British man, 70, rescued by Thai navy after three days adrift off Phuket

[Gene1960]

From the boat description on the website 

 

Through stormy weather and prolonged calms Pollen Path looked after them very well. Over the years they had put her through her paces. In light airs and off the wind she sails like a dream; to windward is hard work for all. The goal was to keep the boat simple and in the early cruising years they had little need for complex systems. To some Pollen Path is somewhat unconventional but she is perfect for a cruising couple.

———-

It’s a downwind boat with an outboard instead of a Diesel engine. 

With the strong winds last week it would have been easier for him to sail  to the Andamens and wait there. 

[sanemax]

3 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

surely there is a tender attached to boat with oars, unless the "survival" craft is an inflatable one.

Impossible to row from the deck that high up though,so no use in this situation.

 

You can get some oars that reach really low levels and they can row, even if the deck is elevated

[wavodavo]

1 hour ago, 9653 said:

Can a sail be partially hoisted in stormy weather to get going again?

I ask you, because I don't know

Are 2 people required to set sail in stormy weather?

For a single operator, that may be quite a daunting task in rough weather

What about the round the world solo sailors ???...they are on their own....

[angloirishaussie]

he should of taken seaman stains,master bates and roger the cabin boy

Captain Pugwash

[Cake Monster]

5 hours ago, RJRS1301 said:

My thoughts, even in a strong wind use less sail, 3 days, something missing there, did he use radio for assistance from other yatchies?

 

Probably used the Radio, but nobody on the receiving end could speak a single word of English.

[AgMech Cowboy]

That's a yacht!??

3 hours ago, rtco said:

I would have taken a couple of wh"oars" myself because that would have definitely given me something to do!!! 

He should have taken a good book for something to do. Sailing for Dummies, maybe?

[rvaviator]

Break failure if you ask me .....

 

Or he knows that the mast and / or its support has some serious structural issues ...  Hence did not want to set sails in case he would have series structural failure ...

 

Or maybe he had no sails on the boat ...

Edited February 26, 2020 by rvaviator
error ...

[9653]

1 hour ago, wavodavo said:

What about the round the world solo sailors ???...they are on their own....

They are young, sea-hardened, experienced circum- navigators, ready to take on the world, literally.

not 70 year old inexperienced fat bellied idiots

[Ebumbu]

I hope Mrs. Howell is safe. 

[herwin1234]

Hmmm, i am missing something here. Zero posts thanking the Thai navy for rescuing an old farang and doing an excellent job. Why everybody here always can trash Thai officials  (many times very unfairly) but never thank them? 

Well, thanks Thai navy guys for rescuing that old guy.

[sawadee1947]

Well, not everybody from an island is a sailor. 

Maybe this bloke forgot that there were sails for sailing..... 

His ancestors knew how to do. ????

[brianthainess]

17 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

Wonder if Thai Navy claims salvage rights ????

 

I read somewhere a rule of the sea, if a ship offer the tow rope to you, they can not, but if you offer the rope to them they can.  well i think it was that way round but grey matter is eroding LOL 

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, sawadee1947 said:

Well, not everybody from an island is a sailor. 

Maybe this bloke forgot that there were sails for sailing..... 

His ancestors knew how to do. ????

To lazy to read the full story?

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, 9653 said:

They are young, sea-hardened, experienced circum- navigators, ready to take on the world, literally.

not 70 year old inexperienced fat bellied idiots

How do you know he was inexperienced, an idiot. and pot bellied. ????

[brianthainess]

3 hours ago, sanemax said:

You can get some oars that reach really low levels and they can row, even if the deck is elevated

Yer in strong winds sure you can.......

[brianthainess]

8 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

I am not a navy person. But if the engine fails, the sails don't work? Am I missing something?

Yes its all in the full story.

[SometimezaGreatNotion]

If the sails are not an option you can probably get a couple knots of speed by wearing a baggy parka and spreading your arms like Jesus. 

[orchidfan]

I also compliment the Thai Navy for recueing him. It would have been a welcome change to their normal routine and a good training exercise.

 

Just a few things spring to mind (although I was an aviator not a  seaman)....

 

Having got the location from the cargo ship why didn't they go straight to those coordinates ((allowing a little for known drift etc....sea.and winds) rather than rendezvous with the ship first, then go looking for the yacht?

Also surely the navy had nautical radar to aid in spotting the yacht?

And not forgetting the emergency locator beacon which surely the Brit had activated?

This is picked up by both other shipping AND over overflying aircraft !

Just a few thoughts.

[emptypockets]

27 minutes ago, orchidfan said:

I also compliment the Thai Navy for recueing him. It would have been a welcome change to their normal routine and a good training exercise.

 

Just a few things spring to mind (although I was an aviator not a  seaman)....

 

Having got the location from the cargo ship why didn't they go straight to those coordinates ((allowing a little for known drift etc....sea.and winds) rather than rendezvous with the ship first, then go looking for the yacht?

Also surely the navy had nautical radar to aid in spotting the yacht?

And not forgetting the emergency locator beacon which surely the Brit had activated?

This is picked up by both other shipping AND over overflying aircraft !

Just a few thoughts.

A friend did an exercise once with a largish State Emergency Services motor boat....about 35 foot aluminium hull. He set out to sea for some miles and activated the EPIRB. The spotter aircraft took off in the general direction but it took a very long time to find the boat. That was in calm seas. Seems it's not as easy to do as we see in the movies. Just a tiny blob in a vast area of sea. Might be a similar situation with the Navy's radar trying to locate him.

Edited February 26, 2020 by emptypockets

[SupermarineS6B]

Three days adrift and at least two sunsets and sunrises giving you East and West, considering he was off Phuket the worst he could do with three days drift is either hit Bangladesh or Singapore.....  Nah the old bloke was incapacitated, couldn't set sail, wind's with him as well..... West to east..... Should of done a Slocum and gone down with his vessel.......I'd love to hear the full story though....

[Crossy]

40 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Yes its all in the full story.

 

Sort of.

 

It's a looong time since I sailed (mostly in and around the Solent), but if it gets too breezy to beat to windward, drop a sea anchor, heave-to and wait.

 

It does look awfully calm in the tow picture, why didn't he go back to sail when the weather improved?

 

Anyway, the man and his boat are safe which is the most important thing.

[NoComment]

Perhaps a 70 year old man should not be out on the high seas!!??

Just a thought!

[Scot123]

6 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

Three days adrift. He appears to be an experienced yachtsman, so, as such why did he not employ one of the first rules of solo navigation which is to inform someone your departure time, from where you are leaving, your intended route, and destination, and estimated arrival time. That way, if he did not turn up then the alarm is raised.

It often happens when people are very experienced they get very careless. I always remembered a teacher of mine who used to climb and mountaineer he had decades of experience on Scottish mountains. One day he decided to go and do a munro conditions were OK however there was snow on the mountain. He slipped and fell to his death. They found all his gear in the boot (trunk) of his car: ice axes, crampons etc. Just to confident. Very sad think he was 50. Back then I thought that was old.... Lol

[Gene1960]

1 hour ago, brianthainess said:

Yer in strong winds sure you can.......

Pray...

[RJRS1301]

11 minutes ago, NoComment said:

Perhaps a 70 year old man should not be out on the high seas!!??

Just a thought!

The oldest successful solo round world sailor was 81

Perhaps he  did not want to be found??Sailing to oblivion??

 

[sawadee1947]

1 hour ago, brianthainess said:

To lazy to read the full story?

Ever heard about kind of lugsails? 

I suppose you never did sailing, didn't you? 

[Gene1960]

3 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

The oldest successful solo round world sailor was 81

 

You don’t usually fight with the wind when circumnavigate. Trade winds help you. 

[sawadee1947]

6 hours ago, 9653 said:

Can a sail be partially hoisted in stormy weather to get going again?

I ask you, because I don't know

Are 2 people required to set sail in stormy weather?

For a single operator, that may be quite a daunting task in rough weather

The "storm" didn't come within a minute. 

Any somehow experienced sailor would have prepared his boat before.

And..... the strong wind didn't last for 3 days. 

Maybe he was drunk at that time. Who knows? ????

[Grumpy John]

Think I'll hold comment for now and wait for the book to come out.  Actually Readers Digest would jump at it for "Laughter is the best Medicine" column. 

[9653]

37 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

The "storm" didn't come within a minute. 

Any somehow experienced sailor would have prepared his boat before.

And..... the strong wind didn't last for 3 days. 

Maybe he was drunk at that time. Who knows? ????

Yes, one ever gets to know, what was going on in the cabin down below ( for 3 days ) ...