Valiant

In a previous post and on Facebook, we mentioned the boat, “Valiant” from Deltaville, VA (not to be confused with Terrapin being a Valiant production).  When “Valiant” pulled up along side Ingomar in St John’s harbor, it definitely seemed like the boat sat very low in the water - remarkably low.  Al on Ingomar mentioned it to the owner but they indicated they were well stocked for their intended trip to Greenland.  

The concern with a boat lying low in the water is it’s susceptibility to being rolled by a wave if the boat turns sideways to the wave.  It only takes a wave 2/3 larger than the height of the boat to roll it over (typically).

As we left St John’s, Valiant untied from Ingomar, who untied from Terrapin and Ingomar and Terrapin sailed north to Conception Bay and we assume Valiant retied to Scademia in St John’s.  That was the last we heard of Valiant until the news yesterday.  

Also, as a note, our intended route to Ireland was to sail along 50 degrees north latitude but because of the number of lo pressure systems off Greenland, we continued to divert south and ended up sailing mostly along 45-46 degrees north, almost 300 miles south of our intended course.  Iceland is approximately 64 degrees north.

As you’ll read in the article, “Valiant” was rolled in 20-ft waves  (similar to what we experienced 1200 miles south) and began taking on water.  The emergency beacon was activated and the men were rescued and the boat was abandoned.  We are glad everyone aboard “Valiant” was safe and survived the freezing temperatures of the water.