Couple Die Sailing Atlantic

[irc]

A British/Canadian couple found dead on a life raft.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c84jxgy8nmlo

I admire their adventurous spirit and respect anyonewho sails the Atlantic. I found this comment in the article odd though.


“We’re doing everything we can to show that you can travel without burning fossil fuels,” Mr Clibbery said in the video, posted on 12 April."

You mean by traveling in a boat powered by wind which people have been doing for thousands of years?

[ecsrobin]

irc said:

A British/Canadian couple found dead on a life raft.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c84jxgy8nmlo

I admire their adventurous spirit and respect anyonewho sails the Atlantic. I found this comment in the article odd though.


“We’re doing everything we can to show that you can travel without burning fossil fuels,” Mr Clibbery said in the video, posted on 12 April."

You mean by traveling in a boat powered by wind which people have been doing for thousands of years?

They had travelled across America in an electric car so in that context the comments in his video make perfect sense?

[h0b0]

Modern boats and cameramans have one or two engines. Many people crossing the Atlantic use the engines when the wind dies down.its called motor sailing. Even then, it’s still a two week passage. This couple wanted to do the crossing unassisted.

Still, it isn’t something that hasn’t been done before. They would also have emergency systems to call for help.

[Gareth79]

h0b0 said:

Still, it isn’t something that hasn’t been done before. They would also have emergency systems to call for help.

Apparently they had a Garmin InReach on board, presumably as well as a traditional distress beacon, and almost certainly some other communications devices, so likely they had a catastrophic problem where all they were able to do was get in the life raft.

The BBC news article above links to an article from 2020 where they discuss meeting, sounds like a couple who found their perfect partners later in life:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/oct/...

[OutInTheShed]

There are a lot of people with youtube channels about sailing.

There are many things which can go wrong sailing the Atlantic, deaths are not unknown, but most people who die ocean sailing don't make it into a liferaft.

There is a lot of specualtion and little known unfortunately.

[s2kjock]

irc said:

You mean by traveling in a boat powered by wind which people have been doing for thousands of years?

Yes, and no.

Yes, a sailing boat should be able to sail itself out of trouble.

No, in that so many aspects of navigation, safety, and just living reasonably comfortably, require electricity which an engine is going to provide. You wouldn't carry enough fuel to motor entirely across oceans in a sailing yacht, but you would need it to charge the batteries periodically.

It is most likely just another accident that could have happened to any other yacht on a passage like that. Things can go wrong quickly and you are very very exposed and isolated from SAR that far out into the ocean compared to coastal sailing.

[ChocolateFrog]

The article talked about using Leaf batteries so presumably still had a means of propulsion other than wind.

[dudleybloke]

No EPERB?

[gazza285]

BBC article also mentions the possibility of their boat being hit by another vessel, which would be a quick way of losing their food, water, and communication equipment.

[h0b0]

Silent yachts have catamarans with no sail driven by solar. They are transatlantic.

In this case, I agree that being solar is unlikely to be the cause. It may have contributed as they may have not had a buddy boat. But, that brings us back to speculation.

My wife’s friend recently passed away due to an accident on his motor yacht. He was WFB (Working from Boat) with his family cruising up the West coast of USA. A fire broke out which led them to abandon ship and jump on their dinghy. Every one was out safe and the friend went back. That’s when he lost his life. We don’t know why he went back. Terrible for the family and his friends. Very highly regarded at work and very passionate about getting out on the water.

[munroman]

I saw elsewhere that there was some speculation that the addition of the solar and electrical installations might have effected the stability of the boat.

[Senex]

In the life raft from 18 June to 12 July. 24 days can be survived, but not without water. A grim way to die.

[gotoPzero]

Life raft will have had some basic supplies in it. But if they had even 20 seconds to get off then they would / should have grabbed their abandon ship bag which anyone who sails any sort of distance should have.

The talk of them both being below is also poor form, IMHO, as one of them should be on watch. Its not a fun way to spend 2-3 weeks but thats how to keep yourself safe. At the very, very least you should be on watch in the shipping lanes.

I would also have both regular marine PLBs but also some back up like a watch with PLB etc.

Perhaps they had all this and the swiss cheese model came into play.

Either way pretty bad way to go out, weeks in a life raft.

[poo at Paul's]

Grim way to go, but they were really trying to prove there is a cure to a problem that doesn’t actually exist! So it seems a real shame.
Sailing across from Nova Scotia to Azores, we’ll do it with diesel, do it with wind, do it with electric. There’s so few people who do it or even want to do it, it will make not a jot of difference to the planet, whatever fuel you use and whatever your climate beliefs.

Edited by poo at Paul's on Sunday 21st July 19:55

[irc]

Makes me even more amazed at Stephen Callaghan's survival - 76 days adrift in the Atlantic in a liferaft.

I freely admit to knowing next to nothing about sailing but from Callaghan's book I would guess the factors that made the difference compared to this tragedy were

1 further south so less/no risk of exposure
2 Good prep - he had a grab bag with a solar still and a spear gun.
3 Iron will and determination to solve various problems.
4 Being younger and fitter
5 His boat staying afloat long enough for him to retun to it from the raft to retrieve items.

Edited by irc on Sunday 21st July 21:55

[Gareth79]

munroman said:

I saw elsewhere that there was some speculation that the addition of the solar and electrical installations might have effected the stability of the boat.

Apparently they removed the rear mast to make room for solar panels, and removed the engine etc. . I don't know anything about sailing vessels so not sure if that would matter much.

There is a comment on this video that the "GibSea 42" isn't suited for a transatlantic crossing, I'm not sure about that, but the workmanship of the panel mountings and DIY cabin on this video is... worrying:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLqN62VGPUE

I'm sure Nissan Leaf cells seemed like a nice way of recycling, but a Li-ion battery fire on a fibreglass boat in the middle of the ocean isn't really worth the risk. LFP please...