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Jim Grey disappearance
I've been asked by private email to comment on the Bill Grey disappearance.
Back when I was flying general aviation airplanes, I had a lot more opportunity to the mysterious deaths of people engaged in my favorite activity. When a plane went down without clear cause, the newsgroups I frequented then would erupt with speculation followed by flames about the futility and disrespect of speculation. I never found the speculation that objectionable myself as long as people were not claiming to have the answer because of their superior knowledge, intellect, and analytical skills. Safety in any hazardous environment is always enhanced by pondering what could go wrong and how you would prevent or respond to it. Although I now get paid for applying my knowledge, intellect, and analytical skills to things like the sinking of the Titanic, I couldn't begin to form an opinion about what actually happened here. However, it's instructive for anyone who takes a small craft to sea to think about how this this boat could have disappeared so suddenly that no distress call could be made. -- Roger Long |
Jim Grey disappearance
"Roger Long" wrote in message
... I've been asked by private email to comment on the Bill Grey disappearance. Back when I was flying general aviation airplanes, I had a lot more opportunity to the mysterious deaths of people engaged in my favorite activity. When a plane went down without clear cause, the newsgroups I frequented then would erupt with speculation followed by flames about the futility and disrespect of speculation. I never found the speculation that objectionable myself as long as people were not claiming to have the answer because of their superior knowledge, intellect, and analytical skills. Safety in any hazardous environment is always enhanced by pondering what could go wrong and how you would prevent or respond to it. Although I now get paid for applying my knowledge, intellect, and analytical skills to things like the sinking of the Titanic, I couldn't begin to form an opinion about what actually happened here. However, it's instructive for anyone who takes a small craft to sea to think about how this this boat could have disappeared so suddenly that no distress call could be made. -- Roger Long I've sailed in these waters for years... I can't think of anything that would sink the boat so quickly or thoroughly that would cause no debris. I've been out there in very bad conditions, and it was very benign that day.. light wind, small seas. Here's a possible scenario... by the way it's Jim Gray... He's out there to scatter his mother's ashes. The wind and seas are relatively calm, so he's likely running on the engine. Perhaps he has the autohelm driving. Even sunny, it's pretty cold right now, and with the moving boat, he's definitely wearing a foulie or something for a wind break. Since he's a careful sailor, according to all the reports, he's definitely wearing a PFD is likely tethered to the boat. I would be if single-handing offshore. (I do that in the bay when by myself on a typical day of 15 to 20 kts.) He has some sort of catestrophic medical event.. HA, stroke, whatever, and dies or is incapacitated quickly, unable to summon help. The boat continues under autopilot at say 7 kts. If this happened at 10 nm offshore, about the max range of a cell phone in that area, and he wasn't reported missing until 20:30 hours, then when they finally started looking say at 22:00, he would have been 20 x 7 = 140 nm. It would take them several more hours to search this far out, so he might be 200 nm off. The boat would have something like 40 gals max. So, at 5 miles per gallon (SWAG) that would be 200 nm until the engine died, but if sails were up, it would still be going. Perhaps he was able to sail for part of the trip. If so, that would extend the range. The winds were light, under 10 kts, but that's still enough to make good progress. -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
Jim Grey disappearance
In article , rlong003
@maine.rr.com says... I've been asked by private email to comment on the Bill Grey disappearance. Back when I was flying general aviation airplanes, I had a lot more opportunity to the mysterious deaths of people engaged in my favorite activity. When a plane went down without clear cause, the newsgroups I frequented then would erupt with speculation followed by flames about the futility and disrespect of speculation. I never found the speculation that objectionable myself as long as people were not claiming to have the answer because of their superior knowledge, intellect, and analytical skills. Safety in any hazardous environment is always enhanced by pondering what could go wrong and how you would prevent or respond to it. Although I now get paid for applying my knowledge, intellect, and analytical skills to things like the sinking of the Titanic, I couldn't begin to form an opinion about what actually happened here. However, it's instructive for anyone who takes a small craft to sea to think about how this this boat could have disappeared so suddenly that no distress call could be made. If there's only one person aboard, and that person goes overboard, the boat can take as long as it wants to disappear, and there won't be a distress call. Mark Borgerson |
Jim Grey disappearance
Capt. JG wrote:
Here's a possible scenario... He has some sort of catestrophic medical event.. HA, stroke, whatever, and dies or is incapacitated quickly, unable to summon help. The boat continues under autopilot ... That was my first thought. Maybe it was just on my mind because I'm planning the installation of a windvane and autopilot:) -- Roger Long |
Jim Grey disappearance
Roger Long wrote:
Capt. JG wrote: Here's a possible scenario... He has some sort of catestrophic medical event.. HA, stroke, whatever, and dies or is incapacitated quickly, unable to summon help. The boat continues under autopilot ... That was my first thought. Maybe it was just on my mind because I'm planning the installation of a windvane and autopilot:) To make it worse, with no one to turn on running lights, it could have been t-boned by a tanker in the middle of the night, hundreds of miles away, and never been noticed. Everyone says that floating debris is inevitable, but I'm not so convinced. A glancing blow could easily open a hole that would sink the boat quickly, and if the hatches were closed, how much would escape? |
Jim Grey disappearance
"Jeff" wrote in message
. .. Roger Long wrote: Capt. JG wrote: Here's a possible scenario... He has some sort of catestrophic medical event.. HA, stroke, whatever, and dies or is incapacitated quickly, unable to summon help. The boat continues under autopilot ... That was my first thought. Maybe it was just on my mind because I'm planning the installation of a windvane and autopilot:) To make it worse, with no one to turn on running lights, it could have been t-boned by a tanker in the middle of the night, hundreds of miles away, and never been noticed. Everyone says that floating debris is inevitable, but I'm not so convinced. A glancing blow could easily open a hole that would sink the boat quickly, and if the hatches were closed, how much would escape? Well, that's a possibility, but I think it's more likely to still be out there. -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
Jim Grey disappearance
"Mark Borgerson" wrote in message
.net... In article , rlong003 @maine.rr.com says... I've been asked by private email to comment on the Bill Grey disappearance. Back when I was flying general aviation airplanes, I had a lot more opportunity to the mysterious deaths of people engaged in my favorite activity. When a plane went down without clear cause, the newsgroups I frequented then would erupt with speculation followed by flames about the futility and disrespect of speculation. I never found the speculation that objectionable myself as long as people were not claiming to have the answer because of their superior knowledge, intellect, and analytical skills. Safety in any hazardous environment is always enhanced by pondering what could go wrong and how you would prevent or respond to it. Although I now get paid for applying my knowledge, intellect, and analytical skills to things like the sinking of the Titanic, I couldn't begin to form an opinion about what actually happened here. However, it's instructive for anyone who takes a small craft to sea to think about how this this boat could have disappeared so suddenly that no distress call could be made. If there's only one person aboard, and that person goes overboard, the boat can take as long as it wants to disappear, and there won't be a distress call. Mark Borgerson True, but he did had a history of being tethered and wearing a PFD. -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
Jim Grey disappearance
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Jim Grey disappearance
"Mark Borgerson" wrote in message
.net... True, but he did had a history of being tethered and wearing a PFD. Depending on the boat and his strength, getting back aboard might have been impossible. That depends a lot on the length of the tether and whether the boat was in motion. In my younger days (more than 30 years ago), I singlehanded around SF Bay in an Islander 24 for a few months after I got out of the Navy. I even ventured as far north as Bodega Bay. After a few foggy mornings out there, I decided I wouldbe better off going back to graduate school! It was bad enough in the summer. I probably would never have ventured outside the Golden Gate in the winter. Since sea time in Large Gray Boats doesn't quite count the same as time in your own sailboat, I was a much less experienced sailor than Bill Gray, though. Mark Borgerson In that case, he would still be attached to the boat... remember, the conditions were fairly benign that day (and still are). Summer is prime sailing season here. Winter sailing is typically either no sailing due to storms or very light wind sailing. -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
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