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: Robert Eno
Date: 2007 May 5, 10:31 -0400
From: Robert Eno
Date: 2007 May 5, 10:31 -0400
Thanks Peter. This sounds to me like a very plausible explanation. Your own story is indeed chilling. I have the same sinking feeling whenever I anchor my own boat in an isolated harbour to go ashore to hunt or fish or to take tourists ashore, as we do all summer long. Leaving a man on board is more often than not, simply not tenable. While I am a fanatic about anchoring, no system is foolproof so when I am ashore, I am in a constant state of anxiety about how well my anchor is holding; calm seas or not. While it is not as dangerous a situation as being in the water while your boat is steaming away from you and out of reach, being stranded in the middle of nowhere and facing a one week walk back to civilization through hostile territory , is not exactly a welcome prospect either. But at least on land, one does have a fighting chance. Please keep us posted on any further developments. The story is fascinating. Robert ----- Original Message ----- From: "PF"To: "NavList" Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2007 12:35 AM Subject: [NavList 2822] Re: The mystery of the Queensland version of the Marie Celeste. > > > 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---