# Sailors rescued after five months adrift **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019 "2017-10-27T20:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/202 "2017-11-02T16:46:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > They accused the fishing boat of striking their vessel and damaging it. That would be good enough reason to examine it. I don’t know whether they did or not, but it seems unlikely that a Navy ship would tow a small disabled vessel. It would likely be further damaged and sink in the process. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/203 "2017-11-02T17:23:48Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > Pretty stupid blog piece. It’s clear that the guy never listened to the actual interviews, and repeats a number of the errors or misstatements in the news reports, such as that they subsisted on just oatmeal, rice, and pasta and that they brought food for a year, rather than six months. He also continues the confusion of Kiribati and Kiritimati. It’s not really that good a summary. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/204 "2017-11-02T17:28:53Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Tania Ebai famously sailed around the world single alone in her 26 foot sloop when she was 18 y.o. It’s actually [Tanya Aebi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tania_Aebi). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/205 "2017-11-02T17:34:19Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is there a detailed list of what they brought onboard food-wise? Not detailed, but I mentioned up thread that Appel said they had beef jerky (odd for apparent vegans), oatmeal, rice, pasta, and dried fruit and nuts at least. I don’t think there’s any reason to doubt that they had enough food for them and their dogs to ward off starvation for five months. (By the way, the blog author compares the weight of a years worth of food sold by Costco, but that consists largely of canned goods, which they specifically said they did not take.) > [@Czarcasm](#): > > What the fuck happened to all the communication devices they had on board? I hope someone does a thorough inspection of them. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > They accused the fishing boat of striking their vessel and damaging it. That would be good enough reason to examine it. If you would read the thread and links more closely you would find these questions have already been answered. Their boat was declared unseaworthy and abandoned, presumably with the communications gear on board. They did not make the claim that the fishing boat had struck their boat until some time after they had been rescued and the boat abandoned. The Ashland had no particular reason to do a forensic examination of the boat, and decided it wasn’t worthwhile trying to tow it back with them. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/206 "2017-11-02T17:34:22Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > It’s actually [Tanya Aebi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tania_Aebi). Her too. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/207 "2017-11-02T17:40:35Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > EPIRBs are sattelite based unless it its a really old 121.5 unit They transmit on a frequency of 406 MHz, which a number of satellites monitor. Surface-based searchers - e.g. a Coast Guard vessel trying to find a beacon that satellites had reported - would also receive those 406 MHz signals. Many EPIRBs now (of course) include a GPS receiver, so their position can be part of what’s transmitted. The old versions that transmitted on 121.5 MHz used to be monitored by satellite, but those satellites are no longer functional. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/208 "2017-11-02T21:23:38Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Neither of those women, nor the dogs, looked like they went months without eating anything. Maybe they were obese at the outset? ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/209 "2017-11-02T21:43:48Z")
i know shit about sailing, but i have a thing for clothes and sharks, and there are MANY dubious eyebrows at the whole ‘shark attack’ thing, Also one of the women claimed to have lost 70 lbs. i would like to know why she had clothes packed that would fit her so well when she had lost roughly 7 clothes sizes. To be quite clear, if she was at the weight she was pictured as rescued at (looks like something in the range of 150-200 lbs) that means she started out easily into the solidly XXL category in clothes, and her now M to L frame is perfectly fitted into her clothes in pictures of the rescue. Maybe she borrowed them from the other woman? But if they weren’t short on food til the end, then why would she lose so much weight? Sailing (especially when drifting) isn’t exactly strenuous. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/210 "2017-11-02T22:14:46Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > Also one of the women claimed to have lost 70 lbs. Link? I haven’t seen any statement to that effect, and Googling doesn’t come up with anything. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/211 "2017-11-02T22:42:17Z")
What about the blogger’s point about having to run the watermaker all day just to keep up with their needs? They don’t look noticeably dehydrated, to be sure. I don’t know how those things work; is it something one sets up and leaves to run on its own, or does the operator have to be continually doing something to keep it producing fresh water? ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/212 "2017-11-02T22:43:00Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > … > > Boats well over 50 feet are sailed and handled safely and effectively by a single person. I’ve sailed a 45 foot boat effectively alone. Once I’m out of the slip, I’m good to single hand most cruising type sailboats. To me, at least, it isn’t a question whether or not a 50 footer can be single-handed, but whether or not it was their plan to single-hand sail the boat for 1600 miles in open ocean. I don’t believe that was their plan. I’d guess at least a roller-reefing mainsail would be in order (which, according to the photos, they did not have). In addition, if the plan was to single-hand, any sailor with sense enough to inhale would have put in for repairs at first available port, even if it meant turning around. Finally, if that was the plan, the pilot would have made damn sure the radios worked and that she knew how to operate them. If that wasn’t their plan, then Appel clearly engaged in reckless endangerment. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/213 "2017-11-02T22:44:30Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > Also one of the women claimed to have lost 70 lbs. How much shit was she full of before? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/214 "2017-11-02T22:59:04Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > What about the blogger’s point about having to run the watermaker all day just to keep up with their needs? They don’t look noticeably dehydrated, to be sure. I don’t know how those things work; is it something one sets up and leaves to run on its own, or does the operator have to be continually doing something to keep it producing fresh water? He amended that part yesterday: > [@](#): > > [EDIT 11/1/17: there are a ton of other desalinator options on the market that would meet their needs more easily, though they didn’t specify what kind they used. It also appears they have a wind generator in some of the photos, which might have made enough power to run an electric one, depending on conditions. **Safe to assume water wasn’t an issue.**] Bolding mine. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/215 "2017-11-02T23:20:10Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Link? I haven’t seen any statement to that effect, and Googling doesn’t come up with anything. hmmm, i could swear i saw it in one of the news stories today, but the only place i’m seeing it now is that blogger’s page, so i’ll retract it until/unless i can find a reputable cite. i’d like to think i didn’t see it there, but i can’t be sure. i was tweeting and following lots of links earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/216 "2017-11-02T23:23:14Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > Also one of the women claimed to have lost 70 lbs. Must have eaten her 10 year old child. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/217 "2017-11-02T23:54:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If she knows. Suppose that, a few days out from Hawaii, they encounter a _small_ storm. Not actually enough to be worth worrying about, but on a sailboat on the open ocean, it feels far worse than anything the landlubber has ever experienced. The more experienced woman, who’s the only one of the two who actually knows, tells her that it was a “level 11 storm”, or whatever. Does she have any reason to doubt that? > > Likewise, if the more experienced one tells the less experienced one that the mast is too damaged to sail, or that the engine is broken and unrepairable, or whatever. The less experienced one can’t know any better. > > If the more experienced one was lying, it might come out from experts examining the engine or mast or weather records or whatever, but it won’t come out from the other woman, at least until after the experts have already had their say. And even then, something like Munchausen’s Syndrome might still have her defending her captor. I’m sure you meant Stockholm Syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/218 "2017-11-03T00:34:46Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Link? I haven’t seen any statement to that effect, and Googling doesn’t come up with anything. The reporter says it at about [17 seconds into the video](http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/us-women-lost-sea-months-describe-ordeal-50806613). ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/219 "2017-11-03T01:14:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If anyone has an explanation for their not turning on that beacon because they were waiting for a “real” emergency(???) and their declaration that they were sure the boat wouldn’t last another 24 hours I sure as fuck would like to hear it. Strangely enough, their story seems to have changed: [Los Angeles Times: Lost-at-sea saga marked by inconsistencies, changing stories](http://www.latimes.com/sns-bc-us--lost-at-sea-inconsistencies-20171031-story.html) > [@](#): > > In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Appel said the beacons only work if airplanes are flying overhead, and the pilots would relay the information to the Coast Guard. She said she didn’t activate it because they were not under a known flight path. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/220 "2017-11-03T01:25:57Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Strangely enough, their story seems to have changed: > > [Los Angeles Times: Lost-at-sea saga marked by inconsistencies, changing stories](http://www.latimes.com/sns-bc-us--lost-at-sea-inconsistencies-20171031-story.html) > > > [@](#): > > > > In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Appel said the beacons only work if airplanes are flying overhead, and the pilots would relay the information to the Coast Guard. She said she didn’t activate it because they were not under a known flight path. Another paragraph down in that article Phil Johnson, a retired Coast Guard officer who was responsible for search and rescue operations had the same thought I did. > [@](#): > > He [Phil Johnson] said Appel’s comments made him think she didn’t how the beacon works. So, she’s an idiot. If the story is true, we’ve already pretty much confirmed that. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/221 "2017-11-03T02:46:30Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Strangely enough, their story seems to have changed: > > [Los Angeles Times: Lost-at-sea saga marked by inconsistencies, changing stories](http://www.latimes.com/sns-bc-us--lost-at-sea-inconsistencies-20171031-story.html) > > > [@](#): > > > > In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Appel said the beacons only work if airplanes are flying overhead, and the pilots would relay the information to the Coast Guard. She said she didn’t activate it because they were not under a known flight path. My guess is that she scrounged a lot of used gear (which might explain why she had radio difficulties). If she got her hands on an EPIRB of pre-2009 vintage, it would probably signal at 121.5 MHz. EPIRBS send signals to whomever is listening on the EPIRB frequency. It used to be that both civil aviation and satellites monitored 121.5 emergency, but by Feb 2009 the satellites no longer used 121.5 and instead used 406, although civil aircraft still used 121.5 as their emergency frequency. LSL Guy could inform us of the present use of 121.5 (query: do aircraft monitor it globally, or only certain places) – it’s over my head (flying about over my head). Odds are that whoever sold or gave her a 121.5 MHz EPIRB probably would have pointed out that it would not be heard by satellites, but still could be heard by planes that might be in range. Thus her statement flight paths and her not using her EPIRB. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019.md?page=12)