N17º15’26.0208″ W56º33’5.4648″
After not seeing a thing for 11 days, the last thing you want to see is a boat in trouble, this morning thats what we saw, to be fair it wasn’t really in trouble now but had been at some point, we first saw it off to starboard and made our way over to it, I grabbed my camera and went and stood on the bow, I took as many shots as I could trying to get a name and to see if there was any sign of life. Sean carefully manoeuvred Kapowai to within a few meters of the boat and blasted the horn, yeah scared the hell out of me. We watched and listened but there was no-one onboard. Rang it in on the sat phone to Antigua SAR and they told us the lone skipper had been picked up by a cargo ship on the 19th February – before we left the Canaries. Brings it home as to how dangerous this sailing can be, i’m glad I didn’t see this early on in the crossing. The boat is a Dufour 29 and I think the name is Masupa.
You can see the mast is gone and the sails are in the water, all the fenders are out so we were pretty sure a rescue had taken place. Hope all involved are safe and well.
That’s a sobering sight. What happens to the boat in that situation, would it be towed into port by someone? Surely the owner would want it back and it can’t be left to drift the oceans forever.
It could be towed into port but probably not, it will sink eventually, and i’m sure it’s insured.
That seems such a shame, not to mention a bit of a hazard. I hope the guy who was rescued was able to take with him anything he wanted to keep.
It is a shame, we couldn’t tow it as we were getting low on fuel, and it is a hazard, that’s why we reported it and it’s position.
Glad a rescue had already taken place and the skipper taken off board but it still must be unnerving to come across something like this on your own long sea journey.
Yeah it sure was, i’m glad our journey was nearly over.
How unsettling….
Yeah it was a bit.
Good to know you are safe! What an adventure!
Thanks Mark, it was a great adventure, and got better.
Sad to see someone’s dreams end in this way mid-ocean.
Yes he must of been gutted, but probably glad to get off when he had too.
I’m the guy who lost MASUPA. After 24 days crossing, from Canaries, I was at 3 and a half days from Antigua. Serious back ache, but good morale, when suddenly I felt a strong stomach pain. I waited 40 minutes, then I decided to activate my EPIRB. Luckily there was a cargo at two hours distance, they took me to Cape Town, back across the Atlantic. No sequell whatsoever of the stomach pain which stopped after two hours, but this I could not know in advance. I learnt that I was dehydrated (dry mouth, etc). The back ache stayed on for two months… Nothing as dreadful as it could look, thanks to MRCC Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Immarsat. It’s well organized, they save the crew but they can’t care for the boat.
My sailboat seems to trail its mast, which slows down the drifting. It’ll reach Antigua in ages.
The next hurricane should put an end to it?
I still consider I did cross the pond… Age was an adverse factor…
Wish better luck for you
T.Molnard, ex-Masupa
Hi Thomas, glad you are ok and safe, sorry about Masupa she was a fine looking boat.