RIMAS The unbelievable saga continues across the Pacific

TQA

TQA

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sailingonelephantschild.blogspot.com
The never ending and not believable story continues. He has spent time in San Francisco and Hawaii being towed in then towed out again. People give him stuff including his current boat. Read more here warning 19 thousand plus posts http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?/topic/149798-sailing-around-the-world-in-a-san-juan-24/&page=191

Rimas has zero ability to enter a port. He has no working engine, can't sail and no knowledge of navigation or piloting.
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Our hero Rimas is currently sailing no what he does is better described as drifting somewhere near Vanua Levu. Literally his only hope of making a safe landfall is if someone hears his pleas and goes out and tows him in.

The trainwreck continues.
 
TQA said:
The never ending and not believable story continues. He has spent time in San Francisco and Hawaii being towed in then towed out again. People give him stuff including his current boat. Read more here warning 19 thousand plus posts http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/in...g-around-the-world-in-a-san-juan-24/&page=191



Our hero Rimas is currently sailing no what he does is better described as drifting somewhere near Vanua Levu. Literally his only hope of making a safe landfall is if someone hears his pleas and goes out and tows him in.

The trainwreck continues.
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Best left to his own devices to wither on the vine.
 
TQA said:
He has a Delorme and usually sends a message with location in the morning.

There has been 40 knot winds and big seas. He has missed a morning message.

FYI in the past in bad weather rather than take down sails he has let the sheets fly and goes below while the sails flap away.
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But isn't that the standard operating procedure?

Sorry... :)
 
Being towed in saves doing all that tricky pilotage stuff.

Interesting to see how some people live and their appetite for risk.
 
Sandy said:
Being towed in saves doing all that tricky pilotage stuff.

Interesting to see how some people live and their appetite for risk.
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Sounds like a few screws loose, rather than looking at things rationally.

On the other hand, the Pardies used to get a tow into harbour fairly often, but they knew how to sail.
 
TQA said:
The never ending and not believable story continues. He has spent time in San Francisco and Hawaii being towed in then towed out again. People give him stuff including his current boat. Read more here warning 19 thousand plus posts http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?/topic/149798-sailing-around-the-world-in-a-san-juan-24/&page=191
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Nineteen thousand posts is a lot to catch up on. Would "sailing anarchy users say man who has sailed halfway across the Pacific can't sail" be a fair summary?
 
JumbleDuck said:
Nineteen thousand posts is a lot to catch up on. Would "sailing anarchy users say man who has sailed halfway across the Pacific can't sail" be a fair summary?
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At a loose end early this morn, I read the last couple of pages. It is not like here...:o. Not just can't sail, but zero interest in learning and just wants to be a 'Record Breaker'. Darwin is calling (and might just have arrived) There are some very funny comments too.
 
JumbleDuck said:
Would "sailing anarchy users say man who has sailed halfway across the Pacific can't sail" be a fair summary?
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I think it's a bit more complex than that. It's an intriguing moral conundrum which questions the ethics of both the protagonist, those that have enabled him and the reader themselves.
 
laika said:
I think it's a bit more complex than that. It's an intriguing moral conundrum which questions the ethics of both the protagonist, those that have enabled him and the reader themselves.
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Is it any different to watching, say the news and a report on starving children in some far away 3rd world country, then sitting down for dinner without further thought or effort to make a contribution to ease the suffering? I don't think it is for the majority of people.
 
I lurch from dismayed that anyone can be so stupid, annoyed that people keep doing stuff for him so as he can continue doing stupid things to distressed that a brave man is probably going to die at sea.

At least I think he is brave?

A little background.
Russian immigrant, Rimas Meleshyus, left Oak Harbor, Washington in an old San Juan 24 he bought for $500 the month before. Where is he headed? Around the world...via Cape Horn. He has no autopilot or self steering, no communications equipment other than a handheld VHF. He has two ancient handheld gps units, 85 gallons of water and a boatload of food. Despite everyone telling him this was probably a bad idea, he left determined to follow his dream. This isn't the first time he's tried this kind of thing. A couple he spent 34 days crossing the Gulf of Alaska, also in a SJ24. He ended up shipwrecked on an island near Kodiak for 9 days before he was rescued by the Coast Guard.
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BlowingOldBoots said:
Is it any different to watching, say the news and a report on starving children in some far away 3rd world country, then sitting down for dinner without further thought or effort to make a contribution to ease the suffering?
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I think you mistook my meaning.

In the Rimas story we have 3 moral questions:
1. Rimas: On sailing forums we laud those that "get out there and do it". If they set out on an ambitious mission with an inappropriate craft and no sailing knowledge and succeed they become a sailing hero (think Chay Blythe). If they drown like gentlemen then that is their right. But Rimas seems to be blagging all the way and apparently being rescued as an alternative to learning to sail. An inspiration or a narcissist potentially putting others into harms way?
2. His enablers. Would he be doing it anyway and by providing him with his delorme, replacement boat and other kit they're just making him a bit safer, or are they merely encouraging him and ensuring the sideshow continues?
3. We the audience. Are there questions, if not of ethics, at least of good taste, around the SA thread with people making a game of his fate? Is following this anything like watching a gladiatorial match? On the last point (imho)...maybe but only if entry to the arena seating was free and the gladiators volunteers who were doing it because they wanted to...

* Sailing anarchy posters have referred to him using rescue services for "valet parking" as he seemingly has no ability to sail into a harbour.
 
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I applaud his commitment to the mission but, on the other hand, how many people are going to be/have been inconvenienced by his foolhardiness?

It's like the guys that every summer, drift out to sea on lilo's or inflatable toys. They should know the dangers but still continue to do it putting the emergency services to great trouble and cost.
 
JumbleDuck said:
Hasn't he made it from San Francisco to Vanuatu?
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He appears to have drifted from SF to Vanuatu

I agree about the moral issues. It is one thing to help a tryer, another to help someone who is not helping himself, other than to ask for assistence as soon as he gets in radio range of a port. Making sport of someone who must have some mental probs is a bit tricky. SA is a bit of a jungle, with little regulation.
 
Well his onboard guardian angel somehow managed his drift through the gaps in the reefs. His latest Delorme ping has him safe for the moment but he is reporting all sails damaged and no engine and as usual he is calling for a rescue service to come out and tow him in. He has some facebook friends who may rouse the local coasties as they do have a good location for him. But it is not like the RNLI or the USGC the rescue boat may have empty fuel tanks and or broken motors.

Looking at the charts it seems unlikely that he can avoid piling up on a reef somewhere unless he gets a tow but hey with Rimas anything is possible. Winds are light and variable tonight then building to 20 knots from 120 degrees.

RIMAS 3.jpgRIMAS 4.jpg
 
laika said:
3. We the audience. Are there questions, if not of ethics, at least of good taste, around the SA thread with people making a game of his fate?
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What happened to the bloke who built a very boxy plywood catamaran in California? The SA peanut gallery were all over him, but I think he made it to Hawaii.
 
JumbleDuck said:
What happened to the bloke who built a very boxy plywood catamaran in California? The SA peanut gallery were all over him, but I think he made it to Hawaii.
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Nope, that was all over the WBF and it never went out of the bay. Think it was towed out of the marina and parked in a creek, where it broke up.
 
DownWest said:
Nope, that was all over the WBF and it never went out of the bay. Think it was towed out of the marina and parked in a creek, where it broke up.
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This thread inspired me to check. The Flyin' Hawaiian actually made it 120 miles offshore before starting to sink. The crew were rescued and the boat is presumed to have sunk. It's not clear if the builder was on board. http://www.marinij.com/article/NO/20150202/NEWS/150209954

On the bright side, it was no less ugly than other catamarans.
 
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