NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: The mystery of the Queensland version of the Marie Celeste.
From: Gary LaPook
Date: 2007 May 05, 13:31 -0700
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
To post to this group, send email to NavList@fer3.com
To , send email to NavList-@fer3.com
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
From: Gary LaPook
Date: 2007 May 05, 13:31 -0700
Gary wrote: Certainly plausable. I also have a personal anecdote. While sailing in the Bahamas many years ago we managed to go aground on a sand bar 4 miles east of Treasure Cay in, according the chart, 7 feet of water. It was overcast and just as the sun came out illuminating the water around us as a light green we came to a gentle stop. I sent some of the crew overboard ( we had 7 people) and they walked around the boat in about 4 and a half feet. They discovered that the deepest water was the way we came in. With most of the crew overboard to lighten the boat and to push we kedged off without trouble. But, I stayed aboard to run the engine with some others to handle lines. You would think if that cat went aground that someone would have stayed aboard to run the engines too. (BTW when I discussed this with the locals I was told that a recent hurricane had moved a lot of the sand around and that the chart had not been updated. If the sun had been out we could have seen the color of th e water and avoided it but just bad luck.) PF wrote:Here's a link to what may be the last word on this mystery: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/cruel-sea-refuses-to-give-up-its-secrets/2007/05/04/1177788400656.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 And a personal anecdote. We were sailing back from Lord Howe. Well, we would have liked to have been sailing, but there wasn't enough wind. It was, on the other hand, a lovely warm day, the sea was blue and inviting, the bottom of it about 4,000 metres away. So we went for a swim. Furled the headsail, but left the main up - it was too much work to get it down and then up again on this big boat so we left it up, even when motoring. If nothing else it stabilised the boat; we were less tossed around by the swell. So we eased the boom right out, effectively taking all the driving power out of this sail. We also left at least one person on-board at all times. Plus we ran a number of lines from the stern, including one attached by both ends to the boat, thus forming a bight enclosing our swimming pen. The (appropriately enough) deep blue water was speckled with white spots that we assumed were plankton. But I noticed that although the boat, from aboard, seemed to be hardly moving, once in the water it became clear that it was moving about as fast as I could comfortably swim. Of course it was easy to grab one of the lines and get towed, or pull myself back to the boat. It was a sobering experience. We were very careful to wear PFDs and to remain attached to the boat with lifelines; always at night and in rough weather. And to organise watches of two, so we could keep an eye on each other.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
To post to this group, send email to NavList@fer3.com
To , send email to NavList-@fer3.com
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---