Don White wrote:

Roger Long wrote:
An experienced sailor went overboard from his 41 foot ketch on a trip
from Rockland ME to Rye NH for haul out. His 20 year old son was the
only crew member and spent from last Saturday till yesterday
(Thursday) drifting from off Boothbay Harbor to near Cape Cod.

A Coast Guard jet spotted the boat with sails down and apparently
abandoned after an extensive search and had a nearby fishing boat go
over for a look. The son jumped overboard immediately when he saw the
fishing boat and swam to it. He was then airlifted by chopper from the
fishing boat to Cape Cod.

By all accounts and what can be determined from a newspaper photo, the
boat was capable and well equipped. No hint yet why the son was not
able to start the engines or use the radios.

You can bet I'll be giving my family another round of more intensive
training next spring.

You bet. As a minimum, they should be able to use the VHF.

Something like this happened to a man in the Bahamas and his wife
couldn't turn off the autopilot or use the VHF either. She called for
help on the SSB which happened to be tuned to a weather forecaster in
the Virgin Islands, and he relayed the message to BASRA. It turned
out that she had once been able to do those things, but she had
Alzheimer's.


grandma Rosalie