Two separate rescue incidents involving cruising yachts in the South Pacific during March highlight how easily the cruising dream can go wrong, as well as the importance of proper passage preparation. Without this, and the incredible community spirit amongst sailors, not to mention the right communication equipment, the succesful outcome for both these incidents might have been quite different.

Published 2 years ago

On March 14, 2023, BoatWatch.org, the Worldwide Search Assistance Organisation broadcast an emergency BOLO for four sailors in a liferaft after their vessel sank in the South Pacific between Galapagos and French Polynesia.  Several days later another alert was broadcast from a yacht also bound for French Polynesia, requesting assistance for a seriously ill crew member. Fortunately both vessels being on the “milk run” meant there were numerous yachts in the same area who were able to assist. That teamwork, coupled with a variety of excellent communication devices, meant that both incidents had succesful outcomes.

Yacht v Whale

In the first incident, efforts by the cruising community, BoatWatch and World ARC participants, saw communications quickly established to assist the crew of SV Raindancer, who had to abandon their vessel after it collided with a whale on passage to French Polynesia from the Galapagos. The crew had remained calm, and managed, in the 15 minutes between the collision and the yacht sinking, to collect water, provisions, emergency documentation, electronics and safety equipment, load this into the liferaft and secure their dinghy alongside. They had set off their EPIRB and made a mayday call on the VHF radio to alert the emergency services and other boats in the area to the situation. Nearby vessels were able to co-ordinate immediate assistance using Starlink. Within 10hrs the four crew members from SV Raindancer were rescued by SV Rolling Stones with assistance from SV Far and SV Southern Cross who were in the vicinity.

Read the Skipper’s first-person report further down.

Medical Emergency

Several days later on March 17, BoatWatch put out another call to assist SV Cepa (a World ARC yacht also on passage from Galapagos to French Polynesia) when a crew member suffered a stroke.  The yacht was still six to seven days sail from Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands and a call was broadcast to find the closest vessels that could help with medical aid, provide a faster way to get to Hiva Oa or provide additional fuel for SV Cepa (as the skipper didn’t have enough to motor all the way to the Marquesas).

Thanks to medical professionals on board SV Pec, the crew member was attended to on the high seas and then transferred to MY Paladin for a faster trip to Hiva Oa, where he is currently undergoing treatment.

Read the full story on the World ARC website.

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Crew Rescued after Yacht Sinks following encounter with Whale

The skipper and three crew members of SV Raindancer had just enough time to deploy their liferaft and dinghy before their yacht sank after striking a whale, about halfway through their voyage from the Galapagos to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia.

In a Facebook post, the skipper Rick Rodriquez told how they were sitting enjoying the evening, sailing with good winds, sunny skies and making around 6kts with about 1400NM to go.

“We were enjoying some home-made pizza when it felt like we ran into a concrete wall. I heard a loud crashing noise simultaneous with a metal clanking. I heard (crew member) Alana yell ‘we hit a whale’.  I looked to port and saw a huge whale with blood gushing out.

“Within five seconds the high water bilge alarm went off. I could see water rushing in from the stern of the boat. At that point I knew the damage was very significant and that most likely we were going to lose the boat.”

At that point, the crew began gathering safety equipment, supplies, emergency gear, electronics, deployed the liferaft, set off an EPIRB and made a VHF Radio mayday call and started to load the dinghy with as much supplies and emergency gear as possible.

“Simon and I stepped into the water just as the toe rail went under. I swam to the liferaft and when I got in it, looked back to see the last 10ft of the mast sinking down at an unbelievable speed. Our painter line, which is designed to break before being pulled under the boat was still attached. Luckily I had a knife in my pocket and cut the painter as it was coming under tension. The boat and all our belongings was gone – out of sight, winking to the bottom of one of the most remote parts of the ocean – 10,000 ft down.

“At about 0500 on March 14 Simon spotted the first lights. This was shortly followed by radio contact from Geoff, the skipper of the catamaran SV Rolling Stones.  All we had to do now was safely transfer ourselves and our little belongings onto the catamaran. I set off a parachute flare and activated my personal AIS beacon to help them with our location.”

A post on Boat Watch acknowledged the huge effort by the cruising community, Boat Watch, and World ARC participants, in quickly establishing communications with nearby vessels using Starlink devices and coordinating immediate assistance.

Raindancer’s IridiumGo device was instrumental in broadcasting their position via the vessel’s PredictWind tracking page, in addition to their SPOT tracker. While it appeared that their activated EPIRB malfunctioned and did not transmit a GPS position to the Coast Guard, a subsequent post on boatwatch.org noted that the EPIRB did function as intended to transmit position data to SAR services in Peru and the US Coast Guard but noted that only commercial vessels are privy to AMVER notices issued by JRCC, and not local private yachts who were better equipped to assist.

Rescued!

Rick Rodriguez, owner of SY Raindancer:

“A huge thanks to the entire sailing community for coming together to aid our rescue. The one thing I’ve always loved about sailing is the people. I’m thankful to be part of such a supportive community. A big thanks to the Starlink community, our rescue wouldn’t have gone so swiftly and smoothly without this technology to which help save our lives.  Perhaps the biggest thanks to our rescuers and Captain Geoff of SV Rolling Stones for going out of his way to save us.

“I’m sad to have lost my boat. It was everything to me. It was more than just what I was doing. More than just my home with all my belongings, it was a part of who I am. But at the end of the day the most important thing

“We all have a lot to think about.”

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Related News:

Captain and Crew Rescued from SV Raindancer (Boatwatch.org)

The Rescue of Raindancer – a Non-World ARC boat (Sail-World Cruising)

Sailboat crew rescued in Pacific after abandoning yacht sunk by whale (Washington Post)

Medical Emergency SV Cepa World Arc South Pacific – Boatwatch.org

Medical Emergency onboard World ARC 2023-24 yacht CEPA – World Cruising Club

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Related Links:

Boat Watch

JRCC – Tahiti

World ARC

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