Moody Blue
Captain
- Joined
- May 24, 2004
- Messages
- 3,136
A friend invited myself and my wife out sailing today for what would be our first time in a sailboat. Afternoon started out great with a fairly strong NE wind and 2-3ft waves. We were having fun tacking back and forth up the lake pretty much by ourselves enjoying the sun and stiff breeze.
About three hours into the trip we heard a faint horn blasting from we thought, a distant boat, about 1/2km away and 2km offshore. We decided we should investigate and headed towards the boat. As we approached we could see the lone occupant frantically waving and yelling. By the time we had lowered sails (not easy for a couple newbies in strong winds) and pulled along side the boat in distress, it was fully submerged with only the tip of the bow sticking vertically out of the water and the boater was in the water along with all of his belongings. Fortunately he was wearing a PFD but was visibly panicked and frightened.
We got him aboard and called the coastguard and local police dept. We stayed with the submerged boat until the police boat arrived about 45 minutes later. Managed to retrieve most of his belongings from the water in the meantime.
If we hadn't been within earshot of his horn, he would have been in the water for who knows how long because there were very few boats on the water and he would have been nearly invisible to any passing boats because of the rough water conditions.
We went away from our first sailing expedition feeling pretty good about our rescue.
About three hours into the trip we heard a faint horn blasting from we thought, a distant boat, about 1/2km away and 2km offshore. We decided we should investigate and headed towards the boat. As we approached we could see the lone occupant frantically waving and yelling. By the time we had lowered sails (not easy for a couple newbies in strong winds) and pulled along side the boat in distress, it was fully submerged with only the tip of the bow sticking vertically out of the water and the boater was in the water along with all of his belongings. Fortunately he was wearing a PFD but was visibly panicked and frightened.
We got him aboard and called the coastguard and local police dept. We stayed with the submerged boat until the police boat arrived about 45 minutes later. Managed to retrieve most of his belongings from the water in the meantime.
If we hadn't been within earshot of his horn, he would have been in the water for who knows how long because there were very few boats on the water and he would have been nearly invisible to any passing boats because of the rough water conditions.
We went away from our first sailing expedition feeling pretty good about our rescue.
