Crew of the Theros found deceased in Inflatable boat on Sable Island.

So sorry to see this. I worked with Sarah in South Sudan back in the 1990's with Save the Children Fund. They lived life full on.

I sail alone, I have an EPIRB on the boat and a Personal Locator Beacon carried on my body. When I speak with other sailors, it strikes me that they think that the $400 spent on the PLB, which sends signals directly to the satellites, which is accurate to 100 meters, which you can carry on your body, is just too much money.

🤔 First: Because the Keel would weigh a few tons in these craft, a monohull like this can only get momentarily 'knocked down' by wind, and will never "capsize" and flip upside down unless caught in a huge wave from the side at the same time where water movement adds to the rolling (being broached). Also; their water tanks will likely have been at full capacity for their long trip, adding many kilograms (+300 to 800kg). If however the keel was to fall off due to collision with a large submerged object (container, Ice etc), any yacht will then capsize and sink - most monohulls (unlike catamarans) do not have built-in positive buoyancy, and once water gets in ... down they go! Second: Saying that the weight shift of a few solar panels and the engine swap would be a concern (even for a knock-down) is like worrying that you'll become airborne in a storm while holding your umbrella. Neither the weight of the panels, their windage, nor the strength of the solar panel fittings would conform to lend that theory significant credibility as a singular causal factor IMO. Orcas however, have been known to rip out rudders causing sinking, but this is not usually a problem on the type of skegged rudder design of their vessel due to the added strength and support of the lower pivot plate. The vessel has not yet been located: It is possible it was hijacked. I heard no mention of cause of death.

To be fair to the deceased couple, NOBODY would be capable of fighting a lithium battery fire at sea.

Sorry for the loss of this wonderful couple, my heart goes out to their families and friends

Everyone will be a critic on this one. But, here goes: Reportedly the couple did not have an EPIRB, which to me is an utter essential for offshore. Anything less is insufficient. Secondly, a large can or cube of freshwater should always be close at hand for moving into any dinghy or liferaft. Thirdly, a satellite phone should be on the list of "should have".

Whatever happened, happened quickly. Most ditch bags, for cruisers, should at least carry a handheld VHF radio, flare gun...you know the rest and maybe a Sat phone. I store my sat phone in the ditch bag and I keep it up off the cabin floor near where I can grab it on the way out quickly. I have a small floatation noodle on it too with a water activated light. How very sad for the family to know they got off the boat but died from the elements. RIP John

Low density lithium batteries are safe, EV batteries are not. People need to recognise the difference.

Of all the many safety improvements made over the last one hundred years, one could make a case for diesel engines being the most important. Before their introduction, sailboats were vulnerable to the vagaries of wind and tide, leading to frequent tragegies. And a 40ft boat would probably be capable of carrying enough fuel for a range of 500 NM or more, even in difficult weather. By contrast, an electric driven sailboat has negligible range and limited power - fine for entering and exiting a local marina on a sunny day but not for venturing into challenging crossings.

Sure the panels and dodger add windage and some balance issues but I can't imagine it's enough to capsize the vessel. Fire seems much more likely especially with electric inboard.

Thank you for the excellent discussion. It makes sense, unlike messing around with sailboat modifications.

Unless they were towing the dinghy behind the boat I don't think a fire caused this accident. If the dinghy would have been on the boat and a fire started, they would not have had the time to get that dinghy overboard and jump into it. When a fire starts you may perhaps have 3 - 5 min (at best) before the fire forces you to jump into the water. Therefore I am more thinking in the line of hitting a submerged item in the sea, causing a leakage and sinking of the boat. They may have tried to call via radio, but as we all know, when you are out of range you can shout as much as you like, nobody is going to hear you. I would have expected a hand held radio with extra batteries in the grab bag. They were close to shipping lanes and if they would have seen a ship on the horizon at least they could have called. On top of that, any SAR aircraft would be able to hear the distress call as well. When equipped with a direction finder it becomes pretty easy to find the survivors. As a former SAR pilot I can tell you that we never lost a single person in the Caribbean when they had a radio or an epirb. Those were the quick and easy rescues, 100 % success was guaranteed. So anyone setting out to sea, make sure you have a waterproof hand held radio (with extra batteries) to increase your chances of survival. When you make ocean crossings, an EPIRB is a must. Don't even think of leaving without one.

Leaf Battery 🤦‍♂️ (no fighting a lithium fire.. if your lithium goes up… evacuate… that’s all you can do).

I do not understand why so many uninformed people (including the video maker) are assuming these poor people were unprepared, inexperienced, and foolish people. This is cruel speculation. Tragic accidents happen to to best of well prepared, well equipped experienced sailors more frequently than we realise. The very real possibility of collision was not even mentioned, they were in a shipping lane at their last recorded position and could have encountered a partially submerged container at night, or even been run down by a container ship, or they could have been holed by a whale or iceberg - all are more realistic possibilities than those speculated on here. These people and their families do not deserve this wild speculation by people most of whom have never been to sea on offshore passages, or even sailed at all ... But then, what do I know? I wasn't there, and have only sailed a ross the Atlantic and back twice... I would never presume to speculate on the cause of this tragic accident, especially to garner YouTube clicks!

Very sad, they found each other and had each other till the end no matter what the cause. Rest in peace, lovely people.

The battery fire theory makes sense. In an abandon-ship situation these experienced sailors would have been in their life raft, unless something prevented them reaching it, like the boat was on fire. They took to the dinghy because it was being towed and was not ablaze. Lack of an EPIRB activation is puzzling but also explainable. In any case RIP and hopefully in their deaths the couple taught us all something

Your assumptions about the weight of the hard top (which appears to be made out of foam composite) and the solar panels implying that it was going to affect stability is nonsense. As someone said, their water tanks would be full, their supplies full and modern day boats or this type are just not that tippy. God knows what has happened to these people, fire, hitting something. They were clearly experienced-- a very sad story.

Very sorry they lost their lives. That dinghy is 10'. Pretty standard. I think most sailors would go for the dinghy first, especially if it has a motor and large can of gas. If the life raft opened up, tie it to the dinghy -- inside it will give you protection from the sun and wind. If the weather and waves get bad, go in the life raft. Meanwhile the dinghy can motor or be rowed. That dodger doesn't weigh that much. But electric drive in the north Atlantic? Not a lot of sunshine. The range has to be minuscule. (I've crossed the north Pacific. There were days and days of overcast. Not sure how our solar panels were doing -- but our diesel engines were working just fine.) Could a Leaf battery fit between the hull frame? If not then it could be riding too high. My 45' Hunter has a diesel engine and 190 gallon tanks. At a gallon an hour gives me 6 knots and a range of 1140 nM. The Leaf battery won't move them that fast and probably won't take them even 100 nM. What were the winds like along their planned route? We had four and five day stretches with not enough wind to do anything but motor. This isn't a problem if you're willing to wait it out. Two weeks without food is survivable. 5-6 days without fresh water is fatal. Hypothermia and exposure are significant factors. What would be interesting to know is how they were dressed? What did they have onboard the dinghy? A go bag? Water containers?

These people were absolutely amazing people, be kind in your comments.

I agree batteries probably caused a fire which sank the boat