Yacht in need of help in the Atlantic Ocean

[@gokhanaygun231]

Perfect the maritime example. Respect.

[@Sailing-Maja]

Thank you.

[@timevans8223]

We did the trip from Azores to Horta 2024. We had very light winds but managed to sail most of the way. The boat is 44 years old, but we out performed many more modern boats. We took 15 days. 44ft ketch. We did a fuel drop for a much more modern Beneteau 473. They took 20 days from St Martin. We had two 20L cans on deck. We dropped them in the sea with a fender tied to them so they could pick them up. There is no reason to bring two boats close to throw a line and risk a collision. A modern boat that is fast racing around the cans or coastal cruising is not necessarily fast when loaded as a liveaboard boat. Lightweight boats dont take heavy loads well. We are between 18 and 19 tonnes when loaded, depending on fuel and water provision, yet we were faster than many modern yachts who left at the same time. We just sail as husband and wife, so no big crew, but we still sail quickly

[@Sailing-Maja]

Thanks for your comment. If I was doing it again, I would throw the can in the water with a fender. The solution showed in the video was the way we chose to do it back then. And regarding the lightweight vs heavy boat, its interesting to see what is "good" for coastal racing, not necessarily is the fastes thing out there on the ocean.

[@jimo5564]

We came upon a boat in need when we crossed the Atlantic. We traded a six pack of Coke for a box of pancake mix. We did it side by side, no tossing. Fun.

[@Sailing-Maja]

These things make life worth living.

[@pauljohnson9542]

If only all sailors were are skilled and perfect as some on the keyboard experts here

[@Sailing-Maja]

It is easy to sail in your own living room....

[@kunoknollenbuddler2167]

Good seamanship. Thanks for the help.

[@Sailing-Maja]

Thanks. It was a good feeling to be able to help out there.

[@jimreid67]

Nice transfer of the jug. It is good to be ready for the weight that the line handler will though have to overcome once that jug or any item is thrown into the water and the receiving boat is making way. It appears on this one they let loose on the main to slow down. Also they need to be ready to hoist the item out of water with a rig to the boom.

[@Sailing-Maja]

YEs, getting this up from the water in a moving boat is a work on its own.

[@harmseberhardharmseberhard9908]

It's nearly impossible for a thinking skipper, to run out of fuel on a sailingboat on the atlantic. You need fuel to leave harbour and to get into harbour, and sometimes to get out of a zone of no wind or very low winds. 25 gallons of diesel will be enough easily for crossing the atlantic. If you take additionally one or two jerrycans as a reserve, you won't have any problems ever.

[@kunoknollenbuddler2167]

Diesel on older boats isn't just used for propulsion but also for other tasks like making drinking water, heating, and generating electricity. Plus, jerrycans can leak because they get damaged by the rough seas, water can get in, and so on.

[@Sailing-Maja]

Crossing the Atlantic from the Caribbean til the Azores in a small boat with limited crew takes about three weeks. This is depending of a lot of factors, like the wind, current, state and knowledge of the crew, condition of gear and so on. There are mainly two routes, the northern ans the southern. The northern route has more wind, and sometimes too much wind. The southern route is shorter, but has often less wind, or no wind at all. We sailed the southern route. A friend of mine crossed at the same time, at the northern route. They were knocked down twice, and he is still afraid of heavy weather, more than 20 years later. Anyway, the southern route is without wind for many days. The boat in need had used almost all their fuel to het into an area of wind. Of course, they could have waited, but then they start to run out of food and water, and the limited crew (Husband + wife) may not be prepared to stay out in the uncertainty for that long. In order to try to get to an area with wind they spend all their fuel, leaving only what they needed to get into harbor at the Azores. Being out there they told other boats in the group of yachts sailing together that they had ran out of fuel. They would survive without it, no problem, but when we heard about this, and we had too much fuel, we offered them some of our fuel. You also need to remember that the ocean is big. From the day we heard about this, to the day we could reach them on VHF it took several days of sailing. (We had a shortwave receiver, not a transmitter, only way to communicate was VHF). Being able to offer them more security, we did it. By the time we managed to get in reach of them, the wind had started to blow again, and they were able to sail. Still, it was a weeks sailing left, and we did not know for how long the wind would last. Since we had the opportunity, we took the chance to transfer fuel from one boat to the other. This was not an emergency situation, they would probably survive. We just wanted to help them get more fuel in the situation they were. And it was fun doing it. Then we had something to get involved in. It could be long days out there on the big ocean.

[@mrno.7366]

I don't understand,,,they own a najad 343!! One of the best 👍 yacht ever..! So was the problem 😂?

[@harmseberhardharmseberhard9908]

​@@Sailing-Maja this crew on the Najad was obviously in trouble, to help them was a good thing. I simply wrote, that to get into this situation, was unneccessary and the result of unwise decisions. With a good weather forecast with gribfiles via satelite a good and seaworthy boat like this Najad should be able to sail from Bermuda to Horta in 2 or with weak winds in 3 weeks. You need for 3 weeks for a sailing couple about 100l or 25-30 gallons of drinking water and of course some in reserve, if you have no watermaker. I sailed this route alone in a steel boat a bit shorter but heavier than the Najad. The passage lasted 13 days on the southern route between the 34th and the 38th parallel.

[@simonmoody2649]

3000mls@5kts=600hrs, 150ltrs@1.7ltrs/hr=88hrs, Therefore 512 hrs@ 5 kts, When you are sitting there 1000 miles from wind, what is your course of action? .

[@davidhowie1329]

Did you consider trailing the container behind you at very low speed and let them pick it up?

[@Sailing-Maja]

We discussed a few things, and ended up on this solution. There might be a ton of other ways to do it, but this worked out quite well.

[@sailingvisions]

[@Sailing-Maja]

👍⛵️💪

[@hansguenter6263]

Warum macht man so etwas bei voller Fahrt ....????

[@kunoknollenbuddler2167]

Beim 2. Kanister sieht man, dass das annehmende Boot stoppt, sobald der Kanister im Wasser ist. Beim 1. Kanister war davon nichts zu sehen, so dass er vermutlich heftig an die Bordwand schepperte. = Lerneffekt. Aber ... Bei so großem Seegang kann man die Boote nicht vorsichtig aneinander legen. Man ist gezwungen, möglichst parallel zueinander zu fahren und sich vorsichtig anzunähern, um auf Leinenwurfdistanz zu kommen. Um die Boote gut im Kurs halten zu können braucht man ausreichend Segelfläche und Geschwindigkeit. Die Segelfläche erzeugt bei dem Wind große Kräfte, die auf die Boote wirken. Diese Kräfte führen dazu, dass die Rümpfe ruhiger im Wasser liegen als sie es tun würden, lägen sie komplett still. Außerdem erzeugt die hohe Geschwindigkeit eine wesentlich bessere Ruderführigkeit, weil durch die Anströmgeschwindigkeit an den Rudern ein höherer Druck aufgebaut werden kann. Da die Wurfleine vom Vorschiff aus geworfen werden muss, erhöht sich die Sicherheit der Person, weil die Boote einen Kurs durch die Wellen gewählt haben, der sie relativ ruhig, also ohne viel Rollen und Stampfen und mit einer den Wellen angepassten Geschwindigkeit unterwegs waren. Ja, das sieht erst mal wild aus, muss ich auch zugeben, aber vom seemännischen hätte ich das Manöver nicht viel anders angelegt. - Bis auf den 1. Kanister, da fehlte das Aufstoppen, ist aber ganz offensichtlich trotzdem noch mal gut gegangen.

[@Sailing-Maja]

Ich verstehe, dass Sie vielleicht danach fragen, und wenn Sie @kunoknollenbuddler2167 Antwort lesen, gibt es eine sehr gute Erklärung.

[@Sailing-Maja]

@kunoknollenbuddler2167 Das ist sehr gut zusammengefasst und es ist klar, dass Sie die Situation verstanden haben.

[@kunoknollenbuddler2167]

@@Sailing-MajaThanks 🙂 As a former bridge officer of a German Navy ship with about 150 RAS maneuvers of experience and a private sailor for 45 years, you get an idea of such things. 😉

[@gerhardvanwaltsleben8944]

Lekker man lekker 🇿🇦

[@Sailing-Maja]

Thanks!

[@anthonymikel]

I don't get it. You can hear the wind howling in the background. You can see the vessel that's taken the fuel has perfectly good sails. Why do they need the extra fuel? Why can't they just sail? Too many people these days just buy sailboats, and all they do is motor. If you read the old school sailing books, they all say if you want to learn how to sail, take that engine out of your boat and throw it in the ocean. This is what happens when you rely on your engine to get your sailboat around.

[@Sailing-Maja]

Sailing across the Atlantic takes about three weeks, depending on a lot of factors. By the time this happened we had been sailing for about two weeks, and we had long periods of very little wind. In order to get into areas with wind, several boats had burned fuel to move. Of course you can wait for wind, but that exposes you to other dangers, like running out of water and food. Our boat and our crew was able to sail in less wind, but the less modern yacht in need had used more fuel and had almost ran out. I dont know the situation in that boat. They might have argued. It might have been a bad mood. They might be afraid of running out of water. They might had a water leak, and lost water. It might have been one (or two) of the crew not really understanding how big the Atlantic is, and how long time it takes to cross. In some way, they have taken the decision to run the engine and hoped to find wind. When we heard about this we "rushed" in assistance (Here "Rushed" means sailing 4 knots for some days....) By the time we managed to find them, the wind had picked up, and it was no problem to sail even for this boat. Since we had reached them, and since it was still about a week left to the Azores, we decided to give them some fuel. We did not know for how long the wind would last. This was back in 2003, and we had no weather forecast out there. On the other hand, you are totally right. They could have waited for wind. They could have sailed. They could have been fighting against the wind that finally came in the wrong direction. They could have been real sailors, who loved to trim sails. But remember, they could also be just a normal couple spending one year out on a travel, and it might be that they actually were not very good at this. But they do deserve respect for doing it anyway. This couple would have survived without getting fuel, but they were very happy to get about 10 Gallons / 35 liters of fuel to be more secure of reaching the Azores in a sensible time. They would have made it anyway, but without knowing the wind conditions for the next week, they wanted that extra security. Since we had the possibility, and there are not much other things to do out there, we offered them our help.

[@timgreen4137]

Sailors helping sailors in need.

[@guidouytterhaegen]

Maybe you think you dont need electricity also…..running aut pilot,plotters,radio,frreezer,al not necessary off course but helfull??

[@timgreen4137]

@guidouytterhaegen Wind generators and solar panels can take care of those things with an inverter.

[@ViajerosPorMaryTierra]

Awesome anecdote ❤️ Thanks for explaining it 🙏🏻 was a good read 😊 all the best 🙏🏻❤️⛵🏴‍☠️🦜⚓🌎​@@Sailing-Maja

[@Cloudburst1957]

Would be good to hear from the poster what the emergency was and how 10 litres was going to help?

[@Sailing-Maja]

Well, there was not an emergency. They had almost ran out of fuel, but everything else was working (as far as I know, I was not onboard, and I do not know anything of the conditions and moods onboard that boat). The emergency was not life-threatening, but I guess they were tired and wet and cold and wanted to get to the Azores within reasonable time. It took us days of sailing in calm wind conditions to reach them. As you can see from the video, the wind had picked up at the time we managed to reach them, and they might have been able to sail all the way to the Azores. But with still about a week to sail, they could not know for how long they would have wind. The wind might die again. OK, then they just need to wait a few days or a week, and the wind will come back, but with the wet and cold conditions, and who knows how motivated they really were for this passage, they wanted to get to the Azores in reasonable time. Not because it was an emergency, but because they wanted to. Getting about 10 Gallons / 35 Lites of fuel would help them to get progress in case the wind died again. We had plenty of fuel, and when we understood they were almost empty we offered them help. It was not a life saving help, but it gave them more security getting to their destination in a reasonable time. And it was fun doing it, and gave us real life experience. I had a video camera with me, and filmed this. Remember, this was two years before KZbin was launched, so we did not film this in order to show the world. It was meant for our family video. Anyway, fast forward 20 years, and it is now on KZbin.

[@Cloudburst1957]

Thanks for the comprehensive response. Was a great opportunity for you to exercise some skills which few of us get the chance to do until it IS an emergency. Go well.

[@rasputitza]

CLICKBAIT

[@Sailing-Maja]

Thanks for your comment. I want to understang. Why do you think this is clickbait?