Some Salutary Thoughts
Southern Princess
John & Irene Hunt
Thu 28 Feb 2008 01:17
A big learning curve today which built on what we
learned with the search and rescue operation in the Caribbean Sea.
If you go over the side, the chances of getting you
back a slim. Today with the refuelling operation, we knew where the yacht
Evasione was, they kept giving us lat & lon by VHF and still we didn't see
them until we were about 2 miles away. And this a 28' yacht. Imagine trying to
find someone in a life jacket. Impossible!
In the Caribbean we searched all day in lumpy seas
and white caps and we could not have seen someone 50-100 metres away. I've taken
to telling our guests that if you fall over at night, we will search all night
and the next day for you but the chances are little better than zero. Daytime a
little better if we can get an orange smoke flare in the water soon after you go
over and it lasts long enough for us to get back to you. Sailing along with all
the gear up is going to take a bit of time to get it under control and heading
back in the right direction. A few miles at least so keep hoping we see
you.
We will be in at around 06:00 tomorrow the 28th and
really looking forward to Charles Darwin's islands.
Cheers
JH