Another life lost at sea

[jonathankent]

See here.

Leaves me a little confused as to what could have potentially happened with this. I'm thinking he was preparing to anchor then maybe fell overboard.

 

[starboard]

Heart Attack??

Paul.

 

[Anonymous]

Tis a bit odd, I agree. If he was going from Salcombe to Cawsand why was his anchor 'on deck' so early on in the passage? The wind was on the nose and it was a 24' cat, so I suppose he could have had better weather. He would have gone back to Salcombe, wouldn't he, and not anchor off after such a short distance?

Unless the anchor thing is a red-herring; maybe it was properly stowed for sea on the deck and he just fell overboard. It does happen, even in a F3, and if he was alone his boat would have just sailed away over the horizon....

 

[Will]

I think that the boat was found off Stoke Point. It's almost feasible (although unlikely) that he might have been trying to anchor in the lee. Not sure when the boat was found but it was blowing old boots on Sunday, and it would have taken no time for a lightweight cat to blow from the entrance to Plymouth to Stoke Point. Bigbury Bay often often seems to be the recipient of things being washed up which I suppose is no great surprise as it's one great big lee shore, facing the SW. Anyway, very sad tale, and my symapthies go to the chap's family.

 

[dbewick]

This is certainly a very sad tale indeed and I suspect we may never know what really happened. Despite what the reports say, I heard a pan pan from Brixham coastguard (itself rather unusual) reporting a small cat drfting off Stoke beach on Friday evening. The wind did not pick up until some time later, so I doubt if that was a factor.