SV Sea Nymph had no autopilot and a crew member who could not steer.

Jennifer Appel, told readers on a Sailing Anarchy forum that her boat that was rescued by the U.S. Navy lacked an autopilot:

“I have been on boats with autopilots and in my experience a boat needs 2.  One to work while the pin is being fixed on the other one. . The autopilots i have experience with quit at the most ridiculous times. . As such,  i had people teach me to sail without the autopilot.  I knew it would be tough. I would have bought at least one if i hadnt spent so much on rigging. . Yes,  i expected tasha to pick it up on The fly the same way i did. . It is exhausting but we weren’t racing…  Just cruising.  The most expensive way to travel 3rd class,” Ms. Appel wrote.

In the Sailing Anarchy podcast episode 27, she told Alan Block the host that Tasha Fuiava struggled at hand steering for most of the voyage.  Thus, poor sailing skills may explain the “10-knot current” experienced in the Northern Cooks as detailed in our video below:

BendingQtips is presumably the name for Jennifer Appel on the Sailing Anarchy forum.

 

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Jennifer Appel, SV Sea Nymph, Tasha Fuiava