|
|
|
|
Winlink
use During an Emergency at Sea
Loss
of SV MAPEMA
Not
all messages that are handled by Winlink are just merely greetings between a
remote traveler and the folks at home. Sometimes they are about real life
emergency situations when crew and vessels are at serious risk. The message
below is a record of such an unhappy event. Udo Trost, an experienced yachtsmen,
had such an emergency when his sailboat, SV MAPEMA, was holed while crossing the
Atlantic from Antigua to the Azores. His brief message, sent later to the
Winlink Development Team, describes it all. What is remarkable about Udo is that
he had the presence of mind to send out an emergency message via Winlink while
his vessel was actually sinking. It might have contributed to his rescue. His
story, written when he was still suffering the after effects of the disaster,
(and lightly edited for clarity) is as follows: QUOTE Dear
friends, It
is now 5 weeks ago, since I lost our MAPEMA. Slowly I’m coming to grips with
the new situation - but very slowly! We still feel like as if we are on a
vacation that soon will be over. But at the same time we realize that we will be
grounded on land for a long time. For
our friends who don't know about our misery, I will explain what happened. On
the 13th of May I left English Harbour in Antigua to sail across the Atlantic
Ocean towards the Azores. Until
about half way, everything went perfect. No problems whatsoever. But on the 26th
of May, about 0.30 UT, all of a sudden there was a horrible rebound and noise.
MAPEMA was thrown around about 150 degrees and the Genoa headsail was backed up!
From above deck there was nothing to see on the water but when going down below
I was shocked. I looked in the bilge and within about three 3 minutes there was
already 40cm water in the ship! One look at the separate and partially
bulkheaded engine bilge showed about 30cm of saltwater. I
tried to get rid of it with my two Lenz pumps but the water went higher. After
about 4 hours of fighting against it, I had to give up MAPEMA. By that point of
the time the water went over the map table (1,5m). Before it would be too late
and the batteries flooded, I did send an “PanPan” email via Pactor to the
Rescue Center in Bremen. Later, after I had also activated the EPIRB, and sat in
the dinghy, the shock passed me out and I was unconscious until dawn.
Suddenly, I saw the two lights of my “big brother” - I have never
been so happy and glad to see a freighter before!! The Russian banana cargo ship
BALTIC CLOUD took me on board. They
wrote on their logbook: “Distress Person, Udo Trost well and save on
board 8.30h local time (11UT).” With
16-22 knots following wind, Baltic Cloud rushed NE and it passed the Azores two
days later. I disembarked on the 3rd of June in Kalundborg, Denmark. The great
hospitality and heart and warmness of the Russian crew I will never forget!!!! By
train I went across Denmark to South Germany where Evi and the children picked
me up. DL got me back but I don't know whether I should laugh or cry. LJ Don't
ask us, which way our life will go on from now. We don't know yet but we will
see. Udo UNQUOTE The
cause of the crash has not as yet been determined, if ever it will. The
navigational hazard might have been a whale, a partially submerged submarine, or
more probably a container or another piece of debris floating on or just below
the surface of the water. Sailors
will understand the feeling of sadness felt by Udo and his family when losing a
faithful vessel under such tragic but heroic circumstances. Please send Udo an
expression of support. He can apparently be reached by email at MAYVOL@t-online.de.
Some good cheer might encourage him to look forward to new horizons. A
final word. It is hoped that shortly there will be a wider choice of Winlink
stations in the South Pacific and particularly in Australia and its Territories.
Only than will sea and land cruisers in these
geographic areas also have the added security of being able to make a radio connection to
report or prevent emergencies.
AussieWinlink |
|
