Monday, May 14, 2007

Coast Guard Suspends Search for Flying Colours - Independent searchers look for missing sailors -

Coast Guard continues search for missing sailors

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Latest vigil news:

Baker City friends to hold vigil for grad missing in Atlantic

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On May 29, 2007 a person very close to the crew brought THIS story about the Flying Colours to my attention. The friends and family of the crew remain hopeful and need your help if you are on the water to continue the search for their loved ones. If you are passing through the area where this boat was lost please help the families by keeping a watchful eye and reporting any information that may assist them.

Dwayne

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The sailboat Flying Colours was reported missing in rough seas off North Carolina. Photo By: U.S. Coast Guard

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Vigil Held For Missing Sailboat Crew

This story is not about the Flying Colours but ended well for another sailor and his crew caught in the same terrible storm. This sailor thought that a oversized (he did not say rogue) wave destroyed his craft and he speculates that a same or similar wave may have taken the Flying Colours down. Sailor details terrifying ordeal of his rescue at sea The Coast Guard measured the waves at 50 feet. Dwayne --------------------------------------

Sailors’ circle holds hope This is the latest on this story. There are many survival tales from the sea. If this group or some of them got to a liferaft there remains a chance they survived this storm. Some survival books we have posted about on this blog relate stories of persons surviving for weeks and months with very little but sheer determination and a will to live. Dwayne --------------------------------------

Coast Guard Suspends Search for Flying Colours Although the Coast Guard has suspended the search the friends and families of the lost sailors of the Flying Colours are continuing on. The Coast Guard has limited resources and searched for many days. They cannot search forever. Now the search is left to fellow sailors, on the same or similar route or friends, family and those generally concerned. These sailors, by all reports were very experienced. They were apparently prepared and had some safety equipment with them. Castaways have been know to live for months at sea with very limited resources. It remains possible some or all of them are alive at sea. Any help from sailors on this course would be appreciated. 40 sailors from different areas are joining in the search. You can help by sending the families reports as you pass through the area or by sending funds. They have an email where they can be reached. Publicity and blogging will keep attention on this search and may help the families with information about their loved ones. Dwayne Clark ---------------------------------------

PORTSMOUTH, Va. - The Coast Guard suspended active searching today, pending further developments, for four sailors missing off the North Carolina coast since Monday morning: Patrick Topping, 39, Jason Franks, 34, Rhiannon Borisoff, 22, and Christine Grinavic, 25.

“Suspending a search is always a difficult step for the Coast Guard because we understand the impact that it has on the families involved,” said Rear Admiral Larry Hereth, Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District. “In the last six days, Coast Guard cutters and aircraft, along with numerous DOD aircraft searched all of the likely and even unlikely areas where the crew could be. Sadly, the threshold of survival seems negligible.”

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Danbury High grad lost at sea 34-year-old's boat missing since Monday

The friends of Jason Franks were praying for the 34-year-old sailor Saturday.

Franks, a 1991 Danbury High School graduate, was missing at sea off the coast of North Carolina. His sailboat, the "Flying Colours," had been missing since Monday , when high winds whipped the ocean as high as 40 feet.

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A C-130 airplane and a Coast Guard boat search for survivors of the sailing yacht Flying Colours.  
C-130 airplane and a Coast Guard boat search for survivors of the sailing yacht Flying Colours. U.S. COAST GUARD

------------------------------------------------------ Newport Sailors are keeping watch.... -----------------------------------------------------

This particular storm seems to have surprised a lot of boaters. The results have been tragic. Help with this seach in any way you can. If you are a blogger or in the media keep posting stories as it may keep postitive attention on the search.

Dwayne

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