# Yacht with 7 Aboard Probably Lost at Sea in N.Z.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 29, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211 "2013-06-29T16:44:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211/1 "2013-06-29T16:44:28Z")
"A New Zealand meteorologist took the last known calls from seven people aboard a classic American racing yacht missing in the Tasman: “The weather’s turned nasty, how do we get away from it?”
The phone calls and texts suddenly stopped on June 4. More than three weeks later, searchers say they have grave concerns for the crew on the 84-year-old wooden vessel that went missing while sailing from New Zealand to Australia. Attempts to contact the crew by radio and an intensive Air Force aerial search this week have proved fruitless."
> **[Seven lost in stormy seas](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/racing-yacht-missing-seven-lost-in-stormy-seas/BVUY2VQQVNCYMA4YIVS6HO4RPI/?c_id=1&objectid=10893482)**
>
> A NZ meteorologist took the last call from seven people aboard an American racing yacht missing in the Tasman: "The weather's turned nasty, how do we get away from it?"
Here is an interesting thread about the situation as it developed over the last couple weeks (a sister getting increasingly worried):
> **[Schooner Nina - MERGED 3 THREADS - Cruisers & Sailing Forums](https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f121/schooner-nina-merged-3-threads-105498.html)**
>
> My brother and family are sailing their 1929 70 ft ocean going schooner , Nina 50 miles north of Whangarei, NZ to Newcastle,South Wales, Australia . How long does it take to make the sail and when
Any thoughts if the rescue attempts were later than they should have been?
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### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211/2 "2013-06-29T17:26:55Z")
Have they released the names of all 7 passengers yet?
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211/3 "2013-07-05T05:51:23Z")
Yes:
American owner David Dyche, 58, his 60-year-old wife, Rosemary and their son David, 17
British man Matthew Wooton, 35, and a 28 year old American man named Kyle
18-year-old American crew member Daniella Wright
73-year-old Evi Nemeth
> **[Text message factored into Nina search - NZ Herald](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/text-message-factored-into-nina-search/WGWXMNOEHN5S5OQREP44BZ5QKE/?c_id=1&objectid=10894739)**
>
> The father of an 18-year-old on board the missing American schooner Nina believes it may be just days from making port in Australia.
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### Author:  [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211/4 "2013-07-06T22:35:12Z")
> **[Lost yacht Nina an unsafe 'lead mine'](http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/8887997/Lost-yacht-Nina-an-unsafe-lead-mine)**
>
> Nina was unseaworthy and sailed by a traditionalist skipper who refused to have "gadgets" aboard, experts familiar with the boat say.
My opinions might sound harsh but… these aren’t the sort of seas to take these risks in.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2013, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211/5 "2013-12-13T08:47:23Z")
Relatives of the yacht crew haven’t given up hope and are still searching. They are using satellite images:
> **[Is Satellite Imagery The Future Of Search-And-Rescue Operations?](https://gcaptain.com/satellite-imagery-future-search-and-rescue/)**
>
> The search for the schooner, Niña, missing in the Tasman Sea, is breaking new ground in the use of satellite images to locate mariners.
If any Doper wants to help look at the images:
[http://www.tomnod.com/nod/challenge/ninarescue2](http://www.tomnod.com/nod/challenge/ninarescue2)
I would think they would have run out of fresh water by now.
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### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211/6 "2013-12-13T14:18:22Z")
You can’t fix stupid. these people knew what they were doing…and chose an unseaworthy vessel, in some of the most dangerous seas in the world. One guy refused to fly , because it was not green. Sad, but this ranks with climbing Everest solo, without oxygen.
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### Author:  [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211/7 "2013-12-13T15:46:06Z")
> [@PastTense](#):
>
> Relatives of the yacht crew haven’t given up hope and are still searching. They are using satellite images:
> [http://gcaptain.com/satellite-imagery-future-search-and-rescue/](http://gcaptain.com/satellite-imagery-future-search-and-rescue/)
>
> If any Doper wants to help look at the images:
> [http://www.tomnod.com/nod/challenge/ninarescue2](http://www.tomnod.com/nod/challenge/ninarescue2)
>
> I would think they would have run out of fresh water by now.
Took a look at it. Lots of clouds, but I did tag something! Just a dot, but definitely not water.
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211/8 "2013-12-13T17:05:38Z")
> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> You can’t fix stupid. these people knew what they were doing…and chose an unseaworthy vessel, in some of the most dangerous seas in the world. One guy refused to fly , because it was not green. Sad, but this ranks with climbing Everest solo, without oxygen.
Why would you consider a maintained 80ish year old vessel built for blue water racing unseaworthy? There are a fair amount of wood hulls out in the ocean any given day.
Now sailing without proper communications and navigation aids is foolish. I will agree with that. And they don’t need to run out of water if they have some form of water purification device ranging from a reverse osmosis purifier all the way down to the cutest [little hand pump thing](http://www.katadyn.com/usen/katadyn-products/products/katadynshopconnect/katadyn-desalinators-manual-survivors/katadyn-survivor-06/)s that slurp in the water and it comes out potable by Katadyn.
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211/9 "2013-12-13T17:09:35Z")
The article linked in post 4 strongly disputes whether it was even seaworthy, much less maintained.
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### Author:  [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211/10 "2013-12-15T04:24:15Z")
7 stranded castaways…where have I heard this before?
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-with-7-aboard-probably-lost-at-sea-in-n-z/662211/11 "2014-07-27T22:12:43Z")
Still no trace of the Nina.
A report has been issued recently:
"US based Satellite telephone company Iridium Communications failed to give New Zealand rescuers details of a dramatic final message from a missing yacht Nina until the US State Department intervened, a detailed review of the search effort has revealed.
The report, released this week into the search for the vintage American yacht Nina, which disappeared in the Tasman Sea in June 2013 with six Americans and one Britsh sailor aboard, said the entire dynamic of the rescue operation would have changed had the message been delivered earlier. "
[http://www.sail-world.com/Cruising/sh/index.cfm?SEID=0&Nid=124575&SRCID=0&ntid=0&tickeruid=0&tickerCID=0](http://www.sail-world.com/Cruising/sh/index.cfm?SEID=0&Nid=124575&SRCID=0&ntid=0&tickeruid=0&tickerCID=0)
Here’s the full report:
[http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/News/Media-releases-2014/SAR-Nina-Review-June-2014.pdf](http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/News/Media-releases-2014/SAR-Nina-Review-June-2014.pdf)