How long can 7 souls eek out a living on a damaged sailboat adrift in the toughest waters nature has to throw at an adventurer?
John Glennie, who holds the known record for the longest survival time at sea on an overturned trimaran called the
Rose Noelle, says if the Nina is afloat, the sailors are alive. John caught rain for water and fished to supply the nutrients needed for life for him and his three crew members. It was 119 days later the Rose Noelle washed up on the East side of New Zealand.
The Nina has been missing for over 170 days. The Wright family, Robin and Ricky, went to New Zealand to do an areal search for the missing yacht. They spent several days on Lord Howe Island, taking daily tours in a search route identified as most likely to hold the Nina. After investing most of the piggy bank on this search, and finding nothing, the Wrights went to Australia. Ricky is now taking private pilot lessons and searching for his daughter, Danielle Wright, as well. They are searching up and down remote stretches of Australia coast line hoping to find the 1928 schooner and her crew.
The Wrights stand as the ultimate heroes in the Nina search. It was Ricky Wright who asked Texas Equusearch to advise the families in a private search when New Zealand search and rescue threw in the towel. The Wrights, Kyle Jackson's father Duane Jackson and Salley Davis, Matthew Wootton's parents Sue and Ian Wootton, Lazslo Nemeth, son of Evi Nemeth, Ralph Baird, Executive Search Coordinator for TES, along with Larry Slack, Satellite Coordinator, Jerry Borrer, Drift Logistics Coordinator, Lenore Psencik, Adrienne Gauthier, Satellite Lead, John Funnell, Karen Lagow, and many more people in the Tomnod Search effort are all my heroes. These are the troopers who have refused to give up the fight. They see the vision of a floating Nina and want to do all that is possible to greet the 7 sailors back into society.
A tear rolls down my cheek thinking about these dedicated people sacrificing time, money, and an ocean of heart in the campaign to save the 7 sailors, Yet, I fight conflicting feelings. As Ralph Baird said, if we sat any reasonable person down and laid out the tragic Nina story to them, everyone to a man-or woman, would agree, it is very likely the Nina is afloat and lost in the remote reverse circulating currents of the Tasman Sea. Yet, no government is willing to step up with the resources necessary to bring the crew home. Only governments have these resources. When I think of how my own government, for one, has failed these sailors, along with others, then those feelings of pride and appreciation for what individuals are doing gives way to rage over what governments are not doing.
There is more of the Nina story which remains untold. That is true with almost every epic, there is a public story, and then there is the story behind the story. Rarely does the true story ever come out. When the story does come out, people slap their heads with their hands and say, "ohhh....NOW I understand why there were so many dedicated people working on the campaign. It makes sense." It makes sense for an all-out, no holds barred, government effort to rescue 7 people. It does not look like that will happen.
The thing is, the family members representing the Nina crew all come from hard working, and frankly, patriotic roots. They believe pursuing the American Dream is a two part process. First, you have to do your part, which means education and career. The second part is a strong belief in the government. That is why, when the U.S. State Department failed to support the 6 American and 1 British sailors, there was a lot of bewilderment. How is it, at a time when citizens need most for the Department of State to go to bat for them, the citizens, and their families, come up empty handed? Rather than take their government to task, the families have mostly chosen to take the high road.
Fortunately, there is a bridge over troubled waters. I am very proud to make up a tiny part of that bridge, which mostly consists of the dedicated search team mentioned. What a great honor it is to work with incredibly talented people led by the Wright family, and advised by Texas Equusearch, in transcending geo-political problems. We are in the search for Matthew Wootton, Danielle Wright, Kyle Jackson, Evi Nemeth, David Dyche, Rosemary Dyche, David Dyche IV on the historic schooner Nina. Each of us has an opportunity to perhaps save a life in the Nina case. The search team has paid dearly in all they have done. The very least we can do is support the search, sign the petition and help the families bring the crew home.
GCaptain Article:
Satellite Searches For Nina
Help Find The Nina:
Tomnod
Donate To Search Fund
HERE
Facebook:
Nina Vigil
Holding Hope
The Search For Damien Diamond and Richard Choi
Bringing Home The Nina and Her Crew
Updates:
EVXX
Sign the Petition:
HERE
