Boating; Sails shredded, bare poles....

Rescue Coordination Center New Zealand searched the largest area it has ever covered but had found no trace of the wooden schooner Niña when the mission was called off.

The search was suspended July 6 after 12 days and 737,000 square nautical miles covered — an area about eight times the size of New Zealand.
John Seward, operations manager for the rescue center, said the search effort had comprehensively covered all areas where the yacht reasonably could have been expected to be found.

“The search has been extremely thorough, and we are confident that had the yacht or life raft been within those search areas, we would have found them,” Seward said in a statement.
Just three days before the search was suspended, the rescue center obtained a text message that crewmember Danielle Wright sent. It was transmitted June 4, using the boat's satellite phone, but the Iridium system did not deliver it, according to Maritime New Zealand.

The message read: "THANKS STORM SAILS SHREDDED LAST NIGHT, NOW BARE POLES. GOING 4KT 310DEG WILL UPDATE COURSE INFO @ 6PM."

The disappearance of the classic 70-foot schooner with seven people on board, including an American family of three, made headlines around the world and gripped the cruising community.

The seven are identified as a Florida family — David A. Dyche, 58, an experienced skipper; his wife, Rosemary, 60; and their son, David, 17 — Americans Evi Nemreth, 73, Danielle Wright, 18, and Kyle Jackson, 27; and a 35-year-old Briton, Matthew Wootton.

Built in 1928, Niña left Opua, in New Zealand's North Island, on May 29 to cross the Tasman Sea to Australia. The last communication with the yacht was June 4, when she was about 370 nautical miles west-northwest of North Island’s Cape Reinga. Conditions were winds of 50 mph, gusting to 68 mph, and seas of 26 feet, according to Maritime New Zealand.

Niña was equipped with a satellite phone, a Spot personal satellite tracking device and an EPIRB, which did not activate.

Writing on the website sailblogs.com in 2010, Rosemary Dyche described the Starling Burgess-designed staysail schooner as built for ocean racing. Her husband bought the yacht in 1988 and his restoration of her was a “labor of love.”

She wrote that she, her husband and their son David set off on their “dream” voyage around the world “to meet people, learn about their culture and see the beauty of the world.”

Dyche concludes her blog entry with a quote: “Don’t take time out of your life to sail but put time in your life and Do It.”
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The End of a Fort Myers Beach Circus Connection!

Image
         When 91 year old Kel Egony passed away recently in Lee Memorial Hospital not many of his fellow Danes would ever have guessed that would be the place he would draw his final breathe. In his youth in Denmark, 14 year old Kel wanted to be an airplane mechanic but when the Germans invaded, his family insisted he change apprenticeships to became a mason.           Kel Jorgensen was too young to be conscripted by the Nazi's but old enough to work for the underground. Their jobs were especially difficult since the occupying German soldiers spoke fluent Danish after growing up in Denmark because of food shortages in Germany after the first World War. Still, his unit smuggled 3,000 Jews to neutral Sweden through enemy held territory before the war ended.            After the war, Kel and his brother Jorgen Jorgensen started a death defying circus act involving spinning around 75 feet in th...
Read more

Boating; Captain Manny Lee and Corazon Frisbee!

Image
  In response to a recent blog/column, I received a picture of the new 'Corazon Frisbee', the one year old queen of Cap'n Manny Lee's Marshall sloop sailboat named after her ; Captain Manny Lee and Corazon Frisbee are living large in the Florida Keys @ Bone Island Bob's private marina in Islamorada, Florida, mile marker 74.5. Private Charters aboard his boat from one to five passengers. Throwing the Frisbee for 'Sweetie Corazon' is no charge but remember she never quits just like her predecessor. For her birthday she received a new coconut (husk and all) along with a few other treats. The coconut husk is great dental floss. On your way through the Keys stop and say hello to Manny and Corazon. http://www.mannylee.com/index.html CAPTAIN McCLUSKY SAILING CHARTERS | 74540 Overseas Highway, Islamorada, FL 33036 | 281-508-7174
Read more

Remembering The Split Rail Restaurant?

Image
Does Anyone Else Remember The Split Rail Restaurant? It was once a favorite place for beach ppl for breakfast and lunch. Us younger members of the “Dead End Canal Yacht Club” could pull our small boats up to the rickety dock and have a beer and a few chicken wings in the late afternoon. I'm sure you've guessed that I write of a long ago era before happy hours became the rage. Circa 1990! My wife, Marion and I lived at the Boardwalk Caper which was a boater's paradise but not on the DEC. We ate breakfast often at the Split Rail and I attribute much of my heart problems to those delicious heart cloggers. Me, myself and I ate there three mornings a week for a solid 15 years because my office was on the beach. I'm not sure how many Greek immigrants began washing dishes so they could learn to bus tables then run the fryer and fry the eggs before becoming the owner but I remember a half dozen. It used to be a great way to chain migrate to America but all good...
Read more