November 23, 2003

• Suicide in the Mid-Pacific

  ‘Gotta remember to watch out for that dead person’s drifting boat. . . . ‘Wonder if he had any good videos on board.

  Suicide in the Mid-Pacific September 19 – Pacific Ocean Delivery skipper Don George of the San Francisco YC-based Swan 61 Hasty Heart came across an unusual sight halfway from Hawaii to San Francisco yesterday – a sailboat drifting around with tattered sails and a drooping radar. As George and the rest of the crew approached, they could see the name Southbound II with a hailing port of Santa Cruz. The boat was floating fine, but there was nobody aboard. Getting no response to their hails, some of the Hasty Heart crew went aboard. Although all the boat’s gear seemed to still be there, as well as personal effects such as the owner’s wallet, there was no sign of him or any possible crew. The Hasty Heart crew called the Coast Guard, which told them they’d been on the boat in July, and had found a suicide note left by owner Stephen James Brown. It seems odd to us, but the Coast Guard apparently decided to let the boat, which seems like a hazard to navigation, just drift. They also left everything onboard except for the ship’s log. The name Stephen Brown sounded familiar to us, so we looked through our records. Sure enough, he’d made several contributions to Changes in Latitudes, mostly while doing a singlehanded circumnavigation from ’85 to ’89 aboard Southbound, a Bingham 32. We heard from him again several years ago when we were compiling our list of West Coast circumnavigators. At the time, he gave a Scott’s Valley address and phone number. The phone is disconnected. There are indications that he was most recently sailing out of either Honolulu or Lihue, Kauai. The Hasty Heart crew said Southbound II had the insignia ‘NW 38′ on the house. We’re wondering if they misread it, and she’s really a Nor’West 33. In any event, Stephen Brown, bless his soul, apparently committed suicide at sea at age 54. from http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicLat/2003/0903/Sept19/Sept19.html

  • 6:28 am
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