Missing British-flagged sailing boat in the eastern Pacific

8:43 PM Sat 6 Mar 2010 GMT

'Columbia on a previous voyage with students' .

The SS Columbia, a 13 metre steel sailing boat, is overdue by 10 days in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. It departed Ecuador on 16th January, and was due to sail into Coquimbo, 460 km north of Santiago in Chile, on 24th February.

Nothing has been heard of the yacht, which is reported to have no satellite phone, EPIRB or HF radio. The yacht is flagged in Britain, and the skipper owner is Polish born French citizen Boguslaw (Bob) Norwid and his wife who give sailing lessons as a way of life.

On board is a crew of five. While it is unlikely that the boat would have come to harm as a result of the recent tsunami while at sea, it is possible that the yacht stayed at sea or entered Chile at an unknown port.

Josee and husband Martin Neufeld - .. .

However, families of the crew, who are students qualifying for their skipper certificates, are concerned. Among them is Canadian Josee Chabot, whose husband and mother are attempting to piece together information on the missing boat.

'My concern is with the weather conditions and tsunami warnings there,' said Chabot's husband, Martin Neufeld.

The recent series of aftershocks in Chile - the strongest measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale - sparked fears of another tsunami.

'For sure they could be hiding out on an island or on the ocean where it's calmer,' said Neufeld. 'It's very possible. And I don't want to think of the worst-case scenario.'

Chabot, went on the sailing trip after finding a flier for the sailing trip in a cafe in Ecuador.

'She said it was her dream and she was so happy to be leaving on the boat,' said Chabot's mother, H?l?ne B?land.

Neufeld has been trying to get more information from authorities in Chile, but communication has been difficult since the 8.8 magnitude earthquake knocked out infrastructure and destroyed up to 1.5 million homes.

Neufeld has been in touch with the Canadian embassy in Santiago, which is investigating the situation and has contacted the ports between Salinas, Ecuador and Coquimbo. However, none has registered the vessel.

He also alerted the Canadian Coast Guard, which in turn has put pressure on its counterparts in Ecuador and Chile to start actively looking for the ship.

With added pressure from the Department of Foreign Affairs, the South American coast guards started sending out search signals yesterday, and search and rescue teams responsible for the coast of Chile and the Galapagos Islands have also started investigating.

Any yacht crew or other person sighting the yacht or having any information about her is urged to contact the local authorities or Sail-World urgently .

by Sail-World/C. Solyom, The Gazette

Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:

Newsfeed supplied by

#News #Cruising #Sailing #North

Cruising

Night Watch: Stay Useful After Dark

Watch stints, handovers and sleep that holds up

Cruising

The Bar Crossing: Wait for Slack Water

Cross on slack or the first of the flood.

Nearby
North Head, NSW	9 kn ESE
Little Bay, NSW	9 kn E
Cronulla, NSW	11 kn E
Windiest in Australia
Cape Grim, TAS	23 kn ENE	12°
Most Windless in Australia
Perth (Coastal), WA	Calm	12°
Hottest in Australia
Telfer, WA	8 kn WNW	30°
Coldest in Australia
Butlers Gorge, TAS	Calm	-2°
Wettest in Australia
Middle Percy Island, QLD	120.4 mm

Missing British-flagged sailing boat in the eastern Pacific

Night Watch: Stay Useful After Dark

The Bar Crossing: Wait for Slack Water

Live Weather

Nearby

Windiest in Australia

Most Windless in Australia

Hottest in Australia

Coldest in Australia

Wettest in Australia

(Other) Articles

Buy & Sell

2023 Tribal Libero With Padded Board Bag And New

2020 Sunova Speed

2025 Tribal Powermax

2022 Hawaiian Hypr 11'6

2023 Jimmy Lewis Destoyer

2024 SMIK Carbon Edition

2025 Kt Surfing Atlas Front Foils Run Out Special

Know before you go

Download the Seabreeze app for iOS or Android.

Weather

Activities

About

Other

Support