Search for missing solo yachtsman - IoW

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RobBrown said:
Some comments above re fair weather yesterday. Well I was down on the Solent yesterday and the wind was consistently F6 over most of the day up to late afternoon and gusts to 40 kts, so not that straightforward despite the sunshine. I would certainly have lifelines on - we do as a matter of practice as soon as more than 1 reef in.
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Yes, quite. I was doing an International Canoe Open meeting at Oxford yesteday, and we all got thoroughly whooped. Gusts over 30 knots. Out of 15 entrants, only 5 completed the first race (with 4 broken boats and 2 sails completely blown-out), only 4 started the second race, and races 3 and 4 were cancelled. Not what I'd call fair weather.
 
Slightly strange that the yacht was found round the back of the Wight. Given the wind strength yesterday I would have tried to creep up the mainland shore right up the Solent. A route around St Catherines would have meant a horrible slog for the last bit to Hayling Island.
 
srp said:
Slightly strange that the yacht was found round the back of the Wight. Given the wind strength yesterday I would have tried to creep up the mainland shore right up the Solent. A route around St Catherines would have meant a horrible slog for the last bit to Hayling Island.
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Depends where he fell off.
 
Searush said:
Ouch, it hits home, doesn't it? Reasonable weather, sheltered water & still shit happens. There but for the Grace of God . . .
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Yesterday was blowing 25/30 knots most of the day and Brighstone is on the Channel side of the island, not the Solent. It was a blowy old day with most boats we saw having at least 2 reefs in and some storm jibs out too.

This is the only boat we saw without a reef in - came into Cowes downwind and turned gratefully into the Yacht Haven:

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lenseman said:
It gets a fix from the GPS satellites and then transmits an AIS signal on 162MHz except that it comes up on all AIS chart plotters as MOB. Instead of trasmitting a MMSI code 235 + 6, there is an international standard for MOB which transmits MMSI 972 + 6, mine is an early one with a 970 + 6 MMSI code.

They are becoming more and more popular and when the big boys left for the Vende Globe RTW a couple of weeks ago, they tested a couple on the yachts and it appeared on my chart plotter with an alarm, in this instance it alarmed and said "SART Test only" but earlier in the year (1 June at 2038 UTC) when they were very new, someone tested on up near Port Solent and they went passed the test procedure and actually armed and set off the alarm! :eek:

The Solent Coastguard came down to my yacht in Haslar as they had never seen it before and took photographs of the received signal. The only other person to receive the signal locally was the Customs Cutter "Searcher" and the CG also went down to see what they had received on their display.

On that occasion my chart plotter went into a 2-tone audible alarm mode with a 2 inch red band across the bottom of the screen with the words "MOB ALARM" also the chart plotter pointed the direction and distance to the MOB from my yacht. It also gets recorded in the "System Event Log".

Obviously every yacht within a couple of miles (they state 4 miles range) would have a similar alarm displayed and the big yellow budgie (ok, red & white) would receive it from a much further distance. :rolleyes:
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Might work fine in the Solent, but there are many places where I (& others) sail where there are unlikely to be other AIS receivers within range & the Budgie only comes into the equation if someone has called it out, or perhaps it might co-incidentally be on exercise nearby.

I suspect the issue is that a small personal device cannot have the power to send a signal strong enough to reach a satellite (or mainland aerial) in overcast or cloudy/ misty conditions.
 
Tomahawk said:
Taking account of the chap from N Wales, this is the third solo sailor who has got into trouble, (died), in the past fortnight..

I am wonding, if the MAIB are successful with their prosecution of Liquid Vortex, will they think they can start to throw the law at solo sailors?
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The guy off Holyhead did not die, but his boat sank after being brought into harbour & he had apparently run aground in Liverpool bay causing some hull damage last year. Doesn't sound to have been quite as well prepared as he maybe needed to be.
 
It seems to me that under £250 ish on a GPS PLB is money well spent. Of course it wouldn't help if you were unconscious or if it wasn't clipped to you.

I am seriously thinking of adding one to the top of the "to buy" list.
 
Comrade Red said:
It seems to me that under £250 ish on a GPS PLB is money well spent. . . . . .
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The Kannard device isn't actually a PLB as such but a MOB device which is subtly different.

A PLB will transmit to the satellites which forward the distress to the MRCC who the set in motion the rescue procedure (check the MMSI, call the listed phone number etc).

A Kannard device on the other hand gets a location from the satellite and transmits a MOB code on the AIS band (162MHz) which is received on all AIS equipped chart plotters within its range. Both units are a very sensible idea and both units will transmit for 24 hours.

Just out of interest, apart from a 406MHz PLB, Kannard make two similar MOB devices although they serve to totally different markets. I have both onboard.

One is the Kannard Safelink R10 and is suitable for yachts. It is supposed to fit inside a self inflatable life jacket and clips onto the air inflation tube. It is waterproof down to 5 metres.

The other is called The Smartfind S10 and is suitable for scuba divers. It is much larger than the Safelink R10 and is designed to be operated whilst wearing diving gloves. It enables a SWD, who has surfaced some distance from the dive boat due to strong currents to signal the dive boat as to their position. It is waterproof down to 60 metres.

Both are marketed as AIS Beacons and also, as these companies have recently been bought out by other companies, they might be 'badged' as McMurdo or Kannard.

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2011/03/ais_mob_kannad_safelink_r10_mcmurdo_smartfind_s10.html
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LittleSister said:
More or less impossible to achieve on a small boat, I find. (Don't know what size Brigand is.) Any advice as to how it might be done would be gratefully received.
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When we clip on we clip the line on to the lifejacket, round the jackstay, then clip the other end of the line on to the jacket as well, - therefore halfing the length
 
Very sad news, we seem to have had a spate of missing sailors this last few weeks, is that three now?

Brigand looks very similar to a boat I spotted on ebay going cheap a few weeks back, wondering if it is the same boat?
 
Georgio said:
Very sad news, we seem to have had a spate of missing sailors this last few weeks, is that three now?

Brigand looks very similar to a boat I spotted on ebay going cheap a few weeks back, wondering if it is the same boat?
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It's the same with weather disasters, flooding, global warming etc, it's just easier access to news via the internet, more of these things come to our notice and in far more detail. Not too many years ago it would have been reported on the local TV radio and papers and the rest of the country would never have heard about it.
 
LittleSister said:
More or less impossible to achieve on a small boat, I find. (Don't know what size Brigand is.) Any advice as to how it might be done would be gratefully received.
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farmerdan79 said:
When we clip on we clip the line on to the lifejacket, round the jackstay, then clip the other end of the line on to the jacket as well, - therefore halfing the length
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The problem is not setting the length of the lifeline, it's that if the lifline is not long enough to stand up I can't get forward as the side decks are too narrow to crawl along, and if it's long enough to stand up it's long enough to go over the guardwires.

Apologies for fred drift.
 
UPDATE on missing sailor

He has been named as Hany Nabil Mustapha aged 46 years from Kingston:

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Officers are appealing for the public’s help to try and find a missing London man after his boat was found unoccupied off the Isle of Wight.

Hany Nabil Mustapha bought a small yacht through a private sale on the morning of Saturday 27 October. He sailed away from Poole Yacht Club, where the boat was moored, at 10.05am on the same day.

Mr Mustapha, aged 46 and from the Kingston area of London, told staff at Poole Yacht Club that he intended to sail the boat to Hayling Island, near Portsmouth.

At 5.36pm, Hampshire Constabulary was notified by HM Coastguard that the boat had been located beached at Grange Chine, off the coast of the Isle of Wight, with no crew on board.

As a result, HM Coastguard launched a search operation. This search was called off at approximately 3.40pm today.

Mr Mustapha is described as being approximately six feet three inches tall, of mid-European appearance with a stocky build. He has short, dark receding hair and a goatee beard.

He was last seen wearing a white sailing jacket, sunglasses and a hat.

Detective Inspector Pete Little said: “We are obviously concerned about Mr Mustapha and I am releasing an image of him in the hope that the public may be able to assist us in locating him.

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Image of yacht BRIGAND

http://www.iwradio.co.uk/articles/2...sailor-whose-boat-beached-off-isle-of-wight//
 
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