Death on board?

[GazzaUK]

[ QUOTE ]
Yep, but temporary on this post only.

The other side of the coin is a

Bypass

Sensitivity

and

Respect.

Works both ways, I'd say.

[/ QUOTE ]


Sensitivity and respect towards who?

All i see is a question about hypothetical situation being put forward.

 

[fisherman]

How about the incident on the Smalls lighthouse:


'More disturbingly, the old lighthouse brought about a change in lighthouse policy in 1801 after a gruesome episode. The two man team, Thomas Howell and Thomas Griffith, were known to quarrel, and so when Griffith died in a freak accident, Howell feared that he might be suspected of murder if he discarded the body into the sea. As the body began to decompose, Howell built a makeshift coffin for the corpse and lashed it to an outside shelf. Stiff winds blew the box apart, though, and the body's arm fell within view of the hut's window and caused the wind to catch it in such a way that it seemed as though it was beckoning. Working alone and with the decaying corpse of his former college outside Howell managed to keep the lamp lit every night.

When Howell was finally relieved from the lighthouse the effect the situation had had on him was said to be so extreme that some of his friends didn't recognise him.

Lighthouse teams were changed to rosters of three from this point on until the automation of all British lighthouses in the 1980s.'

 

[DownWest]

What status does the small boat skipper have compared to a certified master? If one keeps a proper log and records the event, and it occurs outside the juristriction of any country (say 1/2 wy across the atlantic). Are the authorities not obliged to take the skippers word? Lets say also that it is a small boat with no HF or satphone and nobody can hear the VHF. Should the lack of a body inhibit the death certificate if it is all written up? Just musing.
A

 

[Pete7]

A number of posts assume it is the crew that have died however it could be that you come across a body whilst at sea.

Pete

 

[stephenh]

Many years ago, in one of the mags. there was a long article concerning the finding of a body off the Balearics, back in the 50's (?) . The writer towed it to the nearest port, was not allowed to land it and ended up taking it to Barcelona.

Many weeks later he attended the funeral, in an un-named grave, with just the British ambasssador's rep, no-one else.

Many months later it was found to have been the body of a Spanish man who had been lost overboard.

Any one remember the author ?

Was it Frank Mulville ?

 

[Refueler]

[ QUOTE ]
The short answer is put out an all ships pan pan.

A sailing aquaintance had the [--word removed--] luck to have his wife die whislt on passage (she was an asmatic and had a massive, fatal, attack). He was about 300 miles off the US coast at the time. A nearby big ship called the US coastguard who came out and accompanied him back to the shore. Apparently, in cases like this it is not unknown for the survivor of a spouse death to chuck themselves overboard overwhelmed by grief.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree that this would be my first thought to see if I could contact a ship. Then the real decision has to be made if one is not available.

As to whether it can be under PAN PAN basis is another matter.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

[ QUOTE ]
A number of posts assume it is the crew that have died however it could be that you come across a body whilst at sea.

Pete

[/ QUOTE ]

We had this during last year's Rolex MiddleSea race.

An Israeli competitor found a floating corpse between Lampedusa and Gozo. They called bridge on sat phone and asked for instructions. We informed the Coast Guard. The boat was told to stand by the corpse and wait for the patrol boat. They did and when the patrol boat arrived they were cleared to continue the race. Race committee gave them the timed allowance between their calling us and the time that they were released. Formal statements were taken by the authorities on their arrival. Body was already badly decomposed. Crew were badly shaken, nonetheless.

 

[BurnitBlue]

Wow, you must have enormous rats where you live.

An ordinary domestic 60 meter roll will wrap my mast. I also regularly see new yachts on land transport wrapped completely in cling film. Americans do it regularly. Maybe you are thinking of a different UK rip-off roll of cling film.

 

[Leighb]

[ QUOTE ]
Wow, you must have enormous rats where you live.

An ordinary domestic 60 meter roll will wrap my mast. I also regularly see new yachts on land transport wrapped completely in cling film. Americans do it regularly. Maybe you are thinking of a different UK rip-off roll of cling film.

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed that is what I was thinking, never come across industrial size clingfilm. But.... would you be carrying a roll on board just in case /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Heckler]

I posted a few days ago about a mariner in Angola drowning, the post script to the story was how did we deall with the aftermath. Imagine Soyo, a primitive village on the Congo river, late 70s, Cuban doctors in a "hospital", Me with a black stiff in the back of a beat up landrover driving to the hospital in darkest Africa. Cubans didnt want to know, radioed Luanda office, lawyer said get him on the DC3 thats on the airstrip now. Ok get to aircraft, Portuguese pilot says NO, need in lead lined coffin to transport by air, officious little prick!!
Go back to "hospital" what can we do? Oh leave him in that open sided building there, morgue, hmm, no refrigeration, NO. OK
Go back to camp, get on the SSB, they search Luanda etc etc for 2 days, finally find a lead lined coffin in Kabinda across the river from us with Kabinda Gulf, we send a workboat to pick it up. Arrives at midnight, me and a couple of others go to get the lad, he now, after 3 days looks like a dead cow, bloated, limbs sticking out, as we move him he moans, feck me we [--word removed--] ourselves but the smell made us realise, it was gas coming out, we got him in the box and me and Vitor the pork electrician get to soldering in the workshop, the stink was unbelievable, Vitor had the bright idea of getting some deoderant and spraying it about, the smell of Brut, to this day, makes me heave. Anyway we got the job finished. We had to burn our clothes, they stunk.
The next day we got him on the DC3 to Luanda, when they got there a stupid prick decided to unload him with a fork lift, he dropped him, the casket burst open and they all took off to the far corners of the airport!!. Eventually the poor fekker was buried in Luanda instead of going home to Gambia.
A bit of a long convoluted story BUT the bottom line, bodies decompose quickly, they stink, very distressing, my druthers would be, if making a long passage of more than a few days, to take lots of pix, and then wrap in a sheet and weigh down with some anchor chain or what ever, a few respectful words and consign to the deep.
Stu

 

[mikegnew]

I think Twisterbloke has got it right. On two counts.
1) keep the body, by hook or crook - (tho' not sure how (!))
2) Make certain you put in at a developed country's port.
I am reminded of an incident some years ago in Greece. Don't think much will have changed there since. Best friend while messing about in Med was a banker we'd met in Malta who'd sailed from USA with five attractive daughters. They first appeared in port all in their party dresses. Quite a stir. Especially for teen-age son, as at the time. They always voyaged like that, so sails flapped from all the male-crewed racers they passed. They always won the champagne.

After a month or so, we saw them afar and called them. My friend had died. They ended up for long weeks in Greece, his loving wife virtually accused of killing him. Imagine family's grief, and then to be churned up like that. But they had the body - the proof of natural death -albeit consuls and interventions from Embassies still required.
So also 3) Immediately notify your consul.

Or just get back to blighty! It's become a bit of a lunatic asylum, inmates in charge, but in ports/marinas, it's more OK.