For more updates, check out our new blog SecondChance42.blogspot.com.
See you there :)
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Rolf, Silke and Chester are getting (a) Second Chance (42)
Our "next life" is getting a "second chance": While Bob is outfitting a now again floating Next Life, our Second Chance (42) is getting ready to leave Les Sables-d'Olonne, France. At the same time, Rolf, Chester and I are getting ready to leave Victoria BC for Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The plan is for us to meet Second Chance 42 in the Bahamas.
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Next Life's next life
This will be my last entry on this blog. Next Life has been sold by the insurance company and we are thrilled about who bought her: it's our friends Bob and Catherine from Kevalli House! They are planning to fix her up and use her as a research vessel. We are very happy about Next Life's new purpose in her next life and wish Bob and Catherine good luck with all the work and safe travels.
Meanwhile, Rolf and I are looking forward to getting back on the water with another Lagoon 450. We will most likely call her "Second Chance" and be back in The Bahamas next winter.
Friday, 22 February 2013
Beautiful Kevalli House on Stocking Island
Instead of writing about our days after we ran aground, I'd like to focus on the beautiful place we stayed at. Just know that we worked a lot during that time, getting things off the boat, rinsing and drying, sorting and packing.
Bob and Catherine welcomed us at Kevalli House, where we felt instantly at home. Check out their web site at www.KevalliHouse.com or let the following pictures speak for themselves. Among others, they were so kind and let us have a BBQ for all the rescue helpers at their place, an evening we enjoyed immensely. We were truly stranded in paradise and met a lot of amazing people in the process.
Bob and Catherine welcomed us at Kevalli House, where we felt instantly at home. Check out their web site at www.KevalliHouse.com or let the following pictures speak for themselves. Among others, they were so kind and let us have a BBQ for all the rescue helpers at their place, an evening we enjoyed immensely. We were truly stranded in paradise and met a lot of amazing people in the process.
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| View of 'Hole 3' and Kevalli House |
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| Our living room |
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| Our bedroom (dog not included!) |
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| Upstairs Air Deck |
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| View from the Air Deck North West |
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| View from the Air Deck South West |
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| Entrance to cottages with Air Deck on top |
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| Rolf sorting through our stuff |
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| View of the beach on the East side of the island, behind Kevalli House |
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| Gazebo with view over the beach and ocean |
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| Rolf, Bob and Silke on the main house's deck overlooking Hole 3 |
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Going home
Today, we will fly to Ft. Lauderdale, where we will stay until Friday (Feb 8) to be able to get the required health certificates for our pets for the flight to Seattle. Once in Seattle, we will drive home with a rental car. Having the pets and Chester's big crate makes the whole thing a little more complicated than usual.
Gosh, we are looking forward to coming home and seeing our friends. It's time.
Once home, I will write a little bit more about the last two weeks here, plus publish some gorgeous pictures of this place.
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.
Gosh, we are looking forward to coming home and seeing our friends. It's time.
Once home, I will write a little bit more about the last two weeks here, plus publish some gorgeous pictures of this place.
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Pictures
Taken the morning of the disaster. Next Life in all its glory had arrived in paradise.
Taken during the rescue mission after we had run aground. Waves pounding the boat
and pushing the boat even further onto the reef.
Taken the next day before the salvage company arrived.
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Next Life aground - this is what happened...
So, we ran aground going through a cut between Guana Cay and Fowl Cay just outside of Georgetown in the Great Exuma Islands.
You might be wondering how this happened to us. And I even go as far as saying "...to us of all people", meaning that we both are very cautious people and were very well aware of the danger of reefs in this area.
The problem was that we had travelled with the Navionics Chart Software happily and safely for months and for more than 10,000 Nautical Miles. We had also travelled to Alaska and back with the Navionics software without ever running into any problems. We trusted the software, not blindly, mind you, we would still have our guards up. But we trusted it enough to make our passage planning based on the information it provided. For the route we took, Navionics did not only show the depth of the cut as being sufficient, it even showed it as the recommended route to take.
At the same time, the angle of the sun was such that we could never have seen the reef before it was too late. Local people who helped us said that there would have been no chance. And on top of that, the tide was such that the water didn't break in front of the reef, so there were no waves to indicate that reef either.
So the charts said it was okay to go and it looked like it was okay to go and that's when we ran aground.
We overheard people talking about the stranded catamaran in the supermarket yesterday. They were looking at pictures on their camera at the same time, so we started talking to them. I hadn't seen the boat after it had come off the reef last night and when I saw the pictures of Next Life floating with the water up to the salon table, I felt sick.
The insurance's surveyor is coming today, so tonight, we will know more.
The hardest part for me, I think, will be to go back to the boat later today and see the full disaster first hand. Rolf says it will still take some time for the salvage company to lift the boat up, so that we can see whether there are any more personal items we can take off the boat. I'm full of hope while trying to prepare myself for the worst. We only took the bare necessities like documents, computer equipment and such, cash & credit cards and some pieces of clothing with us when we abandoned ship.
We left so much behind, I don't even want to think about it.
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.
You might be wondering how this happened to us. And I even go as far as saying "...to us of all people", meaning that we both are very cautious people and were very well aware of the danger of reefs in this area.
The problem was that we had travelled with the Navionics Chart Software happily and safely for months and for more than 10,000 Nautical Miles. We had also travelled to Alaska and back with the Navionics software without ever running into any problems. We trusted the software, not blindly, mind you, we would still have our guards up. But we trusted it enough to make our passage planning based on the information it provided. For the route we took, Navionics did not only show the depth of the cut as being sufficient, it even showed it as the recommended route to take.
At the same time, the angle of the sun was such that we could never have seen the reef before it was too late. Local people who helped us said that there would have been no chance. And on top of that, the tide was such that the water didn't break in front of the reef, so there were no waves to indicate that reef either.
So the charts said it was okay to go and it looked like it was okay to go and that's when we ran aground.
We overheard people talking about the stranded catamaran in the supermarket yesterday. They were looking at pictures on their camera at the same time, so we started talking to them. I hadn't seen the boat after it had come off the reef last night and when I saw the pictures of Next Life floating with the water up to the salon table, I felt sick.
The insurance's surveyor is coming today, so tonight, we will know more.
The hardest part for me, I think, will be to go back to the boat later today and see the full disaster first hand. Rolf says it will still take some time for the salvage company to lift the boat up, so that we can see whether there are any more personal items we can take off the boat. I'm full of hope while trying to prepare myself for the worst. We only took the bare necessities like documents, computer equipment and such, cash & credit cards and some pieces of clothing with us when we abandoned ship.
We left so much behind, I don't even want to think about it.
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.
Monday, 28 January 2013
Rolf, Chester, Sparkles and I are okay, BUT...
Rolf, Chester, Sparkles & I (Silke) are well/ sind wohlauf.
But our boat is not./ Aber unser Boot nicht.
Yesterday, we ran aground in the Bahamas and even hours of trying didn't get Next Life off the reef./
Wir sind gestern in den Bahamas auf ein Riff aufgelaufen und selbst stundenlange Versuche haben Next Life nicht davon runterbekommen.
When we finally abandoned ship just before darkness set in, we had water in the stern pantoon up to the floorboards./
Als wir letztendlich kurz vorm Dunkelwerden das Boot verließen, stand das Wasser im rechten Teil bis zum Kabinenboden.
We hired a salvage company that will hopefully take the boat somewhere safe at some point today./
Wir haben bereits eine Firma kontaktiert, die hoffentlich heute das Boot an eine sichere Stelle bringen wird.
Latest news from this morning was that the boat is afloat with water up to the salon level, so the bedrooms are completely under water. I'm very grateful since the fuel tanks are still intact and the sea life in this area is safe. That was my biggest worry overnight. /
Letzte Neuigkeit von heute morgen war, dass das Boot schwimmt mit Wasser drinnen bis auf Höhe des Salons, die Schlafräume sind also völlig unter Wasser. Ich bin so dankbar, dass die Dieseltanks nicht beschädigt wurden und somit Tiere und Pflanzen hier nicht in Gefahr sind. Das war letzte Nacht meine größte Sorge.
We had a lot of help from some amazing people and are staying in a beautiful cottage close by for now. /
Wir hatten eine Menge Hilfe von ein paar tollen Menschen und sind derzeit baw in einem superschönen Ferienhaus in der Nähe untergebracht.
Rolf is currently on the way to the boat to set the anchor and maybe still get some things off it. / Rolf ist derzeit auf dem Weg zum Boot, um den Anker zu werfen und vielleicht doch noch einige Sachen mitzubringen.
Don't worry about the four of us, we are okay. /
Macht Euch über uns vier keine Sorgen, wir sind okay.
By the way, my phone is gone, Rolf's phone is intact, his Bahamian number is +1-242-5246170
Mein Handy ist ueberrigens weg, aber Rolf's Handy ist funktionstüchtig, seine Bahamas Telefonnr. ist +1-242-5246170.
We will let you know more once we know more./
Sobald wir mehr wissen sagen wir Bescheid
Silke & Rolf
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.
But our boat is not./ Aber unser Boot nicht.
Yesterday, we ran aground in the Bahamas and even hours of trying didn't get Next Life off the reef./
Wir sind gestern in den Bahamas auf ein Riff aufgelaufen und selbst stundenlange Versuche haben Next Life nicht davon runterbekommen.
When we finally abandoned ship just before darkness set in, we had water in the stern pantoon up to the floorboards./
Als wir letztendlich kurz vorm Dunkelwerden das Boot verließen, stand das Wasser im rechten Teil bis zum Kabinenboden.
We hired a salvage company that will hopefully take the boat somewhere safe at some point today./
Wir haben bereits eine Firma kontaktiert, die hoffentlich heute das Boot an eine sichere Stelle bringen wird.
Latest news from this morning was that the boat is afloat with water up to the salon level, so the bedrooms are completely under water. I'm very grateful since the fuel tanks are still intact and the sea life in this area is safe. That was my biggest worry overnight. /
Letzte Neuigkeit von heute morgen war, dass das Boot schwimmt mit Wasser drinnen bis auf Höhe des Salons, die Schlafräume sind also völlig unter Wasser. Ich bin so dankbar, dass die Dieseltanks nicht beschädigt wurden und somit Tiere und Pflanzen hier nicht in Gefahr sind. Das war letzte Nacht meine größte Sorge.
We had a lot of help from some amazing people and are staying in a beautiful cottage close by for now. /
Wir hatten eine Menge Hilfe von ein paar tollen Menschen und sind derzeit baw in einem superschönen Ferienhaus in der Nähe untergebracht.
Rolf is currently on the way to the boat to set the anchor and maybe still get some things off it. / Rolf ist derzeit auf dem Weg zum Boot, um den Anker zu werfen und vielleicht doch noch einige Sachen mitzubringen.
Don't worry about the four of us, we are okay. /
Macht Euch über uns vier keine Sorgen, wir sind okay.
By the way, my phone is gone, Rolf's phone is intact, his Bahamian number is +1-242-5246170
Mein Handy ist ueberrigens weg, aber Rolf's Handy ist funktionstüchtig, seine Bahamas Telefonnr. ist +1-242-5246170.
We will let you know more once we know more./
Sobald wir mehr wissen sagen wir Bescheid
Silke & Rolf
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.
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