"Pan-Pan" in the middle of the Atlantic

Date: January 26, 2025.
Our position: Halfway between Cape Verde and Grenada, mid Atlantic

We are crossing the Atlantic on a 46ft monohull sailboat.
This is my second crossing this season, and I'm on a final sprint: Over the past 5 months, I had done (at that point) 9,000 nautical miles (or +- 17,000 km) of open ocean passages. And with (only) 1,000 miles to go before we reach Grenada in the Caribbean, I am really looking forward to be on "terra firma" for a while.

We are crossing the Atlantic in a flotilla of about 20 boats, called the Vikings Explorers. We left Las Palmas in the Canaries early January, spent a week together in Mindelo-Cape Verde, after which the whole fleet left for our next and final stop: the Spice Island of Grenada, in the Caribbean. Yay!

As most of the boats in our flotilla have a Starlink internet connection, we all chat regularly on our "Vikings" whatsapp group, exchanging pleasantries, pictures from life aboard, weather/sea state reports, and occasional reports of issues on our boats.

On January 26th, "S", skipper on one of our flotilla boats reported on our Whatsapp group he received a "strange" chat message on the Noforeignland app, from "N", the skipper of sailing vessel "D". Onboard "D" was a young Turkish couple with two kids onboard, who had met up with "S" in Morocco, several months ago. The sailing yacht "D" was not part of our flotilla, but were crossing the Atlantic by themselves, and got into some trouble, about 700 miles off Barbados.

The chat message "S" received was something like this:

"Dear S, we met in Morocco some months ago, and via Noforeignland, we can see you are not very far from us, crossing the Atlantic too. Two days ago, we started to have a problem on our boat. Two of our sidestays (Ed: the steel cables holding up the mast), snapped and our mast started to move a lot. We took down the sails, and we are now motoring. But we have only limited fuel on board. We are not sure how to secure the mast. For the past two days, we called a "pan-pan" on VHF radio, but we had no response. We are not experienced ocean sailors, and we need help. Our position is xxx yyy, our Whatsapp telephone number is xxxxx".

So "S", part of our flotilla, forwarded the summary of the message on our flotilla Whatsapp group, and this is how several of us got involved.

A year earlier, crossing the Atlantic in the ARC+ flotilla, we witnessed how "Hilma" (in the picture above), one of our fellow ARC+ transat crossers, had lost their mast due to a structural failure, three days out of Mindelo. At that time, several other boats from our ARC+ flotilla came to their rescue, transfering jerry-cans of extra fuel, so Hilma could motor against the prevailing winds and waves, back to Mindelo. A different story, but cutting the story short, Hilma made it safely back to Mindelo, later on, motored from Mindelo back to the Canaries, had a major repair done, and sailed across the Atlantic a year later.
So, while I was not directly involved in that incident, I "witnessed" it via the ARC+ Whatsapp group, and saw how incidents like these were quite traumatic for the crew and potentially dangerous for all involved.

Back to our story of "N", the skipper of sailing vessel "D".

I contacted "N" via their whatsapp telephone number, which they had passed on "S". My first message was something like this:

Hi sailing vessel "D", I am Peter, aboard sailing vessel "M", part of the Vikings Explorers. You sent a message to "S" who is part of our flotilla, saying you have a problem and need help. Can you give me details of your problems, your current position and how we can assist?

Their response was almost immediate:
Hi Peter, I am "N", the skipper. I have my wife and two kids on board. Two days ago, we had a major problem on our boat, and two of our side stays snapped. We took the sails down, but the mast is moving a lot. Our position is xxx yyy, and we are motoring. But we fear the mast can come down at any time. We do not have enough fuel to motor to the Caribbean, still 700 miles away. We gave repeated pan-pans on the VHF radio for the past two days, but had no response. So I resorted to try and contact other boats via the Noforeignland chat function. We are not sure what to do, at this point. We are thinking of abandoning ship, and get into the liferaft. We are not sure who to contact for help, at this point

They sent me some pictures and video from their rigging issues too...

As abandoning a perfectly solid boat, with no imminent danger of sinking, even if the boat has issues with the mast, is never a good option, I decided to give "N" a phone call. During the call, it was clear they were not really experienced ocean sailors, were quite exhausted at this point, and close to panicing

I relayed my conversation with "N" to our flotilla. One boat in our flotilla was about one-two days sailing from "N", and offered to give them extra fuel. But, a year earlier, with Hilma, having witnessed how tricky it is to transfer jerrycans of fuel from one sailboat to another, I did not feel comfortable with that solution.

It seemed that the priority would be for "D" to secure their mast. Several boats in our flotilla, via our Whatsapp group, exchanged information on how to use extra ropes and the main halyard, to secure the mast, which -clearly- was the main priority. All of the information was passed on to "N", who followed our advice, and sent me pictures how they jury-rigged their mast, which seemed more stable now.

In the same flurry of messages, the "Vikings Explorers" coordinators, Carlota and Oliver, passed on the telephone numbers of the Barbados and Martinique MRCC (Sea rescue centres), who would be able to assist. I passed those on to "N".

I had another phone call with "N", and there was clearly less panic in his voice now. He asked advice how to get extra fuel so he could motor the remaining 700 miles to Barbados. He would need an extra 150 liters of fuel.

In came "J", the skipper of an other yacht in our flotilla. "J" and I had a Whatsapp call. "J" was very level-headed and pragmatic. We agreed that the best option was to call the Barbados MRCC (Sea rescue center), inform them of the pan-pan, and ask for their advice.

And that is exactly what "J" did. He relayed the situation, the GPS position of "N", and their Whatsapp contact number. So, from then on all seemed to be in the hands of the Barbados MRCC.

I had several chat exchanges with "N", informing him the Barbados MRCC would contact him, and propose a plan.

But meanwhile, the fuel situation on "N" got critical, and they shut down their engine, to save fuel, which also meant their batteries did not get recharged. To save battery power, they also switched off their VHF and Starlink. So,... a few hours later the Barbados MRCC informed us they had problems to contact "N", and made it difficult for them to coordinate any rescue actions needed.

What followed was a flash of exchanges between "N", "J" and me, in which I explained to "N" that the Barbados MRCC was trying to contact them, so they had to monitor their incoming calls on Starlink, to coordinate with the Barbados MRCC directly.

Which "N" did. Barbados MRCC said they were diverting a cargo ship to drop of extra fuel for them. Good news.

But.. in an effort to safe fuel and battery power, "N" decided to switch off his VHF and Starlink once again, and a few hours later, "J" was informed by the Barbados MRCC, that they had diverted a cargo ship to the last known position of "N", but the cargo ship had not been able to raise them on VHF or Starlink and could not see them on AIS neither, so the cargo vessel continued on its course. Bummer. A missed chance for "N"'s rescue

Eventually, I got hold of "N" again, several hours later, and advised him not to switch off VHF nor Starlink, as he had just missed one cargo vessel coming to his rescue. He could not miss the next chance of rescue. He agreed, and from then on, kept his communications tools powered up.

Several hours later, we got a message from "N" that Barbados MRCC contacted him, as they had diverted yet another cargo vessel to his location, to drop fuel.

Some hours later, we received another message from "N" that indeed a cargo vessel had met up with them, created a "lee", for them to come along side, and the cargo vessel had dropped several jerry cans of diesel, enough for them to continue motoring all the way to Barbados. He sent me some pictures as the cargo ship approached them, and of the jerrycans of extra fuel they had transferred to them.

We kept following "N" for the next days, up to the point they safely anchored in Barbados a week later, had their rigging problems resolved, and continued for a happy cruising season in the Caribbean..

Some lessons-learned out of all of this:

Don't panic. As long as your vessel is sound and floating, don't even think of stepping into a life raft. The generic advice is: "Don't step down into a liferaft. You will only need to abandon ship, if you need to step up into a liferaft" - hard as it may sound.

For any ocean crossing, have a list of emergency telephone numbers for the coastal MRCC stations covering your area.

Ensure you have long-range full-proof communications onboard (internet or telephone, Starlink or Iridium/InReach) to communicate via voice or Whatsapp

Ocean passages are very demanding on your vessel. Have a thorough standing rigging inspection done before you embark on any long distance crossing

Don't cross an ocean "alone". Link up with other fellow cruisers who are crossing around the same time. Link up with them, and create "a community" (and Whatsapp group) with them, so you can look after each other . If things go wrong, that community will help you.

With a thanks to all involved, especially the Barbados MRCC (who were super professional and effective) and the cargo vessel which came to "D"'s rescue.