HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) – Rescuers could only wonder Monday why three Israelis sailed their yacht into the towering waves of Hurricane Fabian south of the Grand Banks, where they would lose their lives.
The men’s bodies, clad only in jeans and light shirts, were recovered Sunday evening by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel 621 miles east of Halifax – a short distance from where the 75-foot Pacific Attitude had disappeared.
Their identities were not released, pending notification of next of kin.
The U.S. Coast Guard reported that the yacht had been purchased recently by the Israelis in a Boston boatyard. It had docked in Halifax on Sept. 1.
It then set off towards the southeast part of the Grand Banks, despite forecasts that Fabian was heading in that direction.
Petty Officer Donnie Brzuska, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, said he was baffled why the vessel would head into the eye of the powerful storm.
“I don’t know,” he said. “We may never know.”
Brzuska said the skeleton crew of the vessel appeared to be doing tests prior to attempting a transatlantic crossing.
“They bought the boat to start some sort of nautical touring agency in Israel. They bought it in Boston and they were going to take it back to Israel,” said Brzuska.
“Apparently they were to do a pre-cruise shakedown and work out any kinks that might have occurred during the building process of the ship,” he said.
For days, the Canadian Hurricane Centre had been broadcasting the track of the storm, correctly telling mariners the storm was going to pass south of the Grand Banks on Sunday afternoon.
“This was probably one of the best forecasts we have ever written,” said Peter Bowyer, manager of the Canadian Hurricane Centre. “We have been telling people since last Wednesday afternoon that the storm would track through the southeastern Newfoundland waters.”
The yacht ended up in a location “where no boat should be,” he added. “We can give forecasts, we can’t force people to pay attention.”
The boat would have encountered terrifying seas. Bowyer estimated that “phenomenal waves” up to 69 feet high were in the area when the distress signal was received Sunday.
Winds were blasting at speeds of 87 miles an hour. Despite the weather, search and rescue officials had hoped the men might be alive because they were believed to be wearing immersion suits and floating in the relatively warm waters of the Gulf Stream.
The seas had calmed Monday to only three feet when the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Leonard J. Cowley approached the area and found the men had all died.
AP-ES-09-08-03 1747EDT
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