Women adrift at sea for five months had beacon but didn't turn it on

[jmowreader]

http://www.khq.com/story/36721995/apnewsbreak-lost-sailors-did-not-activate-emergency-beacon

HONOLULU (AP) - The U.S. Coast Guard says the two Hawaii women who were lost at sea for five months had an emergency beacon known as an EPIRB aboard their sailboat that was never activated.

U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Scott Carr told The Associated Press on Monday that their review of the incident and subsequent interviews with the survivors revealed that they had the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) aboard but never turned it on.

[dhill926]

1. jesus.....

they are so lucky to be alive...

[LisaL]

12. Oh for crying out loud.

How is that the conclusion to be made from knowing that they had the means to be found and didn't use it?

[dhill926]

14. I've been following the story....

and the boat was in really bad shape, not to mention all that can go wrong in 5 months at sea....for crying out loud....

[LisaL]

16. Yea, well, they had the means to be found (EPIRB), according to the article.

But she claims she didn't feel they were truly in distress. So maybe get a clue?

“We asked why during this course of time did they not activate the EPIRB. She had stated they never felt like they were truly in distress, like in a 24-hour period they were going to die,” said Coast Guard spokeswoman..."

http://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/10/30/breaking-news/lost-sailors-did-not-activate-emergency-beacon/

[mythology]

25. Then they are even bigger idiots than getting lost at sea for 5 months already indicated

Considering they were sending up flares and claim their boat was within a day of sinking, I think it's fair to say these two buffoons make the Skipper and Gilligan look like world class sailors.

Utterly irresponsible.

[LisaL]

26. That's not what I am getting from the story.

Here is another factoid from the article. So, according to the article, in June, they were near their supposed destination (Tahiti)even though when the story came out, they supposedly lost the engine after leaving for Tahiti.

"Carr also said the Coast Guard made radio contact with a vessel that identified itself as the Sea Nymph in June near Tahiti, and the captain said they were not in distress and expected to make land the next morning. That was after the women reportedly lost their engines and sustained damage to their rigging and mast."
http://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/10/30/breaking-news/lost-sailors-did-not-activate-emergency-beacon/

[bluepen]

27. Yeah, five months and not in distress.

[LisaL]

29. You forget they had enough food for a year.

[bluepen]

32. I didnt forget.

I actually laughed at that because it has almost nothing to do with whether a boat is in distress. Clearly, another thing they didn’t know.

[LisaL]

40. I don't get the feeling this was due to incompetence.

[bluepen]

41. I do.

From the article:

“When asked if the two had the radio beacon aboard, the women told the AP on Friday they had a number of other communications devices, but they didn't mention the beacon.”

They were unfit to operate that vessel. No two ways about it.

[LisaL]

42. There is more than one article that makes it clear she knew they had the beacon.

"During the post-incident debriefing by the Coast Guard, Jennifer Appel, who was on the sailboat with Tasha Fuiava, was asked if she had the emergency beacon on board. Appel replied she did, and that it was properly registered."
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Women-finally-reach-land-after-months-adrift-at-12318778.php

[bluepen]

47. So they did not know, or forgot, after they did know?

And they were out for five months, and didn’t use the beacon because...they had enough food?

Right.

Hopefully they will take the Coast Guard boating safety course before they go out and do something stupid again.

[LisaL]

60. Who says they forgot?

How do you forget having a beacon that could get you rescued when you are lost in the middle of the ocean? She didn't claim she forgot, she claimed she didn't feel she was going to die.

“Our hull was solid, we were floating, we had food, we had water, and we had limited maneuverable capacity,” Appel said in Japan, where the U.S. Navy took them after they were rescued by a Navy ship. “All those things did not say we are going to die. All that said, it’s going to take us a whole lot longer to get where we’re going.”

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/10/31/lost-sea-rescued/107186996/

[bluepen]

61. What other explanation is there for mentioning it

one time but not another, as our two previous posts demonstrate?

Bottom line: they’re idiots or they’re making this up.

[tblue37]

65. Why am I getting balloon boy vibes from this story? nt

[Phentex]

68. I had the same vibes...

when it happened, I told my husband it sounds like they were hoping to write a book about their experience. Too many holes.

[Quixote1818]

2. They fucking had the ruby slippers all along!

[boston bean]

3. Obvious question?? Why the hell didn't they turn it on??

[jmowreader]

5. It doesn't say

[boston bean]

6. I noticed that!!

[LisaL]

15. Here is the article that claims she didn't feel they were truly in distress.

Even though I heard her say that she didn't think they were going to make it for another 24 hours. Does that add up in any way?

"“We asked why during this course of time did they not activate the EPIRB. She had stated they never felt like they were truly in distress, like in a 24-hour period they were going to die,” said Coast Guard spokeswoman..."
http://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/10/30/breaking-news/lost-sailors-did-not-activate-emergency-beacon/

[octoberlib]

31. It doesn't add up. I wonder if they were hoping for publicity and a book deal?

[LisaL]

34. Well, if they had an emergency beacon and could have used it to be rescued, but

didn't use it, I can only conclude they were not in a hurry to be rescued. What other conclusion can one make?

[joshcryer]

43. Yeah, or a movie deal or whatever.

But their story isn't being brought by anyone. In their "struggle" of staying in the cabin for 5 months they didn't consider that anyone would see their story as total bullshit. After all, it was probably not pleasant.

[LisaL]

44. Some people here buy it.

[joshcryer]

46. It wouldn't pass the test for a best seller or a movie / tv show.

So if that was their plan then they were idiots.

That some people will buy any story isn't surprising.

Hell I gave them the benefit of the doubt until I saw your comments about their pictures (they definitely were not struggling to any appreciable extent, submariners go through worse for much longer).

[LisaL]

48. I think pretty much everybody noticed they looked really good for being five month adrift.

Even the dogs looked to be in decent shape.

[Mariana]

53. That's cause just about everyone who is found

after spending a long time adrift is barely alive (or isn't alive) when they're found. They're starved and dehydrated. These people had food and water for themselves and their dogs. There's no reason they shouldn't be in good physical condition.

[LisaL]

59. They also an emergency beacon they could have used to get rescued.

I have no clue what you are arguing here?

[Mariana]

71. Since they weren't dehydrated and starving

maybe they didn't consider their situation an emergency. Who knows? Maybe we'll find out why, eventually.

You: Pretty much everybody noticed they looked really good.
Me: There's no reason they shouldn't look really good.

No argument, really.

[TheDebbieDee]

4. They didn't have a radio or satellite telephone?

They had a years worth of supplies on the boat but no back-up transmitter? Nobody knew to expect them so nobody knew they were missing?

Whole story sounds very suspicious to me...

[jmowreader]

7. According to the article, they claimed to have several pieces of comms gear

Yes, this tale is becoming stranger and stranger as information comes in.

[GulfCoast66]

8. WTF?

I have a boat and am thinking about getting one. And I never go more than 40 miles off shore. They could have help within 4 hours. It works all around the earth.

Crazy story.

[unblock]

9. Sounds like they didn't know they had it.

They are very lucky to have been found.

[LisaL]

11. How did they not know they had it?

For crying out loud, when asked, she (the owner of the boat) said they had it. How do you think it got on board without owner knowing it?
Jeez.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/10/30/breaking-news/lost-sailors-did-not-activate-emergency-beacon/

[unblock]

20. Thanks, that article has rather more info than the op

Yeah, starting to sound more like they were happy to be lost and would have called for a rescue if they wanted one.

[LisaL]

21. That's what it sounded like to me from the start.

It certainly appears they had the means to be rescued (emergency beacon) if that is what they wanted. I guess they haven't ate all the food yet.

[unblock]

22. Now I've hear conflicting stories on the damage to their boat

I've seen them quote both ways as to whether it could last 24 more hours. One story said they thought they would die in that time were it not for the rescue, and this story says they didn't use the beacon because they didn't think they were in imminent danger in their he next 24 hours.

[LisaL]

24. Did either of them look like they weren't going to make it another 24 hours?

[unblock]

33. I didn't get the impression that any 24hour danger was from exposure or illness or starvation

I had gotten the impression that they were saying the boat was falling apart imminently, that was what was going to get then killed.

[LisaL]

35. I guess that would have been a really good time to use that emergency beacon, then. No?

[LisaL]

62. And the boat wasn't falling apart.

“Our hull was solid, we were floating, we had food, we had water, and we had limited maneuverable capacity,” Appel said in Japan, where the U.S. Navy took them after they were rescued by a Navy ship. “All those things did not say we are going to die. All that said, it’s going to take us a whole lot longer to get where we’re going.”

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/10/31/lost-sea-rescued/107186996/

[Not Ruth]

10. It is one of the simpler things to operate on a sailboat

[jmowreader]

13. Isn't there a huge red button on one?

[Not Ruth]

17. It varies, but generally it says to be rescued, press here

[jberryhill]

30. .

[NotASurfer]

18. So they had two choices

Option 1, adrift in a sailboat until it falls apart and sinks under you

Option 2, big red “rescue me” button...and go back to Trumptopia

Tell me five months ago you might not have thought long and hard about the first option too

[LisaL]

19. Well, they had enough food for a year, and the year wasn't up yet.

[kentuck]

23. Something fishy about that story...

They both looked very healthy for being at sea for five months.

[unblock]

36. They had a year of food and shelter from the sun

[LisaL]

39. And an emergency radio beacon that could have gotten them rescued.

[procon]

45. Yes, they did, and they both looked very clean as well.

Their clothes looked clean, and so was their hair, that struck me as very odd the first time I saw the video, and it seemed so out of place if they had limited water resources.

[Mariana]

54. You can wash with seawater.

There's nothing about seawater that makes it not work to get clothes and bodies clean.

[lapfog_1]

28. I suspect a book based on their "plight" will be forthcoming soon

with hopes to sell the movie rights.

So long as nobody actually outs them as having planned this.

[ffr]

52. I thought much the same thing when I saw their reaction to being rescued

and the health of their dogs onboard.

Then all the to-do hype about 20 - 30 ft sharks swarming around their boat. WHAT??

[EX500rider]

37. They said they couldn't sail because of a broken spreader on the Vice story...

....but it didn't look broken in the vid's I've seen...and the mast didn't look tweaked at all, it look sailable to me.
And if the mast is still up and you still have some sails it is sailable.

[ecstatic]

38. It didn't seem like they were ever reported missing

which I found kind of odd. And shouldn't they be like 80 lbs after 5 months on oatmeal? Such a weird story!

[Phentex]

69. I don't know about the food but yes that one point...

did they tell no one where they were planning to go? On a sail boat? Wouldn't they want someone to know where they were going, you know just in case a bad storm hit or something?

[betsuni]

49. At first I assumed they wanted a book/movie out of this, either they planned it from the beginning

or had the idea after engine trouble. Then on another thread about this a DUer found out from their Facebook pages they're both Trump supporters, so now I will concede that there is also the possibility they're nutty idiots. Either way, they're idiots.

I keep thinking, didn't they have any trouble with typhoons?

[rusty fender]

50. I found it odd

that neither one was sunburned.

[unblock]

51. I believe their boat had an enclosed lower deck

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

55. Where did they store a year's supply of food?

That wasn't too large of a boat.

I guess I'm becoming cynical in my old age, but there are too many contradictions in their story, not the least of which is the unused EPIRB.

And the shark story reminds me of this:



I guess I'll have to wait for the book and movie to find out what really happened.

[jmowreader]

56. I wonder if maybe they turned off all their electronics...

because they didn't actually depart Hawaii five months ago, and the truth would make their book and movie plans less likely.

[Lee-Lee]

58. They make the long term storage stuff fairly compact

You can get a prepackaged kit that had a years worth of food that will fit in a closet. Freeze dried food plus a lot of rice and beans.

If you have any Mormon friends or acquaintances ask them about how they do it. Their religion requires them to have 3-12 months of food on hand for the family at all times for emergencies, and they will talk freely about it.

[Not Ruth]

64. Tougher to freeze dry water than food

[Thor_MN]

72. They were in a boat, surrounded by water, big water, ocean water.

Ocean water can be made drinkable with a reverse osmosis filter. Add some solar cells and one has all the fresh water one needs, until the pre-filters become clogged with particulate. It's not like the days of old, where 5 months adrift was a death sentence.

[Vinnie From Indy]

57. These women planned this charade

Watch for the book/movie deal in the coming months.

[NCTraveler]

63. Something is really wrong here.

EPIRB’s are very valuable pieces of equipment on a boat. People who have one don’t forget about them. It’s not even a last resort. It should have been flipped the second the motor went down, if not sooner.

[Orrex]

66. This is like that guy lost in the Sahara while carrying a car door

Upon his rescue, they asked him why he carried the door with him.

"So that I could roll down the window when it got too hot."

[Phentex]

70. Badum ching!

[Dave Starsky]

67. There sure have been some strange stories in the news lately.

This, and that guy who took his family hiking in Afghanistan(!), where his baby(!) got killed and his wife was raped for seven years. Nothing adds up in these crazy stories.

It's like the Matrix is having technical difficulties.