Rescued Crew Tell of Dismasting and 40’ Seas
The report we received and published last Thursday about two sailors being rescued at sea, failed to mention that the 30’ Catalina Atrevida II, which has been missing for nearly 10 days in the Atlantic, was dismasted. Find out what happened in a first-person video interview of the 2-men.
Dismasted
The first reports of the rescue from news services failed to mention the fact that the boat had been dismasted. Boat owner, Kevin Hyde, says in the interview that as they were heading south off Cape Hatteras they were hit by a severe storm that dismasted his boat.
Being dismasted is the conditions reported – Hyde said the seas were higher than his boat was long – endangers both the crew and the integrity of the boat because of the wild tossing of the rig. Hyde was able to get the mast, boom and rigging over the side, which would be a story in itself. But, that accomplishment didn’t the men’s troubles.
Adrift for 10 Days
It wasn’t long until the boat ran out of fuel for the engine and the batteries went dead. This eliminated any chance of communication. Then, the men were very much on their own and after a week, ran out of fresh water. One of the crew said they had no water to drink for two days before they were spotted by the Silver Muna, a tanker registered in Hong Kong.
The Rescue
The two men and dog “Minnie” were brought aboard Silver Muna at 4:18 pm on December 13. They were evaluated by the vessel’s medical staff with no immediate concerns. Kevin Hyde and Joe DiTomasso remained aboard Silver Muna as it proceeded to its next port of call in New York, where they were transferred to a Coast Guard vessel for further evaluation and reunification with their family and friends.
“This is an excellent example of the maritime community’s combined efforts to ensure safety of life at sea,” said Cmdr. Daniel Schrader, spokesperson for Coast Guard Atlantic Area. “We also want to highlight the importance of proper safety equipment and preparedness when going to sea. Having an emergency position indicating radio beacon, or ‘EPIRB’, allows mariners to immediately make contact with first responders in an emergency,” he said.
An EPIRB was Needed
EPIRBs carry their own internal battery pack, communicate with satellites and transmit their exact position to monitoring stations all over the world when being activated. While they can cost several hundred dollars for large units, they can also be rented, and smaller, lower-cost units are available.
USCG Search
After receiving a call from the families of the two crew on Dec. 11th, the USCG immediately went into action, searching an area twice the size of New Jersey, according to the Coast Guard. It also alerted all ships at sea.
While the USCG itself did not find the lost sailboat – that was thanks to a sharp-eyed crewman on the tanker Silver Muna -- it wasn’t for lack of trying. The USCG reports that search and Rescue assets involved in this effort included:
• Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City HC-130 Hercules airplane and MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews
• A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater HC-130 Hercules airplane crew
• A Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crew • A Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew
• USCGC Oak (WLB 211), homeported in Newport, Rhode Island
• USCGC Richard Snyder (WPC 1121), homeported in Atlantic City, North Carolina
• USS San Jacinto (CG 56), homeported in Norfolk, Virginia • Multiple commercial and recreational vessels along the U.S. eastern seaboard.