May 17, 2009

Reality Radio
Yesterday during the Pacific Seafarer's Net we were held hostage to a gripping drama at sea. Shortly after the check-in started we heard an emergency call from the S/V Scarlet O'Hara, stating that they were making their way to the stricken S/V Elusive, who had called a Mayday; they had lost steerage and were taking on water. Scarlet was only 4 miles away, but by the time they arrived the crew of Elusive had taken to their dinghy, but were still tied to their vessel. The mom and son were taken aboard Scarlet and the 2 captains went into the sinking boat to try to find where Elusive was taking on water. They had all the bilge pumps going, even an auxillary from Scarlet, but the water was coming in faster than they could get rid of it. Tears came to my eyes when after an hour they announced that they were abandoning all efforts at saving Elusive. The crew was safely aboard Scarlet and they were heading away from the sinking boat. Conditions at the time were excellent, with only 10 knots of wind, but a gale was predicted to hit the area within 24 hours, so they were heading southwest, away from their intended destination of Fiji to escape the worst of the storm. Darkness was closing in and they didn't want Scarlet to be endangered by Elusive as the swell was worsening. They were convinced she was sinking, but couldn't wait around to see her go down.
Hearing this drama as we are making our passage just reinforces to us how things can go wrong in a heartbeat. We're grateful that the crew of Elusive are safe and sound and that Scarlet was there to help them in their time of need. Once again, the radio network of boats on passage has assisted in the safety of yachts at sea. Many boats are on passage now. Scarlet O'Hara and Elusive had left from NZ, as have many others, as the time is right to head north to the tropics. Others have come through the Panama Canal this year and are making the passage from the Galapagos to French Polynesia. I'm sure there were many of us in the Pacific listening to this emergency as it was happening and wishing the best to the boats involved.
We're still struggling with very light winds and many squalls. We had asked for a light air passage and I guess we're getting our wish!! Right now we're floundering in about 2 knots of wind with a 3-4 foot sea. I can't tolerate being below, so Ted brought the computer out into the cockpit so I could write this. We're over halfway to NZ, so it's downhill from here! Karen