Stranded Rower Phones Mom for Help (Cry baby frog alert)

Reuters via Yahoo ^ | July 30, 2003 | Reuters Staff Writers

[schaketo]

BOSTON (Reuters) - A Frenchman attempting to row across the Atlantic called his mother for help as he sat atop his capsized boat in rough waters 100 miles off Cape Cod, the head of the Ocean Rowing Society said on Tuesday.

Emmanuel Coindre, who set off for France from the coast of Massachusetts last week, capsized early on Monday due to inclement weather and used a satellite phone to call for help as the boat took in water.

"After five hours (trying to right the boat) he phoned his mother in France who called the French coast guard who called the U.S. Coast Guard (news - web sites)," Kenneth Crutchlow, executive director of the London-based Ocean Rowing Society, told Reuters.

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued him on Monday and brought him ashore.

"We are recovering from hours of anguish since yesterday," Sylviane Coindre, the rower's mother, said in an e-mail to Reuters. "As parents we never lost hope."

Coindre has crossed the Atlantic from east to west twice and last year became one of only a handful to row across the ocean the other way.

"Last year he landed in a pretty bad storm," Crutchlow said. "Frankly he got in just in time."

He completed the crossing in 87 days, failing to beat countryman Gerard D'Aboville's record 72-day journey. He set out last week for another crack at the record.

Plans to break the record this year and become the first to cross the Atlantic alone three times seem lost as the row boat is now missing at sea. Coindre spent Tuesday on a fishing vessel searching for his craft.

"It's very unlikely he will find it," Crutchlow said. "I'm not saying it's impossible, but the only way they're going to find that boat is by sheer luck."

[dinodino]

Wonder why he wasn't carrying an EPIRB/GPIRB?

[Movemout]

"Jerry. Listen to me Jerry, I'm talking to you. Did you put on clean underwear this morning? Jerry, you're not listening. I can tell."

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Wonder why he wasn't carrying an EPIRB/GPIRB?

Posters should refrain from talking in tongues.

[BlueLancer]

"...EPIRB/GPIRB?"

Epurb gepurb? A-gurney, gurney, gurney!

Swedish?

[Bigg Red]

EPIRB is an electronic device that continuosly emits signals when it lands in the water. It allows rescue vessels to home in on the location of a craft in distress. They cost about $1000US.

dinodino, do you think he figured that with such a small craft the EPIRB would be activated too easily from waves taken over the bow?

[Bigg Red]

continuosly = continuously

[Charles Henrickson]

Epurb gepurb? A-gurney, gurney, gurney! Swedish?

Nej, det är inte svenska. Det är akronamneska.

[Chemist_Geek]

Wonder why he wasn't carrying an EPIRB/GPIRB?

No one thought to equip kayaks/rowboats/canoes with those... Although it's not that difficult to mount one, how would one arm it? Water comes into a small boat all the time...

If nothing else, that guy should have had 757-398-6231 programmed in the speed-dial...

[Chemist_Geek]

EPIRB is an electronic device that continuosly emits signals when it lands in the water. It allows rescue vessels to home in on the location of a craft in distress. They cost about $1000US.

Around the world...around the clock...NOAA proudly stands watch. As an integral part of worldwide search and rescue, NOAA operates the Search And Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) System to locate those in distress almost anywhere in the world at anytime and in most conditions.

The SARSAT system uses NOAA satellites in low-earth and geostationary orbits to detect and locate aviators, mariners, and land-based users in distress. The satellites relay distress signals from emergency beacons to a network of ground stations and ultimately to the U.S. Mission Control Center (USMCC) in Suitland, Maryland. The USMCC processes the distress signal and alerts the appropriate search and rescue authorities to who is in distress and, more importantly, where they are located. Truly, SARSAT takes the "search" out of search and rescue.

[4mycountry]

The thing that makes this story so sweet is the fact that he was from France. Ha!

Did this guy ever think of going under the boat and pushing it upright?

Mooooooom!!

[dinodino]

There are now handhelds on the market that are manually activated and are roughly the size of a cellular phone. As for the cost, $1000 is a small price to pay for safety.