Bob,, I took a look at the boat on a web page. It was/is a very nice yacht.
Didn't it have all the doo dadds that the boats have for navigation?

I'm not sure what kind of GPS system they have but many of the really good
ones have alarms on them for when the boat gets off course. Were they
piloting ( using nav aids such as buoys, lighthouses, depth, land, etc ) or
navigating offshore?

I'm not that great, by far. But one thing I was taught long ago but a
sailing friend. You are never lost, you know where you are and if where you
are is safe, then don't keep going until where you are is unsafe. As in,, a
reef.

They should have kept that boat offshore, in deep water, no matter what the
conditions until they were able to see a clear channel or get help getting
to a clear channel.

This is a good lesson to all of us who sail. KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, OR STAY
WHERE YOU ARE SINCE WHERE YOU ARE IS A SAFE SPOT.

Many years ago, a sailor friend of mine told me he was coming back from the
Cape toward Portsmouth, NH on his sailboat. This was way before GPS and I
doubt he had loran or anything. He said he was sailing along and then the
fog dropped on him. He could see anything. He watched the depth gage, it
kept going down. When it hit 40 feet, he dropped the hook. He figured he'd
stick it out until the fog lifted. Anyway, he fell asleep. The boat anchor
was holding ok and he said he awoke and the sun was out. He could hear kids
laughing. He runs up on deck .. looks out and he is anchored just off of
Hampton Beach NH. The kids that were laughing were swimming in the surf.
He pulled up the anchor, set sail and off he went. He said if he had kept
on going he would have run right up on the beach.

Next summer I am going to keep the S&L story in the back of my mind. If I
get lost, in the fog or at night and I don't know where I am and have a fix,
or plot, or GPS .. I will sit tight until I can see.

I must say this newsgroup does teach us even if in a weird way.
"Bob" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Feb 15, 3:11 pm, "NE Sailboat" wrote:
Someone else here posted that a simple boat but a very seaworthy boat is
the
way to go.

The story of the FP confirms that thinking.

How did they end up on the reef in the first place? Didn't they know
they
were in shallow water?

The whole matter is one big confusion to me.

==================================

"Roger Long" wrote in message

Hi:

My take on things afte reading all the posts and reading the Pig Log.

Skip was sleeping.
Lydia was on watch and drove the boat on the beach.

I really enjoyed Lydia's comment regarding how the pig grounded,
"....somehow we were blown off course...." When the person driving the
boat makes such a comment that should be a clue that the driver needs
"how to stear a boat" lessons.

Even more disturbing is why the owner/manager/skipper of a vessel
would alow soemone with that skill lever beind the wheel....at
nitght..... in never before sailed waters..... bla bla bla !

Nice people.......................... but____________________.
Bob