Major search called while yacht 'happily at anchor'

9:15 PM Tue 29 Sep 2009 GMT

'Flying Pig with spinnaker' .

Skip Gundlach - .. .

A major search was instigated this week for a sailor who was happily at anchor, because the skipper's friend stopped receiving position reports from the yacht's personal tracker. The moral of the story is 'teach your friends how the tracking system works, or let them know when you intend to stop sending position reports.'

The Coast Guard has now called off its search for three crew aboard an 'overdue' vessel, the Flying Pig, after they were located safely near the Bahamas.

The Bahamian Air and Sea Rescue Association (BASRA) issued a marine broadcast Tuesday morning urging mariners to be on the lookout for the 46-foot sailing vessel Flying Pig. A Coast Guard Air Station Miami HU-25 Falcon jet crew assisted in the search.

A concerned friend of Skip Gundlach, the 65-year-old owner of the Flying Pig, contacted search-and-rescue coordinators at the Seventh Coast Guard District command center in Miami around 4:30 p.m. Monday after he stopped receiving location messages from the vessel's satellite messenger service. The SPOT personal tracker is able to report its location to friends and family through Google Maps.

Flying Pig beached at Content Keys - .. .

Gundlach and his two crew departed from Lake Worth, Fla., Sunday, and were en route to Spanish Cay, Bahamas. The satellite messenger had last reported the Flying Pig's position 20 miles north of Grand Bahama Island around 10 a.m. Monday.

Flying Pig crewmembers heard the marine broadcast and quickly responded via radio, stating they were anchored off Abaco Island, Bahamas, due to inclement weather.

Footnote:
Maybe in this case the friend was anxious because of earlier events. The Flying Pig has been repaired after an earlier mishap when they ended up beached at Content Keys in Florida

by Sail-World Cruising