"scbafreak via BoatKB.com" u25927@uwe wrote in message
news:6c0106ae25519@uwe...
That's a really good point Rich. In many cases the boat is just fine.
However the crew, through fear, are the ones who don't weather the storm.
No
pun intended. Fear is natural. I have been scared for my life at sea only
to
find that the boat was more than capable of handling the conditions. There
are well documented cases of people abandoning their boats only have the
boat found, at a later date, in a somewhat messy but seaworthy condition.

I read somewhere (sorry I can't remember where) that nearly half of all
boats
that are abandoned in a storm are found later floating and in some kind of
working order. They were saying that the danger of abandoning the boat
was
far greater than the danger of staying on board in at least half of those
conditions. One story I read the boat was taking on water and heeling so
much that the bilge pump wouldn't pump out any water. It was about three
feet deep in the cabin. The boat was found later with the pump running on
batteries after a week or so and no water inside to speak of. The
investigation says that the captain trying to steer the boat in such heavy
winds caused it to heel so muh and caused most of the problems they were
having. Jumping ino the ocean during a storm to be rescued was much more
dangerous than staying on a boat that was floating around for over a week
with no problems that would be life threatening. I am really curious as
to
what they could have done differently. It seems that the people that
trust
thier boat and thier ability to survive tend to do so much more than those
that can't handle the ride.

There is an old saying that "you always step up into a liferaft" . In
otherwords dont get off the boat untill you are sure its going down. The
term "liferaft" conjours up some romantic belief that all will be well once
you get in. Far from it. They can capsize. Sea sickness can set in much
faster. They are harder to spot from the air. They are a smaller target to
fire a heaving line too. Items ( like the grab bag) are more easily lost
overboard. The list goes on. Using the liferaft is the "last" thing a
skipper should consider.

On a side note. Always make sure your grab back is bouyant. For instance
water bottles should not be full and should have lanyards. Then they will
float and not sink if lost overboard.

Its hard to comment on your story of the foundering yacht without more info.
But it makes sense that if the boat is heeling too far the pumps may not
work. Buckets. although more tiring, are far more effecient than manual
bilge pumps. Electric pumps are great if you still have power.

DP