It was all going so smoothly....

[fireball]

If someone's that bothered about contacting friends and family then buy a satellite phone but should they be worried about people drifting a Whole Day and a Half and being the unfathomable distance of 45 miles from land. It's all a bit pathetic really, this sort of thing is a gift to the regulators and bureaucrats. I would be very surprised if there were no wind at all, in fact it's virtually impossible because there will be at least some tidally generated wind.

Now you really are getting silly ...

Do you not bother having someone on shore that it interested in your whereabouts? What would you do if you and your crew became incapacitated and unable to raise an alarm yourself?

Personally - for longer passages I'd prefer to know that if I didn't "check in" within a reasonable timeframe then there is someone to raise an alarm and for people to rescue me - Ok I'd be embarrassed if it was "just" a failed engine, no wind and I couldn't raise the CG on the VHF - but if something did go wrong - say I was wiped out by a passing tanker and managed to scramble into the liferaft - then at least when I failed to check in there would be a greater chance of being found as there would be someone looking for me...

So - drifting for a day and a half would be an option - but the contact ashore would need to know not to be concerned and raise an alarm. I don't think a Sat phone for what is essentially a hop is a sensible precaution - anymore than taking 50L of petrol would be ... as the CG would be the organiser of any SAR mission then it would make sense to appraise them of the situation - you can always refuse a tow if you wish.

 

[savageseadog]

I give up

 

[fireball]

I give up

Good!

 

[snooks]

Good!

+1

 

[Elemental]

+1

-1

Not sure I quite agree. Whilst Savageseadog's views are a bit extreme, he has a point. I'm not completely convinced there was no wind for 38 hours (how does the OP know?) Also, if you look at the photo in post #4 the sea doesn't excatly look oily flat as I'd expect in zero breeze.

IMHO the error was calling Pan. That is designated as an 'Urgence'. By any measure, there was no urgency unless we haven't been told.

 

[snooks]

-1

Not sure I quite agree. Whilst Savageseadog's views are a bit extreme, he has a point. I'm not completely convinced there was no wind for 38 hours (how does the OP know?) Also, if you look at the photo in post #4 the sea doesn't excatly look oily flat as I'd expect in zero breeze.

The OP said a "sailing breeze" we weren't there so we don't know, photos can be deceptive...I know I don't however know what boat the OP was on, how well she sails, the condition of their sails or how clean the hull was. Less than 5 knots, might get Savageseadog going, but the OP might struggle to move so I was giving them the benefit of the doubt.

If there was a bit of swell left over, it could easily knock the drive from the sails.

I'm not saying I would have called for help and requested a tow, I'm simply saying I would have let the CG know that we're safe so our family won't send out the search parties when we don't arrive 10 hours after our ETA, but even this seem to be a faux par in SSdog/s book, and I'm struggling to understand why

 

[Plomong]

I am sure that both the CG and the RNLI would see this as routine and be pleased to be of assistance.

I am quite sure that the CG and the RNLI would much prefer to deal with the minor problem of a motor-less boat rather than have to go out to rescue its occupants when the bad weather hit some time later.

A tow is far simpler and much more pleasant than a search for a stricken vessel in rough water followed by transfer of crew to lifeboat or helicopter.

Plomong

 

[Plomong]

It's not just the current situation, it's the situation it could become.

Hear, hear. My thoughts exactly.