Sunday January 27th. 12:34N 72:53W
Southern Princess
John & Irene Hunt
Sun 27 Jan 2008 16:15
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What an Australia Day that was! Instead of sitting
in Clive Park with all our mates having a good old Aussie BBQ, we were combing
the Caribbean Sea looking for three poor fisherman who had abandoned their
fishing boat at 04:30. Tillymint saved one thank goodness.
The ship's log notes in part;
Intercepted radio communication between
Curacao Coast Guard Aircraft 001& Tillymint (one of the yachts in our
rally) concerning MOB situation. Last known position of MOB was 13:27N 70:24W at
04:30. Tillymint has apparently picked up 1 person and 3 remain in the water 1
in a white (later changed to blue) vest the others naked. The CG thinks the MOB
are from the fishing boat 'Vegas' out of St. Lucia. The MOB location
is approximately 14nm to the NW of our position and after contacting the CG
Aircraft on Channel 16 they asked us to assist. 08:10 we shortened sail, started
the motor and changed course to the 04:30 last known
position.
CG Aircraft is centring the search pattern on wreckage located at 13:26N 70:25W. We
continue to head for the 04:30 position still 10nm
distant.
The Curacao Coastguard aircraft coordinated the
search to the west of the wreck site until the arrival of the Coast Guard vessel
'Jaguar' which took control as the aircraft had returned to Curacao to refuel
and a crew change. Jaguar sent a small craft to Tillymint, interviewed the
skipper and took charge of the sole survivor. Jaguar delegated the coordination
of the WRAC yachts to SP (we had the most effective radio) and we instituted,
under Jaguar's command, a sweep of the
area up to 15nm west of the wreck site. Our yachts held station around 1-2nm apart and ran downwind until the 15nm mark and then made a 180° turn and searched back towards the site. This happened all afternoon from Jaguar's arrival at 14:10 local time until our release at 18:15 to 18:30. Tillymint, Gray Lady, Strega, Harmonie and Blue Flyer all took part in the sweep. Our guess from the state of the sea, and that there
was only one life vest between three that they would have succumbed to the deep
a long time before the end of our search.
The World ARC web site should probably have up to
date news.
It was an exhausting day for all of us and the last
thing we need was the twistle rig going over the side, but that is tomorrows
story!
Keep the faith!
JH
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