Pacific Puddle Jump Pan Pan
Andy Turpin, of the Pacific Puddle Jump rally, got in touch with us to share an alert for a sailor whose boat has not been heard from since May 13. David Wysopal and his son had signed up with the PPJ rally before heading offshore.
We received a call from JRCC [Joint Rescue Coordination Center] Honolulu regarding concern for a Pacific Puddle Jump rally member who hasn’t reported in their position after regular updates. We forwarded the information to the PPJ organizers, who put out the following message to the fleet: “Organizers of the Pacific Puddle Jump rally, the US Coast Guard’s JRCC (Joint Rescue Command Center), Honolulu, JRCC Tahiti and others are seeking info on the status of American flag vessel Yasukole, a ketch-rigged, 45-ft Island Trader sailboat.”
“Having departed La Paz, Mexico, in mid-April, the father-and-son crew were sending regular position reports via SPOT transmitter until mid-May. The vessel’s last reported position, on May 13, was near 03*25N 130*46W. (Roughly 900nm from the Marquesas Islands, sailing on a fairly steep angle; 1600nm from Tahiti.)
“The captain is known to be a very experienced seaman, but his boat apparently has no easily trackable equipment, such as AIS, sat phone, Iridium GO!, etc. The skipper registered with the Pacific Puddle Jump rally about a week before his departure, but opted not to participate in the fleet’s free tracking program, facilitated by PredictWind, and did not include PPJ rally organizers in the recipient list for his SPOT reports. The PPJ rally has had no contact from him.”
“If you have info on this vessel please contact: Andy Turpin, Pacific Puddle Jump via: [email protected], +1 415 272 3654, JRCC Honolulu, [email protected], [email protected], +1 (808) 535-3333; JRCC Tahiti, [email protected], +689 40 54 16 15.”
Please share this information with anyone who may be in the South Pacific right now.
Hope they’re okay! I sailed on an Australian-flagged Farr 1220, from Panama to French Polynesia in 2000. About 400 miles outside of Panama, we were struck by lightening and lost all of our electronics, along with other damage. We’d been keeping in touch daily with others on the same route and, of course, lost all contact. When we finally reached the Galapagos Islands, we were met with much relief from all those who had lost contact with us and feared the worst. I hope it is something similar for Yasukole.
My understanding is that they were headed for Fiji via FP. I’m in Nuku Hiva just now, having crossed from La Cruz, Mexico, very recently, passage-making around the same time they were underway from La Paz.
Maybe they’ve simply run out of battery power and are making slow progress under sail? Let’s hope so!
Weather has not been so bad as to cause undue concern so fingers crossed all is still well with them.
P.S. Do they not have an EPIRB?
They had one on board back in 2018 but believe the batteries were dead.
In the past Spot didn’t work more than around 600 miles offshore. Hopefully they are already there and just didn’t let anyone know.
That is what we all pray.
Maybe they want to be where they are and no one to know???
BTW, I was drunk when I posted my previous message.
Please post information on Dave and son. Surely they can be well.
I sailed with David to Costa Rica. He is a survivor. Let’s ? they are OK.
Hope they are found and safe. ♥️??
I’ll be praying for Dave Wysopal and his son.
I had a strange dream the night before I read they were missing. In the dream Dave’s brother Jimmer was speaking to me about something. We were on a beach somewhere. I have not seen either of these guys since 1984 so I was shocked when I read they are missing. I hope they are found.
Back in the early 80 ‘s I surfed with Dave for a few weeks in Bali. One day he stopped by to say he was moving on. He took off on a solo surf mission in the direction of Nias. I remember thinking “wow, who does that ? Dave is super resourceful – I got faith in him.
David is uber resourceful and definitely a waterman. There could be a myriad of reasons they’re out of contact, ranging from mild to major. The sailing hazards we don’t see or navigate away from are the submerged shipping containers, let’s hope it’s minor stuff.
Not a particularly religious man, but will definitely say a prayer for them both.
Kia kaha.
Hi Andy, we sent you an email. Our group In Search of Adventure Aaron Carotta would like to support your search. Aaron has recently been found after a search that began May 26.
Thank you Alison for using your resources to get the word out. Stoked Aaron was rescued. We all want the same for Dave and Zach.
He has EPIRB
How do you know? I sailed with Dave to Costa Rica. He didn’t have one so I got my own
I had said earlier that they or he may just not want to be found
Does anyone have access to their earlier SPOT data? Someone on our team who could help plot their possible routing etc to see when they would be considered overdue for Fiji/ Samoa but that data would really help. (Part of the In Search of Adventure Aaron Carotta FB group/ search team )
Lola K, Kind of harsh to mention a criminal act of someone when you don’t have all the facts. Let’s focus our efforts on finding them and ensuring a safe return and not throw out unsubstantiated accusations. If you are not helping, you’re hurting efforts……
He did not kidnap Zach. I was there when we all met in El Salvador to get the family back together. His mom allowed him to spend time with his dad and it was voluntary. Zach speaks with his mom all the time.
How do you know the child was kidnapped? Just curious?
Was anyone on this group following their SPOT tracking BEFORE they went off of it?