We were enroute Australia back in 1989, and came upon a sailboat steering one course with no one on deck. We tried to raise the vessel on VHF with no response. The cockpit was open, and so we sent a small boat to see if anyone was aboard.
We found no one. The iron mike was on, so we figured this guy fell overboard, had no tether or epirb, so the sailboat sailed off without its captain.
We called in another unit to tow her back. Eerie.
You're right. Spooky. The sea is still the sea, and it is both beautiful and deadly.