SAILING WITHOUT FUNCTIONAL ENGINE IS RECKLESS - Barley Escaping Hurricane Julia

Sailing without a well-functioning engine with a proper range is nothing but poor seamanship. It ignores rule number one at sea, always make sure to have the margins on your side. Buddy sailing with this boat almost drove me nuts. This is a great example of why I normally don't do buddy sailing. Underway I discovered more and more problems not only with their boat but also with the crew. This is a serious video with no script or acting only sharing the reality. The oceans don’t care if you’re a nice or sympathetic person, it threatens everyone the same. And a disrespectful approach to oceans will cost your life. The aftermath of this sailing was pretty shocking to me. The owner of the boat I assisted didn’t have money to keep up with maintenance making sure the boat was seaworthy. And the captain's lack of understanding of his responsibility and safety for his crew and himself is seriously questionable. On the boat side engine was not working properly, meaning they could not go above 1000rpm. No broadcasting AIS and no instruments working. No radar. A VHF only works 2,5NM when it should work at least 20NM. No satellite phone or modem for communication. Navigation lights are not suitable for open water. No maps on the navigation systems only iPhones and the list goes on. On the crew side, they should realised this is not a seaworthy boat leaving a marina late before a hurricane with no Jerry cans for extra diesel and already low on diesel. No sailing skills and obviously not understanding the incoming dangers. My mistake was to believe a boat used for a commercial charter would not only have a competent crew but also a seaworthy boat. Their original plan was to sail to Cartagena in Columbia via Linton Bay in Panama. When showing them the weather and also the predictions for thunderstorms they asked to buddy sail with me to Bocas. Assuming they were at least capable of 5 kts and also willing to work hard to follow my route being the ones asking for permission to sail along with me. Meaning I had to delay my departure by one day, and even delayed this limit by almost one more day. I have not shared everything here but I’m serious when saying this boat and its crew is a disaster waiting to happen. All the ingredients for going totally wrong with a different outcome were here. If I had not pushed them so hard to get out of the hurricane zone they would been in the worst possible position and situation when Julia grew into a Hurricane. One of the two sailboats staying behind left the next morning only 12-14 hours later. Meaning he was pretty close to us when I went back for my buddy boat telling them now it’s serious. His story is strong telling about the crazy weather destroying his sails on a big well well-maintained yacht, only hours behind us. So I have my reasons also based on my decades of experience to believe this story could get a different outcome. Some luck that the hurricane did not form 10-15 hours earlier and grew a bit more. And the fact I did not give up on this hopeless crew. Nor the owner or its crew ever realise or understand this situation or the potential outcome. Some boats and sailors should stop THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WATCHING AND SUBSCRIBING! You can also follow sailing with Thomas on other platforms for almost daily updated pics and videos, and even find yourself a new T-Shirt: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sailingwiththomas Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sailingwiththomas Shop: https://sailingwiththomascom.wpcomstaging.com/shop/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Sailingwiththomas