Giant whale sinks 44 foot boat, sailors rescued

Crusts only. If you’re dipping the pizza in ranch, you need to get a better pizza. :wink:

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agreed!

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A four-person liferaft is barely big enough for four people to sit in with their legs tucked up and knees touching. Last time I had our raft repacked four of us got into it in the warehouse and we all looked at each other like “there is not room in here for all of us”. When I replace that cannister I am going to get a six person raft, if it will fit on the foredeck.

The things that ensured quick rescue in this case were having a functioning EPIRB, a Globalstar tracker, and an Iridium Go.

Even before the crew got into the raft authorities were notified that they were abandoning ship.

If you want to see what it would be like losing your vessel when you have no functioning communications devices then watch All Is Lost.

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Obviously instant karma for dipping pizza into ranch dressing…

Yeah, I’ll just hang on outside, thank you very much.

I don’t understand why airbag flotation systems have not become a thing. Much better to stay with the mothership.

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goddamn, that was a good movie. awesomely gut wrenching.
you are so right about the safety gear and back-up comms they calmly got together and into the liferaft and dinghy. don’t leave shore without them!

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You would need both. Many abandon ship incidents involve fire or loss of navigation while heading into a dangerous area (like a rocky shoreline) where it can be avoided in a raft.

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In 1972, an orca or a pod of them sank a 43 foot schooner. The six family members on board survived 38 days adrift in the Pacific in a life raft and a dinghy.

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good reporting, just as the very angry orca pod off the Iberian what scuttled some sailors off Spain.
now, figger an entire pod taking out a 43ft craft as compared to just hitting a sleeping 50ft whale in a 44ft sailing vessel in the middle of the frikkin Pacific Ocean! this is not a comparable accident! no!
striking a sleeping 50ft behemoth at 6 knots is going to be catastrophic.
this was a very unfortunate encounter for both the ship and the whale and the real story is how the crew survived the near immediate sinking of their ship.

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I have to relate this: about 9 or 10 years ago, our now-8th-grader woke up one morning & rather pensively said, “Dad, I had a strange dream last night.”

“Oh? Was it scary?”

(Nods yes)

“Can you tell me what it was about?”

(Long pause)

“Blowhole.”

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