The Wreck of the Aegean

[HenryC]

The loss of the 37 foot ocean California racing yacht Aegean and all 4 souls aboard appears to have been caused by grounding. Information from an automated GPS tracking and satellite reporting device now suggests she ran into rocks just offshore of the US-Mexico border.

The devastated condition of the wreckage originally seemed to be the result of a collision with a much larger vessel, but the last position reported by the tracker at 1:36 PDT, 32.44532N, 117.29999W, is on the NW shore of the most northwesterly of the Coronado islands group. Although the tracker has not been recovered, the last broadcast position lies at the end of the DR track from the previous fix 10 minutes earlier. It appears Aegean sailed into a sheer cliff in the dark at six knots. The vessel must have broken up in heavy surf and the wreckage carried away by the current.

“It looked like they plotted a course for Ensenada and North Coronado Island was directly in the way.”

This is another cautionary tale of over-reliance on marine electronics–a “GPS-assisted grounding”. The device functioned perfectly, but it appears no one took the trouble to check the chart and make certain there was nothing in the way. And the yacht did not maintain a proper lookout. These were highly experienced offshore sailors, but this is a too-common error. I have made it myself, but without the same tragic consequences.

http://news.yahoo.com/gps-suggests-calif-yacht-hit-rocks-off-mexico-135300416–spt.html

The website below contains a log and chart showing all the plotted fixes prior to the loss of the vessel.

http://bit.ly/K1Bdng


Note:  Apparently, over the last few days, these links have been removed from the internet.  --Henry

[capt_nemo]

Thanks much for the update. The few times I've been offshore under autopilot there was ALWAYS a human watch on duty.

capt_nemo

[HenryC]

I found what appears to be an authoritative update on this tragedy here:

http://www.ocregister.com/news/aegean-352663-brewer-cornelius.html

I've sailed similar passages twice; Catalina Island to Santa Cruz (Express 37), and San Francisco to San Diego (Bristol Channel Cutter 28). We used electronics on both trips, Loran going N, GPS going S. In each case we used the electronics to get our position, laid out a course to our destination, checked carefully that it was fair, and took frequent fixes, complemented by visual sightings on lighthouses, landmarks, and the Channel islands to verify our navigation. Of course, in those primitive days, (early 90s) all we got off our electronic gear was a lat/lon, no fancy digital charts. We did all our chart work on paper charts, with pencil and simple drafting tools. That sort of forces you to stay alert and aware of your surroundings.

At all times, we had situational awareness, we knew where we were, where away and how far the nearest land was, potential hazards, nearby aids to navigation, harbors, and once, when some foul weather hit us, we even had a secluded cove with good anchoring ground picked out ahead of time to duck into, with a cape that offered some shelter from a NW blow.

I remember taking tangent bearings off the Channel Islands and, visual bearings off Morro Bay, Anacapa Light, even Hearst Castle and the gantries at Vandenberg. They're all marked on the chart. The electronics were a great thing to have, but they were not essential, we saw them as a convenience, and we always kept a parallel plot running on the chart with our estimated, or dead reckoning position. This also allowed us to verify our mag compass was working right. Even if we lost everything due to weather or malfunction, we always had a solid posit less than a few hours old we could base reasonable estimates on for a few days if need be.

I've never been as far south as the Coronado Islands, but I've had a close look at the Channel Islands,  and they are remote, lonely places, very unforgiving.  They are surrounded by rocky cliffs, and they look deadly in daylight, but are invisible at night.  And the water is very cold. 

[skip1930]

" And the water is very cold. "

Rule of 50.
50 deg F.
50 years old
50 minutes till death by hypothermia.

A little warmer, a little younger, a little longer and visa versa.

The other thing. Falling through ice. An involuntary inhale as the cold water fills your ear cavity. So you drown.

skip.