Scandalous accusations made in barely literate article in Northern Advisor:
>It is presumed the classic yacht, which left Opua with seven people
>on board on May 29, sank in a storm it was battling on June 4
>when its last message was received.
Factually erronious in several respects.
>The seaworthiness of the 85-year-old yacht is now being questioned.
Not by anyone of any common sense its not! And absolutely no one had better question the seamanship of those sailors. They eschew modern electronic doo dads for a reason!
>And the owner of another overseas sailboat has been stopped from
>leaving the Bay of Islands because his yacht is considered unsafe.
No, he has been stopped for purely bureaucratic reasons so as to make headlines and reap more money in needless examination fees.
>The Rescue Co-ordination Center formally ended the search for the
>Nina on Saturday.
No, it ended active searching and arbitrarily presumed the vessel was lost but is still receiving information.
The main problem was the mis-determination of the areas that were to be searched.
On board the 21-metre schooner when it left Opua were Americans skipper David Dyche III, 58, his wife Rosemary, 60, their son David Dyche IV, 17, Evi Nemeth, computer scientist and navigator, 73, Kyle Jackson, Nebraska vagabond and deckhand, 27, Danielle Wright, Louisiana photography model and deckhand, 18, and Briton Matthew Wootton, 35 a vagabond-journalist and deckhand.
>The last message was Was missing Nina seaworthy?
Pure utter nonsense.
>If it [locator beacon] had [been on] we'd know where they were
>within 10 to 15 minutes.
Yes, that is why emergency beacons are not on unless there is danger. Imminent danger of sinking, not merely a difficult situation. Some beacons deploy and activate rather easily older models have to be manually activated and deployed. That does not make them museum pieces or antiques.
>Experts are now saying the schooner was unseaworthy
Absurd. What experts? The owner retired from his own maritime construction firm. He knew and respected boats all his life. Why would he sail on an unseaworthy boat much less take his wife and son and family friends and crew along with him? Do you think he was foolishly uncaring about the life of 18 year old Danielle Wright who although familiar with blue water sailing was more interested in photography, boys and beaches. Take a look at Evi Nesmeth's yacht, still in New Zealand. Is it unseaworthy? Is she incompetent to judge a boat as being well found? She joined the Nina and she is not blind to nautical defects just because she is 73.
> and that skipper David Dyche III did not favour modern technology.
Many skippers favor classical sailing just as many people in New Zealand reject modern technology.
>The yacht had no long-range radio
Many yachts do not. It often forces the owner to be extra careful.
>its emergency locator beacon had not been switched on.
Thus indicating that whatever happened took place so suddenly there was no time to activate the beacon or that those on board felt that their situation no matter how difficult was not yet desperate enough that it merited the activation of an EPIRB.
>former mayor Russ Rimmington: the Nina looked good above the waterline, but
So you think an expert craftsman was fooled by this? You think a passerby was more alert than the owner who had restored the boat himself? Perhaps the former mayor is ever so much the politician with a weather eye out for publicity and power grabs.
The situations with the Iridium is that in dry weather and over land it gives a good position report. The SPOT has been referred to as a toy but that is a bit extreme. The Evi position report to Weatherman Bob should have been accepted by NZRCC.
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Russ Rimmington wouldn't know poo from chewed dates if he tasted it. He's an ex-advertising business owner and ex-local body politician who sailed offshore without knowing how to turn on the radar that he'd had fitted to the yacht.
What an absolute load of rubbish teh media in NZ has become.
It would seem that the NZ media could at the very least point out that very few craftsmen set sail with their wives and children on a boat that is in Rimmington Condition. Very few experienced yachtsmen join them too! What did Rimmington sea that Evi did not see?
Want to compare their abilities?
Sea dog said, Russ Rimmington has sailed the Pacific for over 50years. He sailed on the Tamahine O Hau on the Noumea races in the his first offshore voyage 1964 and 67 events. Represented NZ sailing Sailed Cape Horn in 1992 and in his own yacht Seaforth through out he Pacific successfully. He is a pilot and very capable skipper in the toughest of conditions. He is very thorough in all his preparations before any offshore voyaging. He recommends it be mandatory ALL yachts departing pass Cat One. It saves lives.
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