The loss of a 45'sailboat from Hawaii to PNW after 17 years

T

thataway

Active member
This is a sad tale forwarded to me by a friend who has done World Cruising:
This very experienced couple who has been circumnavigating in their 45 foot very well equipped sailboat full time for 17 years, on passage from Hawaii to the PNW.

They had bad weather which increased, and the boat rolled and probably went over 360* with a huge wave. The lesson is what to do to be prepared. They abandoned the boat about 180 miles out of Astoria, and were picked up by a CG chopper at the extreme of its range--one gallon of fuel left when they landed.

They had tried 2 VHF radios with no response, and the Marine SSB/Ham radio was dead. The well maintained EPIB went off as programed, the contacts knew their position from the evening before (via ham radio), which allowed the CG to launch a chopper. The chart plotter was working, as were the VHF, when the chopper was in radio range, they could give co-ordinates, and give a long count to the CG chopper to hone in one. They had a trailing line for the rescue swimmer to grab on--the boat was going 5 knots under bare poles!

The dinghy, life raft and dodger were all ripped off and were lost when the boat rolled. The boat had several feet of water over the floorboards, The paperbacks plugged up the 4 bilge pumps. Most of the lockers doors were smashed during the roll, and gear was thrown all thru out the boat.

Perhaps the most important message is to have copies or the originals of all SD Cards, back up SSD from computers, your passports, the ships papers, money, your ID and credit cards, in a waterproof ditch bag, which is handy to grab, but will not come loose. Have the EPRIB or PLB, and be ready to save your life if necessary. Abandon the boat. This is not something which we would expect in a C Dory--but it could happen.
 
Bob; Any chance you obtained additional details such as the vessel name, vessel type and manufacture, crew member names and their conditions, home port,etc.?
 
Barry Rietz":1wjvsfji said:
Bob; Any chance you obtained additional details such as the vessel name, vessel type and manufacture, crew member names and their conditions, home port,etc.?
Click to expand...

Barry, much is in the article I linked to: Vessel Name is Kelaerin By searching the documentation base we find that home port is Bellingham, Washington.
she was an Omega 45 designed by Ron Holland, Vessel owner's name is JAMES R CAREY, wife's name is Joy . He has documented this vessel since 1991, when he purchased her, She was built in 1980. The manufacturer is FRENCH BROAD BOATWORKS 211 AMBOY RD SUITE D ASHEVILLE NC

The crew was taken to hospital, with mild hypothermia, and the skipper had a gash on his head.

There is a blog from the past; Here. I believe that much of their material after New Zealand was lost in the vessel.

There is a CG Video of conditions linked as part of the post.


It has only been a couple of days, and I do not know if a salvage operation has been mounted--There was nothing to think that the vessel was scuttled from what I have read.

From Pacific Sea Farer's net:
SPECIAL NOTE:
LOST SAILING VESSEL KELAERIN KA7RBE WITH JIM & JOY IN PASSAGE FROM OAHU TO
BELLINGHAM WA. AT APPROXIMATLEY 0933 HRS ON 16/06/2018 THEY LOST THEIR ENGINE
AND "WERE NOT TAKING ON WATER BUT SEA WATER HAD WASHED ABOARD" IN HIGH SEAS.
THEY WERE BOARDED BY USCG RESCUE SWIMMER WHO HOISTED BOTH JIM & JOY INTO THE HELICOPTER.
THEY WERE TAKEN TAKEN TO WARRENTON OREGON. THE KELAERIN WAS SET ADRIFT.
Click to expand...

The Carey's were Seven Seas Cruising Association Commodore members. They were featured in Noonsite: about a year ago. They were very experienced cruisers. But I have met people like them, who have been cruising for years and never had really horrendous weather.
 
Here is a direct link to the CG video.

One should never second guess conditions, or decisions on whether to abandon a vessel. Both the crew were hypothermic, and the skipper had a serious gash. The wife needed forearm crutches to move about. I doubt if the engine was usable after the amount of flooding, and the pumps were not effective. The mainsail was probably damaged, although the genoa was intact--we don't know about storm or staysails. We also don't know about the weather forecast/expected conditions, and where the vessel would have ended up, if the storm had driven her further down and toward the Oregon coast.
 
Amazing story! So glad it had a happy ending. Their survival alone is testimony to their experience and courage under extreme conditions. The CG as well at their finest under extreme weather and time constrictions.

Rob
 
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