The 180′ tall ship HMS Bounty has sunk off the North Carolina coast. At least 14 of the crew have been rescued. There is considerable confusion about the remaining 2-3 crew members. The Bounty organization reported that 17 crew, wearing survival suits and life jackets, had been accounted for in two lifeboats. The US Coast Guard now says that there 16 rather than 17 aboard the ship and that two are unaccounted for. The most recent message on the Bounty Facebook page reads: Please bear with us…There are so many conflicting stories going on now. We are waiting for some confirmation.
UPDATE: Coast Guard rescues 14, continues searching for 2 from HMS Bounty
As usual on these occasions there is confusion about numbers. This is why it is so important to have a meeting place on board to confirm all hands are accounted for. With this in mind a Master has to make the decision to abandon earlier rather than later when there is any risk of possibly sinking. With young often volunteer and inexperienced crew this is an essential part of the safety protocol and should be drilled. Also therefore decisions to even go to sea when bad weather particularly with a hurricane in the offing must be most carefully made. Now it seems there is a possibility of two persons missing. Hopefully this is just a result of that confusion on these occasions. Good Watch.
One is just a little disturbed to find that the page of Captain Robin Walbridge’s biography is blocked in Wikipedia as indeed are several other pages of reference to him. Why was this necessary? One hopes he was rescued by USCG? Good Watch.
Captain’s Walbridge’s biography is up on the Bounty site. The site had been down earlier today. I expect that it might have been simply the volume of traffic that could have overwhelmed the server.
I sailed briefly as volunteer crew on a short coastal on the Bounty in the late 90s with Captain Walbridge in command. He seemed wholly knowledgeable and capable in those days and no doubt has gained experience in the intervening years.