Just to illustrate the rough rule my instructors and skippers try
to hammer into me every time: "We only abandon ship if we really,
really must (mostly uncontrollable fire or flooding) - The ship is
tougher than you are and a nicer place to stay in a storm than
a liferaft."

SY Elusive was abandoned on 23 May 2014 350 miles east of Virgina Beach;
crew was transferred to a nearby freighter.[1]

About a month later, the crew of SY Marlin on their way from the
Bermudas to the Azores sighted the Elusive. After verifying with
USCG that the ship was abandoned, and considering the legal hassles
to do anything with it even if they spared enough crew to sail it
somewhere, too, they let it continue its drifting.[2]

Regards,
-is

[1] http://www.sailnet.com/forums/vessel...-may-14-a.html
[2] http://www.sy-marlin.de/?m=20140623


--
A medium apple... weighs 182 grams, yields 95 kcal, and contains no
caffeine, thus making it unsuitable for sysadmins. - Brian Kantor