Alert for Sailboat ‘Unicorn’ Possibly Adrift in Pacific
We know there are often sailboats that lose contact with shore, and that friends and loved ones share their details in hopes of a successful sighting and recovery. We don’t always share the news in such situations, but in this case, the alert about a sailboat named Unicorn caught our attention. We thought perhaps we could help by alerting our friends currently cruising in Mexico and the Pacific.
The details are sparse, but it appears that Unicorn, with possibly only one soul aboard, has encountered problems at sea and is by now likely disabled and adrift.
The alert appeared on the social service Facebook page Carlos Alfredo Godinez León and reads (in translation):
“Social Service: #BCS #PacificoNorte #SOSVelero #Unicornio #SEMAR #CapitaniadePuerto #Embarcacionesenlazona this day Thursday January 26, 2023, help alerts were received for a vessel, type sailboat named Unicorn, which is located in the Pacific, its crew report that it is [taking on] water and presenting flotation problems, is losing energy, at any time can go out of communication. Caution is recommended when browsing and being in contact with SEMAR, ENSAR, CAPTAINTY AND local authorities#PrevenirEsVivir #ProteccionCivilSomosTodos #AyudarParaAyudar #ABVVBCS”
We translated some of the acronyms and hashtags as follows:
#BCS = Baja California Sur
Velero = sailboat
#CapitaniadePuerto = port captain
#Embarcacionesenlazona = boats in the area
SEMAR = Secretaría de Marina = Secretary of the Navy
ENSAR = Estaciones Navales de Búsqueda y Rescate = Search and Rescue Stations of the Mexican Navy
#PrevenirEsVivir = Prevention Is Living
#ProteccionCivilSomosTodos = We Are All Civil Protection (perhaps equivalent to It Takes All of Us)
#AyudarParaAyudar = Helping for Helping (or Assisting)
An earlier post stated that the last communication with Unicorn was at 11:30 a.m. (presumably Thursday), at which time the vessel was located at “Lat 25 28.9 N, Long 114 18.5 W.”
The alert was accompanied by a map of sorts, of Unicorn‘s last known location.
We heard from a boater in Baja that he heard on VHF that the Mexican Navy had directed a freighter to stop and pick up all Unicorn crew, which he heard did happen successfully. He didn’t hear which direction the freighter was taking the rescued Unicorn crew. Meanwhile, the partially submerged sailboat was abandoned about 40 n.m. NW of Mag Bay; they had been on their rumbline toward Turtle Bay.
2024-March-13 Unicorn washed up on Abaiang Atoll in the Gilbert Group of Kiribati
Hi Moderator,
I have added a link and story
Abandoned Sailing Vessel Unicorn found.
Sailing yacht Unicorn was abandoned January 26, 2023, 40 miles off Mag Bay Baja.
5,300 miles later drifting for 14 months averaging almost 13 miles a day, making it past Clipperton, The Line Islands, and the Phoenix Islands. The yacht washed up on Abaiang Atoll in the Gilbert Group of Kiribati March 12th 2024.
Amazing after the owners thought all was lost the boat kept going making the trans Pacific crossing without the owners. If only she could speak what a story there would be.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0cgk7X3EPSb3N8MfC3UA6H3eUzhL85nU7y2AQH9PspFeHpdf2qxhWGVziAX7HVLvGl&id=100063582102396
Charles – thanks for the update and amazing that it made it’s way across the Pacific unscathed. It reminds us of Peter Hogg’s Antrim 40 trimaran Aeotea. In 1995 Peter Hogg’s very cool Antrim 40 trimaran Aotea flipped in a 40-50-knot squall on the return leg of the Doublehanded Farallones. Hogg and crew Jim Antrim were helicoptered to safety, but, despite an intensive search, the boat could not be located for recovery. Aotea’s main hull finally turned up in the lagoon of Nomwin Atoll on May 1, 1996 — 5,000 nautical miles away.