Everest Horizontal sighted

After Tim Kent loses his keel bulb during Bermuda 1-2

We have a sighting of Everest Horizontal!  We don't have many details, but we have coordinates that were reported in and everyone was rapidly at work doing set and drift calculations for the rescue/salvage crew. Jennifer Clark, a Gulf Stream expert, and Commander's Weather, both responded rapidly to further identify and project the boat's position based upon when the salvage vessel could arrive.

In the meantime, Tim arrived in Bermuda around noon yesterday (Thursday). The timing of his arrival was critical for two reasons. First, because every hour matters in this case, and two, because there is a reef which must be managed at high tide. Had Tim arrived at night, it would have delayed departure for another 6 hours due to the tide table. All told, they saved 15 hours of time with the crazy airline routing that took place and Tim and the crew departed yesterday afternoon.

At this point in time, we expect that Tim and the crew should be nearing the coordinates area where Everest was sighted. We anticipate the rescue vessel could reach the general area early Friday, and begin a grid based search pattern based upon the projections by Commander's and Jennifer Clark. We are fully confident that Tim will be aboard Everest Horizontal before nightfall.

Everyone asks the question of what next? That is strictly based upon what they find when they get to Everest. The boat can be towed in upside down, it can be righted and towed in, and there are several different plans for dealing with the mast and rigging depending upon what they find. There are a tremedous amount of unknowns here that
will be answered within the next few hours. Jim Antrim, the boat's designer, has been in constant contact with Tim and Brad over the past few days discussing what will work and not work in salvaging Everest. 

In fact, he put together a three page document answering many "what-ifs" that Tim took with him.  His input will be invaluable in recovering as much as possible.

For now, we remain on pins and needles.  While we know that he may well have Everest back today, we do not have any communication.  The constant communication we all enjoyed during the Around Alone race is not an option here. His sat phone is at the bottom on the ocean and a cell simply does't have the range. The boat does have an on-board radio, but it is a VHF which a line-of-sight transmition only. Now, we wait.

As soon as he is within range on the rescue vessel's radio, he will call in to Bermuda, where they will reach Alan Paris (Around Alone's, BTC Velocity) and he will be in touch to help spread the word. As always, we will keep everyone posted.

In the meantime, we need to thank a few people that went above and beyond to assist in this situation. Thank you to Brian Hagan who generously provided an open line of credit on his personal credit cards, and to Chris and Joey Butzen who immediately handed over a check to assist in the rescue attempt. Thanks to Jim Panther, who drove
through the deadly New York City traffic to pick Tim up at LaGuardia airport, shuttle him through the city to JFK airport, and put him in a hotel for the night. Thank you to Jennifer Clark, for her immediate response and help with Gulf Stream information and to Commander's Weather Service for their rapid response as well. Of course there are
numerous others who have stepped in as well, including those you have already read about from the Around Alone family, Brad and Meaghan Van Liew, Alan Paris, Bruce Schwab, Mary Ambler, and all the others. There will be many more to thank in the next few days, as once again, we see the generous actions of these people coming together for success in rescuing Everest Horizontal. Thank you.

The Shore Crew