Very sad to hear this news as I am sure my good friend and former shipmate Tom Christian of Pitcairn will be also. However when I heard that the ship had gone to sea and her chosen course this result was not entirely unexpected. It is very hard to understand the seamanship decision of the Master putting his crew and ship at such a risk. Thankfully once again due to the skills and courage of the USCG all hands are safe. It would seem that the Masters of these sail training vessels need special supervision as in recent years several have been lost going to sea in suspect conditions. Perhaps a safety inspection and certificate check each time before a “Clearance” is issued for departure. Good Watch.

Unfortunatly she was lost.

Peter,

Though it is easy to Armchair Quarterback and question Captain Walbridge’s decesion to put to sea around the storm. There are no two storms a like and the sea is never forgiving. Every single time the docklines are cast, we go out in “suspect conditions.” It is different when you put a name to the “master” and a sailing resume few have ever accomplished. The intimate knowledge and trust of his ship and crew and a man with full respect for the sea. There are two people still missing, and I personally would appreciate keeping the armchair advise and comments about Captain Walbridge and the choices he made to a minimum at least post mortem. Prayers for the two missing crew and sadness that we lost a great ship today.

Peter, I don’t want you to construe my reply as flame or questioning your expertise. The term I used has nothing to do with the expertise of the individual making the comments but the association with prior events and the skippers decision to put to sea and attempt to “skirt” a named storm. Any professional mariner and/or pilot can attest to finding conditions outside of the expectations/forecast many times in their career. We make decisions based upon abilities. Abilities of our equipment, ourselves and our crew. The ship and crew would have survived this trip with yarns to keep and tell for a lifetime if not for the mechanical failures that plagued the ship (in my opinion with what we know at this time). The fuel tank was replaced just prior to the Journey. I would venture far enough to guess this was the initial catalyst to her demise. Professional mariners and pilots are always fighting a battle between time tables and weather windows. Tall Ships are always fighting the great deal of water that finds its way through every crack and seam.

Captain Walbridge was both a pilot and mariner and earned a lot of respect and admiration from all that have crewed under him and those peers who sailed beside him over the years. My original point said as succinctly as possible is no matter how good any of us are, our expertise should be left to opinions based upon fact and leave the rest to those who are directly involved. Questioning a man’s decision to leave port before the facts come out and base it upon past events is akin to comparing two plane crashes. No two are ever the same.

There is no need to compare resumes or stand on high ground here and best be said a conversation between peers needs no proof of merit other than the merit of the conversation itself.