponent Rescued at Sea

72K views 538 replies 79 participants last post by  krisscross 
#1 ·
This turkey punched his EPIRB and was just picked up.
Here's what he said before he started his passage to Hawaii with NO experience at sea.

"I acknowledge that I am incredibly inexperienced, but I think I can do this. And for some reason, I feel very strongly about doing it single-handed. (At least to Hawaii, anyways) A friend of mine summed it up as "keep the heavy side down, keep the water on the outside, don't run into stuff, and reef early". That's pretty much my plan, to be honest.
My boat is a veteran cruising boat, and I am sure that it is up to the task of crossing oceans, even with me at the helm, alone. I know that I don't truly know what i'm up against, but I am used to identifying and solving problems as they occur, and this is the mindset that I am taking with me. Yes, i'm sure stuff will break. And i'll fix it to the best of my abilities. .... I am not cocky, I do not think this will be an easy trip, given my lack of experience and being alone, but I truly believe that I can do anything that I truly set my mind to. "
**************
The ACTUAL experience is a bit different than the dream.
**************
RJ,
I hoisted the sails back up and started to get going, but I have no steering. the rudder post is broken. not the linkage, but the post. it is broken. if i turn the wheel, everything works, but you can see it turning on the rudder post. it sheared off. it was old, fatigued metal i guess. i dont know. i am on a boat, 700 miles from land, WITH NO STEERING. there is nothing that i can do. i am going to call mayday and try to get rescued. i am going to be activating my EPIRB with the Unique Identification Number 2DCC56C554FFBFF. notify the coast guard with that number, and let them know it is me. I am at 28*21' N, 129*44' W. No matter which way i turn the rudder, or how hard, I loko over the side, and it's staying same position. dead ahead. boat is just rocking too. fear its going to roll over in these seas, because i am beam on to the ocean. i need rescue. this is the lowest ive ever been. i am activating epirb soon. email me right back. call the coast guard. comm still works, so i can stay in touch and wait for rescue.
i am not prepared to drift and drift through hurricane alley until i hit land. the f*&^* rudder post sheared off. there is nothing that i can do. i almost rolled over. get me rescue asap.

ronnie
2:25 PDT- tried emailing you but it wouldnt work. i have called for a rescue. there is no turning back now.

-------------------------

I called the coast guard and gave them all the information, however, they were Already in contact with Ronnie. The Hawaii Coast Guard said Ronnie was getting beat up pretty good, but they were talking to him. I am now waiting on a call from the San Diego Coast Guard.

-RJ
RONNIE ACTIVATED HIS EPIRB

*******************************
And finally:

Ronnie was picked up about 30 minutes ago by a frieght ship headed to Shanghi, China. He is in good spirits but very shaken. The steering on his vessel was destroyed and he was in 20 to 30 foot seas. The official wind report was 35 to 40 knots with gusts higher. The rescue ship ran into Ron's boat on the first attempt, dismasting and crushing the front of the boat. The second attempt they snatched him with a rope and pulled him up. His leg was injured in the hoist when his solar panels smashed him in between the two vessels. It is not broken, just bruised. He has all video in tact and his laptop, which is wet. He called me from a sat phone aboard the ship and was grateful to have been rescued. He is now heading to China, but the capatain is attempting to re-route to Hawaii. I will keep you posted. The journey is not over, but it has taken a twist. One site said that the trip was no longer "eco" friendly, this may be true, but this is just the first leg!
-RJ
Yes, there are small obstacles to him continuing, like, no boat, but were working on that...
He said the mast went under water four times, but his boat did not roll. He admits he was not mentally prepared for this and is happy to be alive.
*********************
That post was from his brother. Ronnie will be crossing the Pacific to Shanghai!

Full details of the continuing saga are on their blog:
Welcome to the Open Blue Horizon | Open Blue Horizon | His,

The boat was a 1961 Palmer Johnson Bounty II
A full keel model with:
Length 40 feet 10 inches
Water line: 28 feet
Beam: 10 feet 3 inches
Draft: 6 feet
Weight: 22,500 pounds
Ballast: 11,500 pounds
Purchased for $30k.


Read the blog. Compare with Zac Sunderland....nuff said.
 
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#495 ·
Oh, come one now. Losing the keel is a honorable tradition among top-ranked sailors. The head of Hunter lost the keel first time out on Thursday's Child, custom built for his racing, maybe 20 years ago? And wasn't it Bertie Roos who borrowed spent uranium for his keel from South Africa for a Volvo? Cup race, who lost that expensive bit of gear in the Southern Ocean, maybe 10 years ago?
 
#497 ·
I would like to add a bit of news. Looks like Ronnie is working on his karma -

The boat is now approaching the island of Maui. I want to be cryptic about it's position or whereabouts until we have possession of her, but in an effort to save the boat from being run aground, lost at sea or salvaged, the Singlehanded Transpac fleet has come together to save Bela. A very generous fleet member paid for the charter of a fishing boat and two other generous fleet members purchased plane tickets for Ruben Gabriel and myself to fly to Maui. Ruben is a great friend of mine. We double handed my Moore 24 around the Farallones this year and both recently sailed Moore 24's in the Singlehanded Transpac, so i'm really honored to be able to share this experience with Ruben and work to save Dirk's boat. Dirk lives aboard the boat, so this is someone's home that we're talking about. Having lost a boat at sea, that I lived on, this is very personal for me to try to help reclaim Dirk's home

Open Blue Horizon - Home
 
#501 ·
I don't know and have never met Ronnie, but I admire him. First I'de heard of him was from two years ago at the 2010 SHTP. Followed his race, read his history and was following his journey when he lost his keel on the way home. Thought he handled himself well.

Since I've never accomplished anything near what he has in regards to sailing, I can;t judge at all. Kind of wonder about those that do judge him. Have they had the success, journey, experience he has, at his age? I'm going to predict a "no" here. Of course I could be wrong.

Keep it going Ronnie!
 
#500 · (Edited)
Probably at least a million. All you can do is try to think ahead so that when something unexpected happens, at least you may be able to deal with it. There things you are not going to be able to fix but plenty of things that you can without throwing in the towel and expecting to be airlifted off a boat that's still sailable. I'm always impressed by the solo circumnav of Jean de Sud in his A30 when he gets rolled multiple times in the 40s, running with 20' breaking seas at night, mast is ripped off, no one answers the EPIRB signal, radios trashed, so he dives in the water to retrieve what rigging he can, sets a jib sideways on a piece of mast that he jury rigs and sails the freaking thing back. No rescue necessary.

What I hopefully have are the components to rig up a temporary "rudder." They really do not take up all that much room, broken down, and could come in handy. Keeping spare rigging parts, a few swageless fittings, some simple wire clamps, etc., stuff so you can help yourself, makes a lot of sense to me.
 
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#507 ·
I discovered long ago that experienced sailors generally have a sense of 'really bad stuff happens' and are conservative about everything

The mad dog risk takers are usually those who are blissfully unaware of the real dangers since they are fully Certified having passed ASA 101, 102, AND 103.

I must say, I envy those childlike adventurers.

Sometimes I wish I didn't know what it is like having to 'lower' a Asym which got tangled in the main boom dragging the main in the water forcing the boat to broach, recover, broach, recover, broach, recover - with rudder completely overpowered - no moon, in a light rain - prayIng that jackline will actually hold fast, going to low side, with stanchions almost buried, green water starting to lap at companionway, jambed against stanchions with full force of water, reaching underwater to untangle the Asym sheet from the boom preventer....
 
#521 ·
It's almost a given at every mountain that there's some sort of innate, visceral competition between patrols and ski schools. All healthy fun! Hey, some of my best friends were ski-schoolers.:laugher
 
#525 ·
Well, I'm the age of majority, and I should know better, but I still don't.

I know alchohol will kill me, but I still drink it.

I know I will break a leg skiing, but I still challenge the black diamonds.

I know sailing will kill me, but I still want to circumnavigate.

And if none of THAT works, I still have the old standbyes, of high cholestral, high blood pressure, or plain old heart attack.

Fact is; none of us are going to make it out of this alive. You can't live forever, and you can't take it with you.

If I have to live my "mature years", wrapped up in a blanket, sitting on a rocker on my front porch, grazing on cardboard flavored "health food", I'd rather die.

If my ship smashes into an uncharted rock while rounding Cape Horn during a force 10, (in a cheap production Hunter), you can put on my tombstone, "he died living his dream".

At least I'll have died living, instead of lived dying.
 
#527 ·
Well, I'm the age of majority
Then you should have learned the difference between calculated risks and foolhardiness.

I skied the black diamonds from the second time I went skiing but I also stayed in bounds. I stayed near land until I learned how to sail - I didn't just buy an old boat and head across the Pacific.

Exercising adult judgement and personal responsibility doesn't require you to end up sitting in a rocker.

There's a reason the word begins with "fool".
 
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#528 ·
When I was young I was immortal. A child-man of strength and vigor ready to take on any challenge and defeat it. In my middle years I fought to retain that strength. I began to understand the words wisdom, discretion, and responsibility. Now I see my mortality and he is now my friend having accepted his ways. My strength is now in my children and grandchildren given wings by the love of family, friends and God above.

It would be a shame to have foolishly thrown that future away. Carpe diem is a wonderful way to live. Just do it reasonably. If it is the fate of the sea to make that final embrace let it be with regrets from a prepared mind.
 
#530 ·
The world's most famous BFS Proponent just completed the Sydney-Hobart.

the hangover | Sailing Anarchy

What do you need to prove the dock-hugging lamers wrong? Stones and grit.

RonnieS has both of those in spades. Congrats Ronnie.
I'm not sure that crewing on a Sydney to Hobart is necessarily all that, although it is true though that this year was no fun run.

If he does the Vendee then I will maybe be a little bit impressed.

Either way he doesn't have to prove anything to anyone, anymore.
He is doing plenty of sailing, the kind of sailing in fact he may of been better off starting with, safe within the special regs of ISAF :)

He is having fun and giving it all a go. Good on him.
 
#531 ·
So, 5-1/4 years after his first call for rescue...he still hasn't learned to check the voltmeter and make sure the engine is charging once in a while? Enters a major event like the Sidney Hobart without checking the electrics are working beforehand?

it is so nice to know some things never change. I supposed Captain Kirk never poked his head around the antimatter reactors either, but small boat skippers usually don't have engineers to rely on, either.
 
#535 ·
No wonder, but these days...it is required for nav lights and for the race communications checkins.

In "those" days, electricity wasn't required but then again, that's why whaling captain's houses had a "widows walk" around the top. The expectation of coming home was much lower. The expectation of consuming SAR resources was also zero.

And heads never clogged. :)
 
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