| dbo:abstract |
The rescue of Sea Nymph was the United States Navy's safe recovery of two crew from the sailboat Sea Nymph, which had been adrift in the Pacific Ocean for more than five months. In May 2017, sailor Jennifer Appel and landsman Tasha Fuiava left Honolulu with their two dogs aboard a fully stocked and equipped Sea Nymph. According to the women, on their first night afloat, their boat took damage from a "force 11 storm"; further damage was inflicted by a typhoon, leaving the boat functionally adrift and incommunicado. Tiger shark attacks, a white squall, and Fuiava's inexperience supposedly caused further problems for the four. Almost six months after leaving Hawaii, Sea Nymph was spotted by a Taiwanese fishing vessel, and though Appel would later claim the larger boat was attacking theirs, she was able to use their satellite phone to contact the United States Coast Guard for help. USS Ashland (LSD-48) arrived to rescue Appel, Fuiava, and their dogs, but left Sea Nymph adrift after determining it to be unseaworthy. After their rescue and the media attention it garnered, the two-woman crew of the erstwhile Sea Nymph were questioned about many aspects of their story. Experts in sailing, meteorology, Hawaiian seamanship, and marine biology, as well as the Coast Guard and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office disputed claims made. Appel continued to stand by their statements. If unrecoverable, she could not collect Sea Nymph's insurance, though the ship was spotted still afloat about four months later. (en) |
| rdfs:comment |
The rescue of Sea Nymph was the United States Navy's safe recovery of two crew from the sailboat Sea Nymph, which had been adrift in the Pacific Ocean for more than five months. In May 2017, sailor Jennifer Appel and landsman Tasha Fuiava left Honolulu with their two dogs aboard a fully stocked and equipped Sea Nymph. According to the women, on their first night afloat, their boat took damage from a "force 11 storm"; further damage was inflicted by a typhoon, leaving the boat functionally adrift and incommunicado. Tiger shark attacks, a white squall, and Fuiava's inexperience supposedly caused further problems for the four. (en) |
