Landing the Big One

Landing the Big One

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Aussie yacht mystery solved?


Maybe, as set out here:
THREE men who disappeared from their yacht last week were most likely washed overboard in a violent squall or freak wave, according to police.

The “ghost yacht”, Kaz II, was found listing in Queensland waters with the table laid for dinner, the global positioning system and laptop humming, and the engine idling - yet with no crew.
Original post on this boat here.
Although, if the original report was right, how does a boat lose its crew in a squall or wave, but keep food on the table?

UPDATE (4/23/07): More mystery set out here:
Adding to the mystery were neatly folded clothes at the stern of the luxury boat. The only sign of distress was a tattered sail.
***
Sailors point out that a table laid for a meal and neatly folded clothes don't jibe with the rough seas that Webber says may have tipped the trio overboard.

David Dellow, a Townsville sailor, told Australia's ABC Radio that he suspected the boat had been boarded by pirates.

"How do you get three guys to disappear at once?" he asked.

His scepticism about a weather-related catastrophe was echoed by Whitsundays Yacht Club chief Jeremy Cooper.

"Even two is explainable, with perhaps one going in after the other. But three? You just can't imagine why that would happen," Cooper said.
Unless one got into trouble swimming and the other two went in to rescue him and somehow the boat drifted away....but it does seem silly for all of them to get off the boat at once, under any conditions, without a line tied to the boat for self-rescue or going swimming where the bost couldn't e anchored... and going swimming with the sails up as they clearly were.

Pirates discounted here:
One theory is the men fell overboard in rough seas.

Another is that another vessel came alongside and they boarded it, either willingly or unwillingly, as if they had been attacked by pirates.

But Townsville Chief Superintendent Roy Wall ruled out foul play.

"They were all known to each other for some time, all good friends," told the Nine Network on Monday morning.

"There's certainly nothing that's come forward at this stage that would indicate anything other than a tragic accident."

He also ruled out an apparent attack by pirates.

"I think that's stretching it a bit too far - we've had no information or reports of piracy off that part of the Queensland
coast," he said.
I doubt pirates would just take the sailors and leave wallets and expensive electronics gear.

I guess one question that might be helpful to know is how much beer was aboard...

UPDATE: Updates here, here

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