A TOURIST couple sent a distressing message for help after their captain and his wife were killed by the boat’s rigging in a brutal tropical storm.
Karl and Annemarie Frank died in June from injuries sustained by being hit by their boat’s rigging leaving a US couple traveling with them scrambling to be rescued.
Karl and Annemarie Frank, pictured, were killed on their sailboat after they hit a bad storm off the Massachusetts coast[/caption]
The sailors were taking two American tourists from Bermuda to Nova Scotia Canada[/caption]
Two American tourists were picked up by the German sailing couple in the Caribbean and headed for Nova Scotia, Canada around June 9, CBC News reported.
The Franks had lived on their CNB 66 yacht, Escape, for a year and blogged about their adventures after quitting their jobs, according to the outlet.
Lieutenant Commander Mason Wilcox of the US Coast Guard said that the group hit a bad storm off the coast of Massachusetts on the morning of June 12.
Wilcox said: “There was some sort of rigging failure that had caused an injury to the lady on board, and when the gentleman went by to go help her, he sustained injuries as well.
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“Because of those injuries, the two passengers … hit the emergency beacon on board to say, ‘We need help,’” he added.
Emergency crews brought the Franks to Massachusetts where they were pronounced dead.
CBC reported that the tourists who remained adrift on the boat, were rescued later that day by the coast guard.
“We did not tow the sailboat back because we wanted to get them back to shore as quickly as possible, Wilcox said.
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“And unfortunately, towing a sailboat that far could probably cause more damage if we went fast,” he continued.
In Annemarie’s final blog post on June 8, she worried about the conditions that the couple would be sailing in.
She wrote: “We really enjoyed our short visit to St. George’s. We are really looking forward to what Bermuda has to offer in the coming days.
“However, we are well aware that the foreseeable future does not hold just relaxing sightseeing for us. ‘Alex’, the first tropical storm of the season, is approaching.
“It appears as if ‘Alex’ will plough right through our gorgeous little island paradise,” she continued
A seasoned sailor, Philíp Wash, was hired by Leeway Marine in Dartmouth to retrieve the boat, reported CBC.
After weeks of travel and days of searching, they finally found the boat in the middle of the night, according to the outlet.
“We put all kinds of lights on it, and there it was, just sitting there, flopping back and forth,” Wash told CBC.
Wash and his crew took pictures of the scene to help in the investigation and for the German insurance company.
The investigation is also being assisted by the US Coast Guard.
It is unknown at this time how long the boat will stay at Dartmouth Cove in Nova Scotia.
When announcing the launch of their sailing adventure, the German couple said: “We have decided to turn our world upside down and start something totally new.”
“Now we are enjoying life on our wonderful sailing yacht Escape. Sailing and travelling have become the main aspects of our lives,” they said.
The German couple blogged their sailing adventures on social media[/caption]
