Questions raised about sailors' story after months stranded at sea

originally posted by: ANNED
There problem was the motor failed.
That is BS to me.
I have been across that same ocean twice on a wooden ship.

They seem not to know how to use the sails.
On a sailboat you only use the motor going in and out of port.

the mast on there sailboat looked to be in good shape and even if the sails were damaged they could have set makshift sails to get into port.

also most people crossing oceans on a sail boat have solar panels to run the electronics if they can not power any other way.

it sounds like these two were day sailors with a sailboat set up for day sailing that tried to cross a ocean without the training to do it.

oceanvolt.com...
oceanvolt.com...

Which makes me think they stole the boat and buried the body at sea.

I'm waiting for the updates on this story in the next day or so to explain it all. Then we'll all have that "Aha!" moment where we all say... "Yep... I knew it"!

originally posted by: EchoesInTime
a reply to: seattlerat

I doubted their story from the start. Good that they got busted. They planned the whole thing with the intention of being rescued and becoming famous. Perhaps a book deal. They were probably out there for a few weeks vs. months and didn't suffer at all.

As did I, one thing odd the one Woman said they rescued us just before our boat went down. I thought but they never said anything was wrong with the boat and it was not storming?

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: nightbringr

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: nightbringr

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: NerdGoddess
Perhaps they just wanted some attention, or they were clueless and exaggerating?

Did they know there was an emergency beacon, did they know how to activate it?

-Alee

Excellent point. Obviously, without a man around, these women were completely clueless on how to operate or do anything.


ETA: Maybe there was a spider on the emergency beacon and that resulted in an epic 5 month standoff with the beacon being held hostage as the spider slowly weaved its web. As the women watched on in horror and fear, standing on a seat making high pitched screams?

Ok, somehow you managed to beat out Cowboy for most sexist comment award.

Damn right I beat him, I'm the best.

What did I win??????

Nothing, living with your skewed perspective of the world and the opposite sex is 'reward' enough.

Ps. You might want to actually make some women friends just so you know they aren't all precious little wall flowers.

I can't imagine what it must be like to live without any concept of humor.

The ability to recognize a joke, even if you don't find it funny, is something I've obviously always taken for granted. Without it, I"m sure I'd go around and make a fool of myself taking obvious attempts at jokes(to the vast majority of people) and treat them as serious talking points.

Ever wonder why nobody else ever jumps in on the "conversation". Because everyone either got the joke and found it funny or got the joke and did not find it funny but moved on.

There's always one, devoid of any grasp on reality, devoid of personality and any type of sense of humor. There's always that one that reads such an obvious joke/setup and thinks to themselves, "Wow, what an absolutely over the top remark. It must be 100 percent genuine. I've got to argue this!!".

I'm glad you psycho analyzed me in such depth from my little post!

Anywho, if it was a joke, great. Just seemed like a post by a youngster who views women as being overly emotional and irrational.

originally posted by: nightbringr

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: NerdGoddess
Perhaps they just wanted some attention, or they were clueless and exaggerating?

Did they know there was an emergency beacon, did they know how to activate it?

-Alee

Excellent point. Obviously, without a man around, these women were completely clueless on how to operate or do anything.


ETA: Maybe there was a spider on the emergency beacon and that resulted in an epic 5 month standoff with the beacon being held hostage as the spider slowly weaved its web. As the women watched on in horror and fear, standing on a seat making high pitched screams?

Ok, somehow you managed to beat out Cowboy for most sexist comment award.

Get a grip. If you new cowboy you'd know it was a joke, and so is this. No need to get your panties in a twist. Somehow these BOZOS (Please note the gender-neutral term) inconvenienced a whole lot of people. The USN's job is not to rescue dimwits at sea. These two should never have left port.

How the hell did they even had food and watter supplies for 5 months?!

originally posted by: schuyler

originally posted by: nightbringr

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: NerdGoddess
Perhaps they just wanted some attention, or they were clueless and exaggerating?

Did they know there was an emergency beacon, did they know how to activate it?

-Alee

Excellent point. Obviously, without a man around, these women were completely clueless on how to operate or do anything.


ETA: Maybe there was a spider on the emergency beacon and that resulted in an epic 5 month standoff with the beacon being held hostage as the spider slowly weaved its web. As the women watched on in horror and fear, standing on a seat making high pitched screams?

Ok, somehow you managed to beat out Cowboy for most sexist comment award.

Get a grip. If you new cowboy you'd know it was a joke, and so is this. No need to get your panties in a twist. Somehow these BOZOS (Please note the gender-neutral term) inconvenienced a whole lot of people. The USN's job is not to rescue dimwits at sea. These two should never have left port.

Obviously I don't know him?

I get it. I agree, these women pulled something and need to be held accountable. Still not seeing how making snide comments are helping. You know him so understood he was joking. I simply thought him a sexist jerk. We are all allowed to draw conclusions, right or wrong.

originally posted by: KiwiNite
How the hell did they even had food and watter supplies for 5 months?!

Because they planned this charade. The boat-owner said that she had recently reinforced the hull with more fiberglass to strengthen it. That's something I would do ifn I was about to weigh down the boat and set off into storms (imagined or not).

The whole things stinks, and has since the story broke.

Thanks for all the theories (and jokes) so far!

Here is some more information to add to the stuff that doesn't quite add up that had already been mentioned (Conflicting statements regarding their imminent peril, Unused Beacon and No Claim of Storm when the closest one was 1000s of miles away)

The Coast Guard outlined other inconsistencies, most notably on the timing of events. Appel's mother, Joyce, told the AP that she called the Coast Guard to report her daughter missing a week and a half after they departed for what they believed would be an 18-day trip to Tahiti. However, the Coast Guard never got a call from the elder Appel. They received a call from a "family friend" they identified as a male on May 19, still several days before the women expected to arrive. The women said they filed a float plan listing their course and other details with some friends and relatives. However, in an interview with the Coast Guard, the women said they had filed no float plan.

SOURCE

They can't seem to keep their stories straight. Sure, memory is not infallible, but- good grief, these are details that seem to me would be very difficult to dis-remember. Maybe they are drug abusers and suffer from psychosis?

And then, there is their account of the Tiger-shark attack- WOW, reminds me of the area-51 alien interview transcript in the MJ-12 documents released a few months ago (difficult to swallow):

Their description of 20- to 30-foot tiger sharks ramming their boat in a coordinated attack for more than six hours could simply be misperception, but scientists who study sharks say that behavior has never been recorded and that tiger sharks grow to only about 17 feet in length. University of Hawaii professor and veteran shark researcher Kim Holland has never heard of any kind of shark repeatedly attacking a boat hull throughout a night. He also said tiger sharks never jump out of the water and do not make coordinated attacks. Sometimes sharks will congregate around a food source like a whale carcass, but Holland said that was unlikely in this case "if there's nothing there to attract the animals. I mean this is just an inert boat hull."

Open mouth... insert OTHER foot

2 lesbians and 2 dogs on a "stranded" boat loaded with supplies to last for 6 months at sea,it doesn`t take much of an imagination to know what that was all about. lol

Something stinks to high hell with these two women. Either they're completely effing stupid and prove every stereotype out there, or they're hiding having done something seriously illegal.

originally posted by: nightbringr

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: nightbringr

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: NerdGoddess
Perhaps they just wanted some attention, or they were clueless and exaggerating?

Did they know there was an emergency beacon, did they know how to activate it?

-Alee

Excellent point. Obviously, without a man around, these women were completely clueless on how to operate or do anything.


ETA: Maybe there was a spider on the emergency beacon and that resulted in an epic 5 month standoff with the beacon being held hostage as the spider slowly weaved its web. As the women watched on in horror and fear, standing on a seat making high pitched screams?

Ok, somehow you managed to beat out Cowboy for most sexist comment award.

Damn right I beat him, I'm the best.

What did I win??????

Nothing, living with your skewed perspective of the world and the opposite sex is 'reward' enough.

Ps. You might want to actually make some women friends just so you know they aren't all precious little wall flowers.

Oh get over yourself, both of them were funny. It's uptight pearl-clutching, humorless women like you who inspire women like me to mock all of us openly for more lulz -- you make it far too easy to do.

originally posted by: GuidedKill

originally posted by: InTheLight

originally posted by: GuidedKill

originally posted by: InTheLight

originally posted by: GuidedKill

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: NerdGoddess
Perhaps they just wanted some attention, or they were clueless and exaggerating?

Did they know there was an emergency beacon, did they know how to activate it?

-Alee

Excellent point. Obviously, without a man around, these women were completely clueless on how to operate or do anything.


ETA: Maybe there was a spider on the emergency beacon and that resulted in an epic 5 month standoff with the beacon being held hostage as the spider slowly weaved its web. As the women watched on in horror and fear, standing on a seat making high pitched screams?

BRAHAHAHAHA!! You win the internet for the day!!

On a serious note I know many women who are jam up avid sailors that I would have on the boat long before a lot of guys I know. The fact that the EPIRB was not activated shows either these women had absolutely no marine experience or were actually spinning a web for some other reason. Maybe 15 min of fame or who knows...

Or maybe these particular two women should have just stuck to making sammies..

BAAHH HA HA Making sammies was probably the reason they decided to take off!

Fair point.....However maybe they should have taken a basic boaters safety course before there boneheaded adventure...

The adventure was not bonehead, the violent storms are bonehead.

Um being lost at sea and not using a piece of equipment designed for being lost at sea was the boneheaded move.

It wasn't a bonehead move because unless things have changed when I took classes for VHF Marine Radio and boating licenses, the rule then was not to MAYDAY unless 'it was believed' to be a dire emergency.

Appel said Tuesday that in her experience, the beacon should be used only when facing imminent physical danger and death in the next 24 hours. "Our hull was solid, we were floating, we had food, we had water, and we had limited manoeuvrable capacity," Appel said in Japan, where the U.S. Navy took them after their rescue last week. "All those things did not say we are going to die. All that said, it's going to take us a whole lot longer to get where we're going."

And as for meteorologists getting it right?

a reply to: InTheLight

Being totally lost at sea with no means to navigate is a pretty dire emergency.

originally posted by: StallionDuck
a reply to: InTheLight

Being totally lost at sea with no means to navigate is a pretty dire emergency.

How do we know they had no means to navigate?

From this account, it sure seems like they knew which way they were going.

Heading south they sailed up to an island but decided not to land, believing it was mostly uninhabited, they said. But Christmas Island, part of the island nation of Kiribati, is home to more than 2,000 people, and has a port that routinely welcomes huge commercial ships. The sailors had flairs on board, which would have alerted rescuers, but did not use them. According to their account they then set out in an attempt to reach the Cook Islands 1,000 miles away, but another storm killed off their engine at the end of May.

Responding to queries about that and other inconsistencies Ms Appel said she did not activate the beacon because the boat was still seaworthy, they had water purifiers and a year's worth of dry food, and felt they could get somewhere to make repairs. She said: "I climbed the mast in open ocean to make hack patches so we could continue as any good sailor would. EPIRB calls are for people who are in an immediate life threatening scenario."

www.telegraph.co.uk...

I would say they certainly made mistakes but now "lessons learned".

originally posted by: InTheLight

originally posted by: GuidedKill

originally posted by: InTheLight

originally posted by: GuidedKill

originally posted by: InTheLight

originally posted by: GuidedKill

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: NerdGoddess
Perhaps they just wanted some attention, or they were clueless and exaggerating?

Did they know there was an emergency beacon, did they know how to activate it?

-Alee

Excellent point. Obviously, without a man around, these women were completely clueless on how to operate or do anything.


ETA: Maybe there was a spider on the emergency beacon and that resulted in an epic 5 month standoff with the beacon being held hostage as the spider slowly weaved its web. As the women watched on in horror and fear, standing on a seat making high pitched screams?

BRAHAHAHAHA!! You win the internet for the day!!

On a serious note I know many women who are jam up avid sailors that I would have on the boat long before a lot of guys I know. The fact that the EPIRB was not activated shows either these women had absolutely no marine experience or were actually spinning a web for some other reason. Maybe 15 min of fame or who knows...

Or maybe these particular two women should have just stuck to making sammies..

BAAHH HA HA Making sammies was probably the reason they decided to take off!

Fair point.....However maybe they should have taken a basic boaters safety course before there boneheaded adventure...

The adventure was not bonehead, the violent storms are bonehead.

Um being lost at sea and not using a piece of equipment designed for being lost at sea was the boneheaded move.

It wasn't a bonehead move because unless things have changed when I took classes for VHF Marine Radio and boating licenses, the rule then was not to MAYDAY unless 'it was believed' to be a dire emergency.

Appel said Tuesday that in her experience, the beacon should be used only when facing imminent physical danger and death in the next 24 hours. "Our hull was solid, we were floating, we had food, we had water, and we had limited manoeuvrable capacity," Appel said in Japan, where the U.S. Navy took them after their rescue last week. "All those things did not say we are going to die. All that said, it's going to take us a whole lot longer to get where we're going."

And as for meteorologists getting it right?

Well from my time at Captains school getting my OUPV/6-pack license. A vessel with a loss of power adrift at sea is a dire emergency. Especially when a float plan has been established and the loss of power is setting you adrift off course.


I'm sorry but talk to any mariner with any sort of real sea time experience off shore and they will tell you. These girls were morons for not activating their EPIRB...Either that or they purposely set themselves adrift with enough food to make an awesome story to get their 15 minutes...

Kind of like the kid who got trapped in the UFO balloon in CO but ended up hiding in the attic the whole time at the directions of their father....why you ask...for 15 minutes of fame.

originally posted by: GuidedKill

originally posted by: InTheLight

originally posted by: GuidedKill

originally posted by: InTheLight

originally posted by: GuidedKill

originally posted by: InTheLight

originally posted by: GuidedKill

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: NerdGoddess
Perhaps they just wanted some attention, or they were clueless and exaggerating?

Did they know there was an emergency beacon, did they know how to activate it?

-Alee

Excellent point. Obviously, without a man around, these women were completely clueless on how to operate or do anything.


ETA: Maybe there was a spider on the emergency beacon and that resulted in an epic 5 month standoff with the beacon being held hostage as the spider slowly weaved its web. As the women watched on in horror and fear, standing on a seat making high pitched screams?

BRAHAHAHAHA!! You win the internet for the day!!

On a serious note I know many women who are jam up avid sailors that I would have on the boat long before a lot of guys I know. The fact that the EPIRB was not activated shows either these women had absolutely no marine experience or were actually spinning a web for some other reason. Maybe 15 min of fame or who knows...

Or maybe these particular two women should have just stuck to making sammies..

BAAHH HA HA Making sammies was probably the reason they decided to take off!

Fair point.....However maybe they should have taken a basic boaters safety course before there boneheaded adventure...

The adventure was not bonehead, the violent storms are bonehead.

Um being lost at sea and not using a piece of equipment designed for being lost at sea was the boneheaded move.

It wasn't a bonehead move because unless things have changed when I took classes for VHF Marine Radio and boating licenses, the rule then was not to MAYDAY unless 'it was believed' to be a dire emergency.

Appel said Tuesday that in her experience, the beacon should be used only when facing imminent physical danger and death in the next 24 hours. "Our hull was solid, we were floating, we had food, we had water, and we had limited manoeuvrable capacity," Appel said in Japan, where the U.S. Navy took them after their rescue last week. "All those things did not say we are going to die. All that said, it's going to take us a whole lot longer to get where we're going."

And as for meteorologists getting it right?

Well from my time at Captains school getting my OUPV/6-pack license. A vessel with a loss of power adrift at sea is a dire emergency. Especially when a float plan has been established and the loss of power is setting you adrift off course.


I'm sorry but talk to any mariner with any sort of real sea time experience off shore and they will tell you. These girls were morons for not activating their EPIRB...Either that or they purposely set themselves adrift with enough food to make an awesome story to get their 15 minutes...

Kind of like the kid who got trapped in the UFO balloon in CO but ended up hiding in the attic the whole time at the directions of their father....why you ask...for 15 minutes of fame.

They still had sail power. And they weren't morons, at worst they were inexperienced, just like this guy (his second rescue by doing it kon tiki style).

www.npr.org...

a reply to: GuidedKill

Turns out that one of the women is an actress, mostly unsuccessful. Many other falshoods pointed out in this fox article.
The balloon boy ufo hoax is a good comparison. I don't know if they can be charged but maybe they should be. Fame whores.nice try ladies..

www.foxnews.com...

originally posted by: EchoesInTime
a reply to: GuidedKill

Turns out that one of the women is an actress, mostly unsuccessful. Many other falshoods pointed out in this fox article.
The balloon boy ufo hoax is a good comparison. I don't know if they can be charged but maybe they should be. Fame whores.nice try ladies..

www.foxnews.com...

What fame? At best they will have a fewFacebook fans, like this guy who basically did the same thing; and he asks for donations too.

Meleshyus, who often posts photographs of himself in yacht-club-style sailing garb, complete with commodore's cap and holding an old copy of National Geographic magazine, has gotten more than one free boat from benefactors and puts out frequent pleas for donations of equipment and supplies via his Facebook page. He has gained a reputation among sailing aficionados — many of whom follow him on social media — for his unique style of cruising. On multiple voyages across big stretches of ocean, he doesn't so much sail as he drifts, something he calls "Kon Tiki-style," a reference to anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 drift across the Pacific in a balsa wood raft meant to prove his (since discredited) theory that it was South Americans who settled the South Pacific.

www.npr.org...

Other shipwreck stories:

www.popularmechanics.com...

originally posted by: InTheLight

originally posted by: StallionDuck
a reply to: InTheLight

Being totally lost at sea with no means to navigate is a pretty dire emergency.

How do we know they had no means to navigate?

The first article I read said that had damage to their tackle. Plus the following was stated by a member of the crew.

"Had they not been able to locate us, we would have been dead within 24 hours," Appel said earlier, during a news conference on the deck of the ship.

Then....

The women say their journey was derailed by ferocious storms, multiple shark attacks and a breakdown in vital equipment such as their engine, mast and communication devices.

Then....

"We didn't have our hand radio and our radio telephone wasn't working. And also our Iridium (satellite) phone was not working," Appel told CNN. "They're dependent on the antenna, and when the antenna went out everything went out.

But....

"EPIRB calls are for people who are in an immediate life threatening scenario," the statement said. "It would be shameful to call on the USCG resources when not in imminent peril and allow someone else to perish because of it."

"We did a mayday call for assistance only when it was absolutely necessary and help did arrive because the resources were available. We are grateful for that."

But....

The women say their journey was derailed by ferocious storms, multiple shark attacks and a breakdown in vital equipment such as their engine, mast and communication devices.

and....

"We didn't have our hand radio and our radio telephone wasn't working. And also our Iridium (satellite) phone was not working," Appel told CNN. "They're dependent on the antenna, and when the antenna went out everything went out.


Yeah, I pasted a few lines there twice but on purpose. This whole story doesn't add up in any way what-so-ever. It's one big conflicting pile of bull.

- we have a working radio but our radio doesn't work.
- we have enough food but we've been at sea for 5 months.
- we were not in danger but we have no navigation ability.
- we were just fine but we would have died in the next 24 hours.

...and no one thought to use the beacon. C'mon... That's like saying the house is on fire but I forgot to use the extinguisher when I noticed the small fire that started in the trash can. I just decided to watch it burn.

a reply to: StallionDuck

If this owner of a sailing company said he would not sail that route without 'at least' three experienced sailors, why would anyone think these two inexperienced(?) women would be able to do it without a hitch?

Mike Michelwait, owner of the Honolulu Sailing Company, a sailing school and charter company, has sailed the route from Hawaii to Tahiti several times. He said the trip would normally take about 17 days with sailors who could stay on course. But, Michelwait said, he would not take such a trip with any less than three experienced sailors. "There's only two of them on board, and it's a 50-foot boat," he said. "That's a lot of boat to handle."

www.chicagotribune.com...

a reply to: Bigburgh

Yeah, I agree with you ... and they must have had enough food to keep them from eating the dogs!

Plus, the dogs look well fed too.