Missing British-flagged sailing boat in the eastern Pacific

by Sail-World/C. Solyom, The Gazette on 7 Mar 2010 The SS Columbia, a 13 metre steel sailing boat, is overdue by 10 days in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. It departed Ecuador on 16th January, and was due to sail into Coquimbo, 460 km north of Santiago in Chile, on 24th February.

Nothing has been heard of the yacht, which is reported to have no satellite phone, EPIRB or HF radio. The yacht is flagged in Britain, and the skipper owner is Polish born French citizen Boguslaw (Bob) Norwid and his wife who give sailing lessons as a way of life.

On board is a crew of five. While it is unlikely that the boat would have come to harm as a result of the recent tsunami while at sea, it is possible that the yacht stayed at sea or entered Chile at an unknown port.

However, families of the crew, who are students qualifying for their skipper certificates, are concerned. Among them is Canadian Josee Chabot, whose husband and mother are attempting to piece together information on the missing boat.

'My concern is with the weather conditions and tsunami warnings there,' said Chabot's husband, Martin Neufeld.

The recent series of aftershocks in Chile - the strongest measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale - sparked fears of another tsunami.

'For sure they could be hiding out on an island or on the ocean where it's calmer,' said Neufeld. 'It's very possible. And I don't want to think of the worst-case scenario.'

Chabot, went on the sailing trip after finding a flier for the sailing trip in a cafe in Ecuador.

'She said it was her dream and she was so happy to be leaving on the boat,' said Chabot's mother, Hélène Béland.

Neufeld has been trying to get more information from authorities in Chile, but communication has been difficult since the 8.8 magnitude earthquake knocked out infrastructure and destroyed up to 1.5 million homes.

Neufeld has been in touch with the Canadian embassy in Santiago, which is investigating the situation and has contacted the ports between Salinas, Ecuador and Coquimbo. However, none has registered the vessel.

He also alerted the Canadian Coast Guard, which in turn has put pressure on its counterparts in Ecuador and Chile to start actively looking for the ship.

With added pressure from the Department of Foreign Affairs, the South American coast guards started sending out search signals yesterday, and search and rescue teams responsible for the coast of Chile and the Galapagos Islands have also started investigating.

Any yacht crew or other person sighting the yacht or having any information about her is urged to contact the local authorities or Sail-World urgently.