Lost for months in the mid-Pacific

[John B 116]

I live in Kiribati for a while, you can get ships into the lagoon. In fact the Americans killed a shitload of themselves because they did just that, against the recommendations of 2 kiwis and a Aussie who knew the place very well.

 

That was the Battle of Tarawa.... which mostly took place on Betio and Bairiki, 2 of the lumps that stick up above sea level on the SW corner of Tawara, which is quite large. Most lumps are joined by causeways now.

 

There was a Japanese airfield on the Island they didn't want to leave behind them as they moved back westward across the pacific so they wanted the Japanese gone.

 

The Americans came into the lagoon to get behind some big guns aimed East but couldn't be turned around. The NZ and Aussies said best not too as it is shallow close to land, a bit like Cheltenham beach where the tide goes out 200mts. There it doesn't fully dry but drops to knee-waist deep. The Americans knew better so after 4 days of bombing the crap out of the tiny bit of sand, it's no bigger than Motuihe, by aircraft during the day and navy during the night. The Americans then jumped in the boats to go ashore thinking they would meet bugger all. But the Japanese had fortified their placed with coconut palms and layers of sand so were hardly touched.

 

The Americans got about 100mts from dry land and ran aground. They all jump out to wade ashore. The Japanese came out from their bunkers and mowed them down in their 1000's. Took 3-4 days to clear the island, as tiny as it was. 27,000 people died for a tiny tiny piece of sand in the middle of no where.

 

We dug 3 Japanese soldiers up when doing the footings. One was still in full uniform complete with gun, ammo, canteen and all his gear. Lost count of how much munitions were also found, much just lying on the ground.

 

They have a excellent archive on Bairiki with footage and photos. With many of the structures still there it was very easy to stand and see exactly where the bodies washed against the beach 20 deep in the waves, very sobering to think humans can do that to each other. My 'house' was 25mts odd from the still existing Japanese HQ bunker. Not a bad size very thick walled concrete structure.... with many holes in it.

 

But I digress... carry on.

I think it'll be Christmas island they couldn't get into. A cyclone changed the depth there a few years ago and its a roadstead anchorage now.

[erice 732]

they seem to have relied on their vhf for ship - shore communications once their phone-sat?- got washed overboard by wave

 

but surely if they had been loitering around a major island lagoon trying to enter there would have been other boats listening in or people on shore?

 

wonder when they started their daily emergency broadcasts?

[ex TL systems 63]

On YouTube a channel called slow boat sailing has there conference call to media on it,seems they were lucky to survive the attacking 40 to 50 ft tiger sharks etc which went on to destroy someone else's boat because they saw the wreckage a few days later.

[wheels 544]

 

attacking 40 to 50 ft tiger sharks etc which went on to destroy someone else's boat because they saw the wreckage a few days later.

I have heard some scary stories about how big things can grow out there. Wow. I think they are really lucky the Giant Squids did not try to eat them too. That big deep blue ocean can be a scary place...especially in the Dark.

Does anyone think that years supply of food they had on board may have gone off somewhat?

[Dambo 44]

I'm currently dip-reading John Glennie's book, people doubted their story too.  Couldn't believe it, total fantasy etc, etc, 

 

On the other hand this story sounds really confusing and more than a little bit BS.  I too like the movie/book/publishing rights conspiracy theory.

 

Another idea: in the year's worth of supplies were some freeze dried mushrooms bought in Amsterdam  

[John B 116]

Oh I have no doubt they've been floating around, rolling around  by the looks of that weed, for 5 months.Like I said above you have to anchor outside Christmas island in the eastern Kiribati group since about 2012/ 13 or so.( never been there but have a friend who did that)

 Serial exaggerators though.

Its getting worth telling stories now though... We were in the Lau group when the Oyster went up in the Southern Lau.

Then later, about 30 miles from where that other great hopeless case Rimas 'disappeared' from ( Texas reef off Rabi island) We were around Duff reef  or Weilangilala . In Savusavu wondering where Bobby was when Avanti went up on Beveridge reef.

 

And NOW.... We were also floating around the Pacific for 5 months at the very same time as these Guys. Be it below the equator.

 Hardly anything happened to us 'cept being attacked in bed by a beltfish which jumped over the hard dodger , in through a companionway, through an open hatchcover and landed between us in bed. hang on hang on... No it was 5 ft long barracuda and smashed its way through the polycarbonate clears like a 357 magnum bullet shot by Dirty Harry in a bad mood, it thrashed around and nearly killed us with its  4 inch long fangs, if I didn't happen to be Jason Bourne we were toast . man.

 

 ohh and then there was the juvenile humpback whales beside the dinghy... er , I mean  the Blue whale , must have been  100 ft long and we were on our paddleboards without paddles so we didn't need our lifejackets. Came up right beside us , umm I mean inhaled us and spat us back out.

[raz88 97]

They've also done an interview with people magazine which is quite special too

 

http://people.com/human-interest/jennifer-appel-tasha-fuiava-rescued-at-sea-after-five-months-speak-out/

[erice 732]

“I’m telling you I’ve never seen any Stanley Cup winner come even close to the precision these five sharks had,” Appel says. “Three would get on one side and two would get on the other side, and they would make waves and try to knock down the boat.”

 

orca work together

 

make waves etc

 

to tip things over

 

​didn't realise monster tiger sharks did the same 

[erice 732]

Although Appel has been sailing the Hawaiian islands for 10 years and spent two years preparing for this voyage, she acknowledged she and Fuiava, a novice sailor, may not have prepared as well as they could have.

 

They said they tried without success to hail a number of ships and fired off 10 signal flares. One of their cellphones had been washed overboard early in the voyage, but they were out of cell range anyway.

 

They carried two GPS units; one failed and they had to rely on the hand-held model for the entire voyage, Appel said in a phone interview from the USS Ashland Friday.

 

They also had a new VHF radio, a ham radio, a weather satellite and a radio telephone.

 

She says none worked, and they apparently had a communications failure with their new antenna.

 

She says they had six ways to communicate with multiple backups, and none of them worked. That, she said, “exceeds Murphy’s Law.”

 

They even carried a satellite phone that she said never seemed to connect.

 

https://apnews.com/5d1eb08ee642473f92c924f6804501fe

 

so it seems they had the gear

 

but not necessarily the testing + training

 

pity after drowning the ignition switch by not keeping the cockpit drains open in a storm, they didn't know how to short the start relay with a screwdriver

 

or know enough about sails + rigging to use them in less than perfect condition

[raz88 97]

according to wikipedia the max a tiger shark can grow to is 16 feet.  Also they're apparently solitary.

 

I guess these ones were close enough to the fukushima nuclear leaks that they've grown to over triple the previously recorded max size and completely changed their behavioural patterns...

 

Chatter on SA is that people know Appel from the time she spent in the marina in Hawaii getting ready and that she has a reputation as a con-artist/fraudster.

[harrytom 697]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11939011

 

Why did they not activate the EPRIB?

[jonathan 4]

easy to jump a start relay, I call excessively BS

 

what sailing experience did they have?

[MarkMT 68]

Another snippet:

 

...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://bit.ly/2xDKUWt

 

So less than a day from their destination when they had already lost their engine and damaged their mast. The fact that they virtually got to Tahiti from Hawaii suggests they weren't completely incapable of navigating or sailing. Maybe they didn't really want to arrive.

[wheels 544]

MarkMT, they were picked up closer to Japan. Certainly nowhere near Tahiti.

This story of theirs is all bollocks. It has to be.The more we hear, the weirder it gets.

Calling Mayday and no one hearing, yeah OK, even with Ships and other vessels in sight, It's possible.
Letting off 10 flares, no one sighting, that is harder to believe, but ok, I will be generous and say possible.
Not being able to start engine after heavy Rain/Storm. Possible, if they are truly clueless to engines. But one of them worked for years on the Boat before hand. You would expect her to know how to start the engine other than from the key panel.
Rigging looks fine. I can't see anything wrong with their rig. Plus that Mainsail has not long been up. It is far to "baggy" on the boom to have been left tied to it.
And what a truly weird pattern of slime on the Hull.
And now we hear they had a Working EPIRB, They thought they were not going to survive another day and yet they then say they did not think themselves in enough danger to trigger the EPIRB. That one takes the Cake.

I think the Authorities need to send these Woman a Bill for Rescue Costs.
If the story were true, I wouldn't be letting them have charge of a Li-Low in a swimming pool.

[raz88 97]

Even mainstream media is now becoming suspicious

 

https://apnews.com/4460838636004d73b307e44ce4b66fe5

[wheels 544]

Hmmm, think you are underestimating your abilities KM. However, if you really don't know, then either do one of those Sailing Courses on Engines, or get someone to show you the basics. It could be very helpful one day.

[raz88 97]

Find back of switch panel.  Apply piece of wire/screwdriver/etc across terminals of start button/switch.  Vroom!

[Island Time 1,297]

Maybe Raz, if it's the switch that failed, as maybe it was in this case. Shorting the solenoid with a screwdriver is easy on most boats....

[BMW56 13]

Article on Stuff this morning:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/98428346/doubts-over-womens-harrowing-sea-ordeal

[Berend de Boer 2]

She said she was able to repair the second watermaker with parts salvaged from their first. She also claims to have restored her boat. So certainly would indicate technical abilities.

 

On the other hand, how common is it to have two watermakers? It seems these things are pretty expensive, so is having two common?