From NPR:

Man Found After 137 Days Adrift In Sailboat. And It's Not His First Rescue

The helicopter pilot who attempted to rescue him commented on my boat log. Worth a read, I think. It really puts the whole "docking by mayday" thing into perspective.

https://sailingfortuitous.com/rimas-rescue/

Hats of to Heli Crew who went out to respond Rima's Mayday call. Especially the rescue swimmer who risked his life twice. Rima sounds like he depends on the kindness of American taxpayers to be his own personal TOW Boat U.S.

Laughed out loud!

This also made me laugh! His madcap sailing 'adventures' have made me wonder (definitely more than once) why I spend so much time and money beefing up the boat for ocean cruising/racing. However, there is something to be said for getting to a destination in weeks rather than months....

Also, you actually have a destination. Rimas just ends up on land wherever the wind and current take him.

Although, he always seems to end up where civilized rescue/tow is available. I'm calling BS on the Rimas thing. I think he's scamming folks, at least to some degree.

If it is a scam to drift on a derelict boat eating crackers and pickled beets for the amusement of others - its not a great one.

If I had to guess, I'd say its a combination of he's is caught up in his little bit of fame as a guy sailing the world and he's hoping to go out in a blaze of glory rather than in a hospital bed.

He isn't totally crazy because on some level he obviously knows he isn't going to sail anywhere because he brings enough food and water for 4 months. He gets a kick out of TV interviews and facebook followers. They are the ones sponsoring this nonsense.

I'd like to see him quit, but from his perspective, what would he do? Languish in a run down medicare nursing home where people crap their pants every day? Maybe this is a type of sailing suicide? If so, then I see the logic.

One thing we can probably all agree on is - the hell with the nursing home! I'd probably rather his way. Or go skydiving and just forget to pull the chute.

To me there is nothing funny about Rimas. Whether or not this guy is a fraud, whether or not his own life is at risk to the extent it sounds like it may be, he is none the less putting others at risk by his stunts and costing innocent tax payers money to rescue him. People like him create or contribute to the general public's bad impression of amateur sailors. These kinds of reckless persona's can and do lead to onerous laws and regulations, fees and restrictions that negatively impact responsible sailors who do not intentionally create the need for rescue services.

This is a very real thing. In Europe a friend of mine had his Contessa chained to a dock to prevent him from sailing her back to England by French authorities who deemed the boat unseaworthy because it lacked what they considered a proper ocean passage rating. This was done despite the fact that the owner and this boat had crossed the English Channel on a bunch of times and had cruised much of the northern European Coast. Similarly, New Zealand had (I don't know if they still have it) a big fee for entering New Zealand by yacht which was supposed to defray the cost of rescues after a particularly expensive period during which they had rescued a large number of foreign yachts. They also were retaining yachts from leaving unless they could pass a safety inspection.

At the heart of this is the fact that with increasing numbers, people who are incompetent are taking to the sea without taking the time to develop the skills to safely do so, and doing so in boats that arguably are not particularly well suited for that purpose. From the beginning of small boat distance cruisers there have been people doing this kind of thing. Some for notoriety and some simply to go. But in earlier times, the numbers were small, they did not expect to be plucked from the sea if they failed, and they did not have global communications to symbiotically egg them on, create a persona to live up to, and/or create an instant audience for whatever ill-reasoned prank they may chose to pull.

Jeff

This guy is a blight on US out here..Followers be damned!