Voyaging To The Mediterranean Under Power by Mary Umstot

Author:Mary Umstot [Umstot, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Yachting, Tablet, fiacca
ISBN: 9781614340676
Amazon: B004XJ6E72
Publisher: BookLocker.com, Inc.
Published: 2009-12-15T23:00:00+00:00

Greek cats awaiting a meal

Losing a Cruising Mate

Cruising had its down moments as well. Here is one that happened to our sister ship from the Atlantic Crossing, ZELDA. The cruising community, spread out in the Mediterranean, became instantly involved.

The morning of May 17, 2004 began as usual by tuning into the Mediterranean Cruisers’ Net on single-side-band radio. Instead of weather updates and status reports of boats anchored, or on passage, we heard Marie Blackburn’s voice, “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! This is Sailing Vessel ZELDA!” She had our undivided attention immediately.

She and Terry had started their trip back across the Med from Turkey, and been anchored in a very small place at the north end of Karpathos for four days waiting for the seas to abate. Looking between rocks and out the opening they determined it was time to go, so pulled the anchor, left the anchorage and started moving down the western side of the island toward Kasos.

Within an hour Terry, a previous heart attack survivor, suffered a massive heart attack. He had gone out to raise the mainsail and collapsed during his effort. Marie immediately went to him, performed CPR and inserted a nitroglycerin pill under his tongue. No response. She couldn’t locate a pulse and assumed the worse. Unable to move him from his position, she lashed him to the mast and began radio contact for help.

Although there was no Coast Guard response to her Mayday call, two fellow cruisers did answer, even though they were not close enough to help. That’s when she sent out the single-side-band call. And what a lucky break for her that day! The radio propagation worked extremely well all day long, which was not always the case. Propagation was quite often problematic.

All the cruisers, spread out in Greece and Turkey, sat glued to the sound of her voice and the tragedy unfolding, and feeling somewhat helpless, yet badly wanting to help. With all the resources, surely someone would come up with the right answer, and soon. With no cell phone coverage where she was, she depended on her radio. Without the single-side-band, she would have spent the day alone. She had all our attention, thoughts and prayers. No one else talked on that radio all day, leaving it open for her to feel our collective presence.

Tom, on Sailing Vessel PRECEPT, tied up at a Greek marina, walked to the Greek Coast Guard office just down the dock after hearing the problem. He made it his mission to make sure they were kept up to date with Marie’s position, and acted as a relay for her until Athens Rescue Coordination Center could talk to her directly (and that took a while). It turns out Greek Coast Guard does not monitor Channel 16, the International Distress Channel; they listen to Channel 18, with repeater stations relaying messages all the way to Athens. We also learned that ports monitor Channel 12, not 16. The Coast Guard also listens to the single-side-band system, but with different frequencies for morning and afternoon.

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