Having spotted a red flare, Cleone spent much of the night in a fruitless
search.
Shortly before mid-night, and just as the oncoming watch had been awakened,
an alert crew member spotted a red flare. Ten minutes later, a white one
was seen in the same area. Getting in touch with MRCC Papeete proved
difficult, but MRCC Falmouth were unfazed by being phoned by someone the other
side of the world, and soon the Iridium rang, and we were talking to MRCC
Papeete. It was difficult to pin-point the location, so making our way to
where we thought the flares had come from, we started an expanding box
search pattern. Every so often, MRCC Papeete phoned us to see how we were
getting on - a great encouragement for us.
By dawn, we were tired, but a small sleek French Naval
jet swooped low over us to take the search beyond our restricted
range. As with ourselves, he reported nothing amiss. Telling us that
they had had a series of hoxes involving firing flares, MRCC Papeete
thanked us and wished us on our way at half past eight.
Disappointing? No, we were mighty relieved. And we learned a lot of
good lessons. We practiced a search pattern (and goodness it quickly gets
boring), we learned that MRCC Falmouth is ever alert and helpful, and Papeete is
the same. And it was good to see the response of the Search and
Rescue agencies and to know that even in this far away part of the world,
willing help is at hand.
All well with us, and best wishes to everyone.
James, Chris, Elizabeth and Will
Yacht Cleone
16.38S 152.54W