Tragedy at Sea– Triple Star – the Aftermath

This morning as we were finishing our breakfast in the main dining room, we the folks at our table, all being seasoned cruisers, noticed a slowing of the ships speed and a significant turn to port.  we excited the dining room wondering if something was wrong when the Cruise Director announced of the ships public address system that bridge personnel had spotted a small sailboat apparently adrift, and by Maritime Law were required to investigate.  Shortly thereafter the ship came to a complete stop and the Captain came on the PA system to let everyone know what was going on.  By that time we had arrived in the Crow’s Nest for our 9 am Cruise Critic meeting.  Moving to the front windows we could see the small sailboat obviously with out power, no sails aloft and signs of an unfortunate encounter with weather.  The Captain gave short blasts on the ships horn to see if  he could rouse anyone onboard.

Later  in the hour the Captain explained that he had been in communications with authorities in Bermuda to report the incident.  He went on to explain that this craft had been a part of an organized sail from Newport, California to Bermuda and the sailboat had been in rough seas and had taken on a 60 foot wave, which resulted in a woman being swept overboard.  A man was later rescued by a passing freighter some time later, but t he woman was never recovered – that tragedy took place  over FOUR months ago.!  The authorities in Bermuda will dispatch a vessel to tow the boat into port.

In an unrelated incident, here on boar, a passenger has fallen ill and will be taken ashore when we sail into Bermudan Territorial waters, estimated to be the evening around 22:00 hours.  The Caption assured us that this unscheduled stop would not change our original itinerary.

Ships time is now 21:15 and I can see lights along the approaching shore from our port facing window.

The transfer was successfully made to the harbor pilot boat around 22:30 hours.  In my next post I will include pictures of the transfer,   now to bed.

Photos courtesy of Barbara Cummings