21.05.2006
From: MOVISTAR CREW (onboard ABN AMRO TWO) QFB LEG SEVEN DAY 11
Sent: 21 May 2006 12:04
The hardest decision I ever taken in my life, was the call to abandon
ship. This morning we gybed over to check how the keel would cope with
that angle. Straight away we saw that the water intake nearly doubled and
had to start the 2nd emergency pump. That made me realise that we were
actually in way bigger trouble.
We had survived for nearly 24 hours, but in light winds and the seas had
calmed down, but with a forecast of 35-40 knots and peeking up to 50, I
just wasn’t sure the boat would hold out. The breeze died more to around 6
knots and now the boat was rocking hard, and the seas became more
confused. The keel pin started moving more as well, so in the end took the
tough decision. 10 lives at stake, with a similar number of families, the
right call.
Seb (Sebastien Josse – skipper of ABN AMRO TWO) and his crew have been
fantastic over the last 24 hours. We all realised that turning around had
been a very hard call for them, and hopefully they can find a little
comfort that they have saved 10 lives. A boat is just a boat, you can
replace it, but lives you cannot.
Saying thank you is not big enough right now, it is more than that. I am
sure we will have an even better friendship with them all.
Once the call was made, I spoke with Seb on the VHF and went through
procedures. We decided to use one life raft, and move over safety
gear/food/media equipment etc, etc. We slid the raft off the transom, and
one person jumped in and collected all the gear. Then 4 people followed
and we slipped them off. The transfer went perfectly and was done in a
couple of minutes. Then four went off and were pushed off again with Mikey
Joubert still in it. This was planned, so we could motor over, and throw
him a line, which went ok in the first attempt. I checked once more
downstairs, had a final look and stepped on deck.
In the mean time the 4 others had slipped the 2nd life raft in the water,
but didn’t inflate it, as we wanted to keep it in one piece, so we had a
3rd life raft on ABN2, as Seb had requested. That was it. The boat was
abandoned, and we were on our way to the ABN2. Had a short chat with Nitro
(Noel Drennan), and how happy he was that we had got off. He could
remember clearly Cape Horn in 50 knots, he couldn’t imagine doing a
transfer in these conditions. Seb drove his boat precisely besides our
raft, and we could throw the line, and made the transfer in a whisker. I
thanked him and his crew, and said how tough this must have been for them
as well, especially after what they have been through.
So now here we are, onboard and on our way to England. Spoke with Seb and
wants us to make ourselves at home. He would like to reindex racing in the
spirit of the rule, sailing with his own boys. Fair enough.
There is no mirror onboard here, but if I could face myself, I know we
have done everything possible.
Bouwe Bekking - skipper
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