Mexray
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Posts: 1016
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: California Delta
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Good article of Shari & Juan's aide to shipwrecked sailors
Latitude 38, the great sailing 'rag' published in the SF Bay area has a great article, with pictures of Shari and Juan's invaluable asistance of the
beached (roca'ed) sailboat 'Gabrielle' last April...
There's a great pic of Juan next to the roca'ed sailboat, and a description of all the great things Shari and Juan did for the two shipwrecked
sailors...
You can see the pics and article on Latitude 38's site...
Wreck of the Gabrielle
1. click on 'May 2009 ebook pages 1-91 Free PDF - it's a big file and will take a few moments to load, even with a broadband connection...
2. on the LH margin, click on 'Sightings' -
3. forward a couple of pages till you see 'Happy Ending' in the upper RH corner to start the story - this is page 83 - if you enlarge the document so
it's readable...
4. forward to the next page for the pic's and the rest of the story...
Great stuff, Shari and Juan...you guys sure deserve a BIG deposit to your Karma account! God love ya'...
Ray
According to my clock...anytime is \'BAJA TIME\' & as Jimmy Buffett says,
\"It doesn\'t use numbers or moving hands It always just says now...\"
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Mexray
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Here's the aritcle...
Latitude 38, May 2009
Happy Ending for april fools tragedy
26-year-old Aussie sailor named Sarah Andrews learned some
very hard lessons last month. And they've undoubtedly been rolling
around in her head ever since.
Her long-held dream was to buy a boat, fit it out for long-distance
cruising, and sail it home to Australia after honing her seamanship
skills in Mexico. With her goal clearly defined, she sold her house
and car last year, and bought a nice Ericson 39 in the Bay Area. She
renamed Gabrielle, after her mom. Having singlehanded from California
to Baja's Bahía Asunción, roughly 400 miles south of the border,
she decided to take on an amiable crewman named Peter for the
210-mile trip to Bahia Santa Maria so she wouldn't have to heave-to
in order to sleep en route, and could keep up with two southbound
buddy boats.
Sadly, Sarah and Peter never made it to Bahia Santa Maria. After
setting out on March 31, they found themselves sailing in challenging
conditions with 25-knot winds and big seas. At some point, Gabrielle's
engine quit when its impeller failed. Peter tried to repair it, but became
seasick before he had any success. After many hours of handsteering
a "straight shot" course given to her by the skipper of one of
the buddy boats, Sarah decided she needed a nap, and hove-to. Then,
shortly after midnight, she and Peter were awakened by the horrific
sound of fiberglass crunching into an immovable object, and Gabrielle
began taking on water. They'd smacked straight into Roca Ballena, a
charted but unmarked pinnacle, lying five miles off the coast.
It's a bitter irony that the accident occurred in the first hour of April Fool's
Day. And while these unlucky sailors may have felt like fools for
overlooking this charted hazard, their situation was no joke.
Their repeated mayday calls over VHF went unanswered, and
Gabrielle was taking on water fast. Sarah instinctively set off
her EPIRB, but since it was registered to her permanent address,
the confirmation call went to her mom in Australia, no doubt terrifying
her on what turned out to be her birthday.
Meanwhile, Sarah and Peter kept their heads and exercised
what appeared to be their only option: to sail like hell for
the nearest beach with hopes of grounding Gabrielle before she
sank beneath them.
It was after 3 a.m. when they neared the Punta
Abreojos lighthouse, and by then
the sloop was laboring heavily with its cargo of sea water. Unsure
whether to turn to the right or left of the light, they steered left,
which unfortunately drove Gabrielle up on a rocky shelf.
With waves crashing down on them, they finally raised a Mexican
fisherman on their VHF. He quickly mobilized both villagers,
who soon tried to illuminate the scene with vehicle headlights, and
the Mexican Navy, who attempted unsuccessfully to reach the shipwrecked
crew by panga. (Peter later told of trying to dial for help on
his iPhone while clinging desperately to the mast, but his fingers
were too cold to activate the device's touch screen.) Eventually, they
threw their punctured inflatable dinghy in the water and jumped
on top of it, expecting to kick to shore, but found they were in only
knee-deep water. Whether from shock, exhaustion, or pure joy, they
both started laughing hysterically.
After dawn, Canadian expat Shari Bondy, her Mexican husband
Juan Marron, and others helped Sarah salvage as much gear as
possible from the rapidly disintegrating wreck, and gave the unlucky
sailors shelter at their comfy Blowhole B&B. Turns out Shari was
shipwrecked herself in her youth, and received equally generous
treatment in Costa Rica.
Although Sarah did salvage some equipment and personal effects,
the boat was uninsured and she lost all her ID, cash and credit
cards. But this story will apparently have a happy ending. When Port
Townsend, Washington-based sailor Brian Jose heard Sarah's tragic
tale, he offered to give her his 28-ft Pearson Triton Phoenix — which
had been given to him two years ago when his own Triton, Shelly
B, burned to the waterline and sank in La Paz. What goes around,
comes around.
That act of kindness quickly took Sarah's mood from gloomy to
gleeful. Among the many lessons learned, we'll bet Sarah would now
echo what countless sailing instructors preach: never, ever rely on
someone else's navigation, even if they have decades of experience.
Ironically, had Sarah been sailing solo, without the track of buddy
boats to follow, she might have sailed more conservatively, farther
offshore. And April Fool's Day might have passed unnoticed.
— andy
]
[Edited on 5-23-2009 by Mexray]
According to my clock...anytime is \'BAJA TIME\' & as Jimmy Buffett says,
\"It doesn\'t use numbers or moving hands It always just says now...\"
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Paulina
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I agree, BIG deposit in your karma account!
P<*)))>{
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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Mexitron
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Mood: Happy!
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Way to go Juan and Shari! Glad there was a happy ending for Sarah too...
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Ford
Junior Nomad
Posts: 87
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Location: Northern California
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great story!
Isn't it considered very bad luck to change the name of a boat?
I don't believe in stuff like that....but maybe I should!
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13050
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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thanks amigos...it was quite an ordeal. Some cruisers just dropped off a couple Latitudes for us...pretty cool. Sarah is back on her continent i
imagine....havent heard from her...seems she forgot about us...outta site...outta mind I guess.
yeah...hmmm...makes you wonder about the name change thing.
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bajamigo
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Mood: hubimos llegado
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Wow! What a tale! I hope her luck and skills improve if she still wants to sail to Australia.
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oxxo
Banned
Posts: 2347
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Location: Wherever I am, I'm there
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Mood: If I was feeling any better, I'd be twins!
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Gracias Juan and Shari. I did a karma thing a few months ago and I have been rewarded a hundredfold since then. You will be too. Blessed be.
[Edited on 5-23-2009 by oxxo]
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