Seven Facts About Schooner Nina Few People Know

There seems to be a bit of confusion about the Nina search.  For anyone new to the blog, 7 sailors, Matthew Wootton, Danielle Wright, Professor Evi Nemeth, Kyle Jackson and the Dyche family, David, Rosemary and David Jr. set sail across the Tasman Sea.  They encountered a terrific storm and have not been heard from since.  That was on June 4th, 2013, so it has been awhile.  So why are people still looking, and what can you do to help?

Ricky and Robin Wright, news.com.au photo

FACT NOT FICTION #1  The search was started late.  By the time the authorities got around to actually launching an aircraft to look for Nina, the potential search area had grown to a size slightly smaller than the Milky Way!

FACT NOT FICTION #2  Despite claims the search was "the largest search in the history of New Zealand", low probability areas were not searched at all and a few high probability areas were also not searched.

FACT NOT FICTION #3 Landlubbers and even most sailors can't envision how a crew could survive 7 months on a sailboat without provisions.  Experienced sailors like John Glennie who have actually been in the area say long term survival is possible.  Water is obtained from the frequent rain storms in the Tasman Sea.  The boat becomes a floating reef attracting a large variety of fish.

FACT NOT FICTION #4  If the Nina were really afloat, they would have jury rigged sails and rescued themselves.  Actually, the last text message indicates the sails had blown out.  Fuel for the newly installed engine was in limited supply.  To be sure, Captain Dyche and crew are doing all they can to save themselves, but if the weather was bad enough to blow out professionally made sails, and dis-mast the Nina, it has been bad enough to shred a jury rigged sail and mast system.  They don't have many sail lofts in the middle of the Tasman, eventually even the most ingenious crew will run out of material for masts, rigging and jury built sails.

FACT NOT FICTION #5  If the Nina survived the storms she was in, surely she would have floated to shore by now.  Maybe true, though some boats including an oyster barge last year have taken a year to float through the reverse circulating currents of the Tasman Sea.  If the Nina has floated to land, the question, what land?  There are thousands of small islands and reefs off the Australian coast.  The families ask ALL SAILORS, PILOTS, FISHERMEN AND CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS AND CREW to please be on the lookout for the Nina not only in the ocean, but while passing remote landfalls.

FACT NOT FICTION #6  The remnants of the Nina were found off of Fraser Island, Australia.  A piece of the transom was seen with the letters "INA".  No one really knows if the remnants of the Nina were seen off of Fraser Island because the person who spotted the board with the letters "INA" didn't fish it out of the water.  Robin and Ricky Wright, parents of 19 year old crew member Danielle Wright, did a very thorough search of the area and found lots of flotsam, none of it appearing as the Nina.  IF you spot anything that appears to be the remnant of a boat, please fish it out of where ever you found it.  If you need assistance, the Australian Coast Guard or the New Zealand Coast Guard should be called, depending upon where you are.  



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The letters "INA" fit nicely into the word "Marina".  There are several marinas in the area.  The family expresses their deepest thanks to the person who provided the tip, and ask each of us to help solve the mystery of the Nina.  If you are not near the Tasman Sea, you can help by reminding people the search is still in progress; making a donation to help with the huge cost of search flights; if you are blessed with two hands, putting them together and asking for a higher power to reveal where the Nina is might prove to be the miracle that everyone is waiting for.

FACT NOT FICTION #7  While the families wish they had more support from the various RCC agencies, including a radio broadcast asking mariners to be watchful for a low lying craft in the water or evidence of a landing on remote islands, as well as support from the U.S. State Department and the NGA in satellite searches and rescue exercises while naval ships are in the area, the families remain extremely grateful for the efforts made by the various agencies. 

 Because the families have been hard at the search since the official search was suspended on July 5th, 2013, the families especially, Ricky and Robin Wright and Ian and Sue Wootton,  are in the best position to know what tactics would be most helpful in determining the location of the missing schooner, Nina.  The Texas Equusearch Lead Search coordinator Larry Slack,  Exeutive Search Advisor, Ralph Baird and their team also have a keen sense for the next best steps in finding the Nina.  However, neither the search team nor the families would ever want their requests for help to be misunderstood as a lack of gratitude for the efforts that have been made.  In analyzing the search efforts to date, their sole purpose is to find the Nina by identifying missing pieces in the puzzle, which should not be confused with a lack of appreciation for what has been done or a hidden desire to find fault out of spite.

Do You C What I C? Nina Rescue, Bring Seven Sailors Home

C Means Commonality

Blog Index, Learn More About The Nina

Last 5 posts
Page 60  It Was Good New, More Good News and Still More Good News
Page 61  Lafayette, Louisiana to Bassett Nebraska, In Support Of The Nina 7 

Page 62  Prayers For A Pioneer, Equusearch Founder, Tim Miller
Page 63  Equusearch Ready To Scramble Over Life Raft
Page 64  New Zealand Teaches America A Lesson

One of the things that intrigues me about the Nina crew is their diversity.  After doing my research about the 7 people aboard the American treasure, the Nina, a schooner that went missing in the Tasman Sea on June 4th, 2013, my first thought was, "Wow! Imagine the discussions these people will have together!"

It is not that the Nina 7 have common political views.  In fact, a coming together of the left and the right and an in between in an adventure can only yield good things.  That is how the voyage started.  What an eclectic gathering of people!  No one could have imagined the voyage would turn into a major rescue!

These are seven people from very different backgrounds.  Their life experiences will be great opportunities to learn, one from the other. They come from  both liberal and conservative perspectives.  Add to that the unfaltering optimism of the young, tempered with the wisdom of older and experienced thinkers, and one ends up with an incredibly interesting mix of people.

Robin and Ricky Wright speak at a fundraiser in Louisiana

By now, I imagine, this crew knows each other so well, they consider one another family.  More, I have a suspicion, each will walk away from this ordeal with a more accepting and broader view of the other's most cherished viewpoints.

Bringing Home The Nina And Her Crew

When I was a 16 year old youth, I had a very rigid view of the world.  Some adults used to lavish a lot of praise upon me.  

"Why, a member of the Young Republicans.  And you are only 16, Timothy?  Maybe you should run for office!"

"Others would say, "You are going far, kid," not really knowing how far I would go, but wanting to encourage me in the way adults talk to younger people.  

Maybe I am naive, but politics were friendlier in those days, when my dad stood for election as county judge each four years.  Way back when, people actually walked across the aisle to get to know the other side.  For our English friends, "walking across the isle" is a metaphor which means genuinely trying to work out differences in philosophy between members of political parties with divergent views.  

There was a sense we all shared a common purpose, which was to make America better.  No matter which path was ultimately chosen, America would be better from this collaboration between opposing party members with different points on the political compass.   That was the old days.

Nina Vigil, Bring The Crew Home

Today, one of my biggest disappointments has been the fracturing and polarity of Americans.  If I were to leave this Earth today, it is to a less friendly society.   The elephant and the donkey are bitter enemies in some quarters.  They don't know each other any more because they quit talking to each other years ago.   The word compromise does not exist in their vocabularies.  It is as if they have nothing in common, least of which is how to get wherever our country is going, presumably to a better America.  

 If that is how things are aboard the Nina, our crew is in for big trouble.  But you know it can't be that way.  That is because the life-predicament the seven sailors share in common transcends their greatest philosophical differences.  Working together means mutual survival.  One must look out for the other.  By looking at the life struggle of the other, by seeing what bonds them, rather than how each differs, our seven sailors are collectively stronger.  

It is the collective cause which attracts me to the Nina rescue.  It does not matter where you are on various national or world issues or what political party you belong to or even what country you are from. This is an issue we all understand.  We all know how it feels when a loved one is at risk.  Help is needed, now! 

Search Updates EVXX.COM

Because some of that help may need to come from government, our messaging and our ability to appeal to both sides of the aisle, and in fact, many countries around the world, is critical. My question, can we, as volunteers, find the common bond which appeals to each of us and convey that common bond to all Americans, and to all people?  I think we can, if we try.

Protocol Costing New Zealand and US

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Be sure to check out EVXX.com


Please help get the word out, post this to your facebook and other accounts!  Please repost the link!

HERE IS THE LINK!  http://sailingsavoirfaire.blogspot.com/2013/08/protocol-costing-new-zealand-and-us.html

Search Coordinator Ralph Baird Says Call

 The Department Of State

I was very disappointed to learn the flights had been halted in the Nina search today.  It is not that I disagree with the decision to halt the flights and the $20,000 daily bill the families have to pay to keep the planes in the air.  I have intimate trust in Ralph Baird, Executive Search Advisor with Equusearch.  There are valid reasons to conserve resources pending better information.  


Rather, I see it from the point of view of the sailors.  They are out there, in a floating hell, caught in the circular currents of the immense Tasman Sea, waiting for rescue.  They are catching rain water to survive.  They are fishing and spearing the critters that lurk near the man made reef which once was the national treasure, the historic sailboat Nina.  The people who have the equipment to rescue the sailors won't do it because of bureaucratic stink.

A tranquil scene from the press conference and 

fundraiser for the Nina 7

Professionals realize the Nina is out there.  Yachts that sink cough up flotsam.  Yet, nothing has ever been found of the Nina.  The only evidence the yacht sank is the inability of the authorities to find her.  


"They" thought the Scotch Bonnet sank last year after it was abandoned near the last known position of the Nina.  Except for a single sighting, the Scotch Bonnet was never seen again...until it floated onto Brunswick Heads, New South Wales, an Australian beach, 5 months later.  While the Nina will no doubt float to land, the longevity of the crew is at risk.


John Glennie and three crewmen rode his capsized trimaran for 119 days off the coast of New Zealand until they washed up upon an island.  By then, the authorities had cancelled the search and friends had held a eulogy.  Glennie got the last laugh.  He said he created his own miracle because the authorities were not going to create if for him.  


The problem is, the people who have the ability to look for the Nina have washed their hands of the responsibility to look for her.  They have the assets needed, including long range aircraft for an over-the-ocean search.  They can process satellite information being collected by Equusearch.  They can authorize drift models to be run by the Coast Guard at nominal cost.  They can cooperate with the private organization tasked with doing a government job.  The U.S. has other high-tech means to help the seven sailors aboard the Nina. Yet, the U.S. State Department has placed roadblocks in the way of the private search consultant, Equusearch, at every step.


Worse, by mutual cooperation with the U.S., New Zealand could save millions of tax payer search dollars.  Lives could be saved through the deployment of new search tactics for sailors lost in the Tasman Sea.  If the U.S. and New Zealand rolled up their sleeves and got to work on the Nina case, new frontiers would be forged.  Lives, sailor's lives, rescuer's lives, anguish by worried relatives, all could be prevented if the authorities worked together.


This first effort between countries using high technology might be written off as an exercise to pave the way for future searches.  By those terms, a few dollars invested now by each country would yield huge benefits later.

Media volunteers and organizers prepare a commercial with speaker John Glennie

 Instead, the U.S. sends inquiries from the search coordinator and from families to an office in the U.S. State Department which manages the return of the bodies of persons who have perished in a foreign country.  The State Department is not working in tandem with Equusearch.  By indulging red tape, the U.S. State Department robs the families of the basic right to hope. At least the U.S. State Department can't rob the 7 brave sailors of that same hope.



PLEASE CALL THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT.  The telephone number is 202.642.4000, push #4, then ask for John Kerry's comment phone line. Leave a message!


Please also contribute to the fund to save the Nina 7.  Every cent counts!

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Press Conference Louisiana, Texas, For Nina 7, Tomnod Needs You and Flights

INDEX TO PAGES:

It is taking so long to update all 40 pages to date, I have elected a general index.  To navigate to a different page, simply go to the index.  

Tim

TWO EVENTS:

 There will be a NATIONAL PRESS/EquuSearch/families press event in Lafayette, LA at 2:00PM CDT Thursday, August 15, 2013 at Home Bank, Lafayette

NATIONAL PRESS major, coordinated, national press event in Houston/Kemah, TX on Thursday, August 22, 2013 at 11:00AM. 


For details contact Texas EquuSearch at +1 (281) 309-9500 and ask about the NINA 7 PRESS EVENT. Guest appearances by sailor survivors John Glennie and Steve Callahan.



Don't we owe all human beings our best effort to find them when they are lost?

You can help!  

Tomnod Saves Lives-Please try this needle in the haystack game and help us find the Nina 7!

Your Donation Counts

Call the Secretary of State and ask them to support Equusearch in the effort to find the Nina 7!

Tim Miller started Texas Equusearch as a way of giving back to his community.  You can give back by joining the search for the seven sailors lost on the Nina.  Those are Danielle Wright, Evi Nemeth, Kyle Jackson, Matthew Wootton, David Dyche, Rosemary Dyche, David Dyche IV.

Kiwi Air landing role Nina Search

News:  The airplanes are back in the air looking for the Nina 7!  The cost is about 6 times per hour what they pay a high priced doctor.  The flights are flying in an area identified to be the most likely to hold the yacht, Nina.  



The aircraft is basing out of Lord Howe Island to reduce the distance to the search grid.  The countries of New Zealand and Australia have equipment that is more suited to aerial searches over the ocean but refuse to task their equipment in the search for the Nina.  The U.S. has ships in the area on maneuvers including aircraft but also refuses to support the search for the Nina.




In 1989, the yacht, Rose Noelle, capsized off of the coast of New Zealand.  The search was closed and they even had a eulogy for one of the sailors.  It was 118 days later when the crew floated to land.  After the sailors made landfall they were accused of creating a hoax by embarrassed authorities.  



Divers explored the Rose Noelle wreck site where she broke up on the rocks.  They confirmed the Rose Noelle met her end on the rocks of a New Zealand coast full of personal effects no one would have left behind.  The sailors who had lived through hell for months, forgotten on the high seas, were exonerated.



Captain David Dyche, a professional mariner, will be keeping a log of every significant event that transpires aboard the Nina.  When she washes up on land the world will know exactly how every crew person fares through careful documentation.
  


 In 2012, the yacht Scotch Bonnet, was abandoned North of the last known location of the Nina.  The yacht, a Swan 41, was caught in the circular currents in the Tasman Sea for five and a half months.  She eventually drifted up onto an Australian beach.

Please Give to the Nina Fund!

There is no evidence the yacht sank except authorities have not been able to find her, which is not unusual for the Tasman Sea.  The families and their search advisor ask the U.S. State Department to support them in the search for the Nina.    That can best be done by first listening to the advice of the private search coordinator and advocating for the lives of the Nina 7 waiting for rescue.


If it was your mother, son, daughter, brother, spouse or significant other, would you expect less?

Please donate to the Nina Fund;
Please checkout our Tomnod site;
Please call the Department of State, (202)-647-4000.  Ask them to go to bat for the Nina 7.

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