mixing lever: What was the weather during the final moments of 491? Sea state, etc....
Myself (from first page of this thread):
Just checked the NOAA buoy data:
NDBC - Station 44251
Conditions at Station 44251 - Nickerson Bank as of
1600 GMT on 03/12/2009:
Wind Direction (WDIR): S ( 180 deg true )
Wind Speed (WSPD): 29.1 kts
Wind Gust (GST): 35.0 kts
Wave Height (WVHT): 7.9 ft
Dominant Wave Period (DPD): 7 sec
Atmospheric Pressure (PRES): 29.72 in
Pressure Tendency (PTDY): -0.20 in ( Falling Rapidly )
Air Temperature (ATMP): 36.0 °F
Water Temperature (WTMP): 32.4 °F
Wind Chill (CHILL): 22.3 °F
(maybe not the closest buoy to the scene, but close enough to get the big picture
)
...I have to agree, 800 ft seems pretty high. It's a difficult call though; I can see a reason for the speed: the gearbox probably won't wait until you made it home crawling, so if you don't want to ditch, you'd have to find a compromise... and given the sea state and temperature, an intentional ditching would have almost certainly meant that somebody's gonna die - meanwhile there is always hope that it is not that bad. That's a decision I hopefully never have to make!