Risks of the sea
17 November 2010 | Oriental NC
Bill
As Randy points out in his comment below, one of the boats in our class, Rule 62 diverted to the Bahamas and hit a reef at on Saturday at 11 pm. After launching the life raft with all four crew on board, the raft was overturned in the surf as they tried to reach shore. three of the four crew made it to the beach and the forth is still missing...
On Sunrise, our hearts really go out to them as we had a taste of what they must have gone through. We diverted after only 24 hours, they were out for 5 days in very rough conditions, which is exhausting. We were able to let the Monitor Wind Vane steer, the four on Rule 62 had to hand steer for two days after their Autopilot failed (we heard them trying to trouble shoot it with another boat on the SSB). Hand steering in a big swell and gale conditions is physically exhausting. We had daylight to make our inlet, they were in the dark. We had current, wind and waves with us: Rule 62 had the current against the waves and wind... something that creates what the Bahamians call a "Rage", very intense conditions.
Like many tragic events, it is hard to come to terms with... and everyone is trying to figure out how it happened and why.
Even though we are upset by the condition of our boat, we are thankful that Sunrise was able to take the abuse, and protect us.