Ghost Yacht...

[AlBDamned]

Man this is weird!

Everything was running, laptop, engine etc, there was food on the table, all the lifejackets were there, but one sail was badly shredded.

Sea monsters perhaps?!

 

[EricNau]

That is very strange.

 

[Counterfit]

I had some REALLY bad gas.

 

[AlBDamned]

That is very strange.

Yeah it is. It reminds me of a film but I can't quite remember what. Maybe it's a mix of that one with Billy Zane, Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill (Dead Calm?) mixed with that one about the cruise liner where all the people get eaten by sea monsters and some pirates come and find it empty...

Would be pretty creepy if you were on of the "rescuers" and you found it empty.

 

[iSaint]

Yeah it is. It reminds me of a film but I can't quite remember what. Maybe it's a mix of that one with Billy Zane, Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill (Dead Calm?) mixed with that one about the cruise liner where all the people get eaten by sea monsters and some pirates come and find it empty...

Would be pretty creepy if you were on of the "rescuers" and you found it empty.

That's a good movie. I love to read sailing stories and mysteries. This is freaky, but you never know what mother ocean throws at you.

 

[xJulianx]

That's a good movie. I love to read sailing stories and mysteries. This is freaky, but you never know what mother ocean throws at you.

Yeah, quite likely they fell overboard perhaps?

 

[faintember]

That is pretty crazy.

I would not doubt it happened similar to a boating accident one of my friends died in when I was younger. That is, a younger person falls off the boat and a adult jumps in an attempt to help the child, then ends up in trouble, then the other adult jumps in, etc. Even if there was no child on board I could see this happening even with an adult, and it would explain why everything was running yet abandoned.

Can a sail be torn if the boat was left unattended in the ocean over a few days? Seems that the wind might be able to do such?

 

[wordmunger]

Sharks?

Maybe they were having a swim before dinner, dove in the water and got gobbled up before they could return. As Faintember mentioned, maybe one person was attacked, then the others tried to rescue and were attacked as well.

 

[iGav]

A giant octopus plucked them off the deck one by one and gobbled them up.

Or...

More likely a rogue wave... (something like that judging by the sail) that washed them off decks.

 

[iSaint]

A giant octopus plucked them off the deck one by one and gobbled them up.

Or...

More likely a rogue wave... (something like that judging by the sail) that washed them off decks.

I wonder what the weather conditions were over the past 48 hours? I don't think the article said anything about that.

 

[phillipjfry]

Maybe faintember had it right,

I've seen it at Myrtle Beach on more than a few occasions where a child will get too far out (riptide, whatever), and her uncle went out to save her, he ends up needing help, his brother jumps in to save them both, and someone else goes in to try and save them, and no one survived

Three person yacht, so Possibly two of them were out swimming while the third one was setting up dinner, they start to struggle and the third tries to save them and falls over board.
It would be more than creepy to get on a boat and find everything as if there was someone living on it (eg, computers running, dinner set out and waiting, lights on, nobody home)
Maybe they can figure out how long the boat had been empty using the food that was set out for dinner?

 

[iGav]

I wonder what the weather conditions were over the past 48 hours? I don't think the article said anything about that.

Rogue waves can appear completely out of nowhere on a calm day, it doesn't have to be stormy for example.

I don't think it was a particularly large rogue wave, but probably if not certainly large enough to wash them off the deck whilst keeping damage to the yacht to an indiscernible minimum e.g. the torn sail.

 

[AlBDamned]

Rogue waves can appear completely out of nowhere on a calm day, it doesn't have to be stormy for example.

I don't think it was a particularly large rogue wave, but probably if not certainly large enough to wash them off the deck whilst keeping damage to the yacht to an indiscernible minimum e.g. the torn sail.

The sail was shredded though, they just had video of it on the news here. Would a rogue wave do that? I have no idea to be honest. If it was just the boat with no damage, I'd be inclined to think that someone had got into difficulties and they'd all gone overboard, but the sail makes it very strange.

 

[iGav]

Would a rogue wave do that?but the sail makes it very strange.

I'd certainly consider it to be possible, depends on the size and the force of the wave that caught it and how the sail was rigged at the time.

As you say, it's the sail that makes it strange, which leads me to believe it's not just someone or other falling overboard and the others going to help, but something else entirely.

It's could of course been caused by a freak gust of wind, though one would've thought meteorological data could prove (or disprove that).

I was only half joking about the Giant Octopus too... though it would've more likely been a Giant or Colossal Squid.

 

[AlBDamned]

From the looks of it and your point about the rigging I reckon the most non-sea monster explanation could well be wind or a freak gust of wind specifically.

 

[Queso]

Which sail was shredded? Could it have been a case of the crew trying to rescue the sail when the boom suddenly swung and knocked all three overboard?

EDIT : Now watched the video. So much for that theory

 

[PlaceofDis]

odd. and it must've been erie to be one of the rescue crew.

 

[sushi]

Weird.

How about pirates? No blood. But maybe they surprised the crew?

The other suggestion of one person being in trouble and the others trying to help and they all get into trouble may make the most sense -- especially considering the condition of the boat.

The sail being shredded is hard to explain.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

How about pirates? No blood. But maybe they surprised the crew?

If it was pirates, then I suspect they would have looted the boat too – equipment and stuff like the laptop were left untouched.

It was obviously aliens – it's the only explanation.

 

[johnee]

OH MY GOD!!!

WHERE IS MAD JEW????

oh the humanity!!!!!

 

[Abstract]

Whatever the explanation you want to give, the condition of that sail is weird. I don't know what would tear a sail like that, but it must have been quick, Australian, and quasi-jewish.

 

[sushi]

If it was pirates, then I suspect they would have looted the boat too – equipment and stuff like the laptop were left untouched.

Unless they were after one or more members of the crew for whatever reason. Drugs could be involved.

It was obviously aliens – it's the only explanation.

Actually, this is probably the best explanation so far!

 

[joepunk]

Reminds me of a history program i saw on tv about an abandoned sailing ship found in the 1800's. Everything was in its place but the crew were not onboard. Logbooks mentioning nothing about the whereabouts of the crew.

 

[camomac]

Solved.

If it was pirates, then I suspect they would have looted the boat too – equipment and stuff like the laptop were left untouched.

It was obviously aliens – it's the only explanation.

Pirates need laptops, everybody knows aliens don't.

 

[yellow]

NAMBLA members faking their own death to start a new life elsewheres?