Dear friends.
Many of you have been asking me, what actually has happened to s/v Ocean Echo 1 at Marshall Islands on 24th of November 2014.
It is my duty/responsibility to inform offshore sailors and general public about some nasty business, which followed after unfortunate loss of Ocean Echo 1.
My bad luck has happened around 4 am on approach to Majuro passage, which is a few hundred meters wide and minimal depth is 4 meters. I was busy downstairs getting some things organized for arrival to Majuro Atoll and official clearance. The boat has been steered by electronic steering (course computer) for several hours.
Suddenly I have heard the crash and realized, that the boat is being pushed onto “Enemakij” Island shore by the waves. I did have some issues in the past few months with mentioned electronic steering unit and control head (display, command unit), which was under warranty. Couple of emails and voice recordings, which were sent to my family and friends in April and June 2014 are mentioning some serious problems with the course computer and control head. Steering computer would turn suddenly to left or right without any external command or input. I have mentioned in these emails and voice files, that I do not trust this course computer and it is very scary situation, since it did happened a few times already. The boat was not insured, because it is hard to find insurance coverage for single/solo sailor/crew.
It is a complicated situation and I almost lost my life.
I would like to mention several facts, which are documented in emails and voice recordings.
I have ordered NEW marine electronics from one of the largest online marine store in USA. I was very upset finding out, that online marine store have sent me used (returned) equipment to New Zealand. Steering computer was missing from the shipment. I have found steering computer user manual booklet in shipment, which had a hand written notes from previous owner. This was a proof, that steering computer would of been used/returned item. Received control head (electronic display, command unit) was also returned/used item. It was not in original factory packaging and it had a finger prints all over. I have contacted mentioned online marine store via email regarding shipment problems. My email address seemed to be BLOCKED by receiving end. I managed to contact them via different email address. Eventually they replied and admitted in their email, that they have sent me used/returned items. They have offered me USD 100 for my inconvenience (to get me off their back). Customers are not interested to receive used/returned items without being notified, when they pay for NEW products!! Nasty part of this situation is, that online store new, that I will not be able to ship the items back due to being offshore yacht with limited visa in visiting countries. We have to move every few weeks or months to different countries, because the visas and boat import rules.
In my opinion online store was dumping returned/used goods to offshore yachts, knowing that we will be stuck with the items and will not be able to ship them back. Top management of this company, have insisted, that they did NOT do anything wrong!!! Interesting, this is how the system works?!
I was forced to purchase second course computer from different online store. This steering computer was brand new in original packaging. However the course computer ended up having own issues. It would steer fine for several hours and then suddenly turning left or right on it own without any external input or command. Received used/returned control head (electronic display, command unit) had issues as well. It was asking for calibration most of the time, when restarted (turned ON). That might of been a reason for being returned.
People do not realize how much we depend on self steering equipment, especially when being solo offshore sailor. I did have windvane, which is very reliable and functional. I was using windvane most of the time offshore. Electronic steering system was used only when I could not use windvane and it should do better steering job, than the crew. Technology is there and it is usually reliable.
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This is part of an email, which was sent to mentioned online marine store in February 2014.
This situation has upset me very much. Offshore cruisers have to deal with many problems every day. Finding out, that "new" printed booklet has hand written notes made by some other person is NOT much fun.
This situation seriously damages our trust to online shopping. There is no way of checking the items at store location or proving any additional problems from overseas. I am NOT making any assumptions here, where steering computer went missing. I am NOT blaming anyone for anything here. I am just sharing with you my true bad luck story. Hand writing in "new" printed installation instructions booklet is little bit scary issue and I am definitely NOT happy about it.
Most of us expect new factory sealed goods, when we buy new items online. Unfortunately it does not seem to be the case some times. We are not interested to be receiving returned goods, demos, factory second, etc., when we pay for new products. I plan to share this with other cruisers and boating community to educate them about my online shopping experience.
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I have reported loss of Ocean Echo 1 to manufacturer of electronic equipment soonest I could, when I returned to Vancouver. Electronic equipment was under warranty, only a few months old. I was eventually contacted by intellectual property counsel from main company, which owns marine electronic equipment manufacturing company. Intellectual property lawyer told me over the phone and in the email, that he will try to help me out with my unfortunate situation. I have not heard from this counsel for 4 months. I have contacted him again, asking if he needs any more information or documentation. Major international insurance company contacted me a few days after reminder to intellectual property lawyer. This insurance company deals with any claims related to manufacturer of marine electronics. Insurance company was asking for all kinds of documentation, log book, electronic steering unit and other equipment from the boat. I have mentioned to them, that nobody seem to do anything for 4 months after reporting grounding accident to manufacturer and proper authorities. The boat was stripped within a few weeks. I have transferred the ownership of the boat to island owners at the day of grounding to avoid any future confusions. The boat is island owners property by now. Insurance company did not even try to investigate much.
The boat was taking on the sea water in high tide due to cracked hull. There were 3-5 feet (1-1.5 meters) of sea water inside the boat at high tide. Most of documentation and equipment was floating around at high tide.
Insurance company have sent me all kinds of same questions several times. The investigation seemed to be very inconsistent, full of mistakes and lack of professional knowledge of marine environment and marine equipment.
I was asked to fly to San Francisco for voluntary deposition with independent law firm. A few weeks after the deposition in SF insurance company declared, that there was nothing wrong with steering computer or any other electronic equipment, which was under warranty.
I have several files saved from research on Internet related to malfunctioning of same electronic steering system. Owners and technicians of same steering computer are complaining about same functionality issues as I had. One of the technicians is saying, that same model of steering computer is very unreliable turning left or right on it own when ever it decides. Obviously I was not alone having these problems with my new steering computer and returned/used control head.
I have visited a few law firms in Vancouver to consult my situation. All of them have indicated to me how the system works with larger insurance claims.
It seems, that insurance companies want to see fight for the larger settlement. It means to hire attorney and spent tens of thousands of dollars before insurance company even considers settlement. Insurance company knows, that a lot of people will give up on fight for legal claim due to high cost of hiring law firms.
I have lost USD 200,000 in my sailboat and equipment. It does not include 8-10 years of preparations and modifications of the boat for offshore sailing. I have lost a lot of personal belongings, which can not be replaced. I have been living under the stress and suffer since November 2014 and nobody seems to care from involved parties. I can not afford to spent an other USD 100,000 to fight insurance company and manufacturer of faulty equipment, which was under warranty.
This is a true story of Ocean Echo 1 - resting in Marshall Islands, Majuro Atoll.
My objective here is to let you know, how online shopping can go wrong and cost major problems. Offshore sailors have enough of their own problems out there. They do not need to be abused by nasty online shopping practices. I almost lost my life!!!
Please, feel free to share this sad story with anyone.
Thank you very much for taking your time to read my true story.
Excuse my poor writing skills and grammar, please.
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Any comments can be sent to - oceanecho1@gmail.com
(excuse my late reply please, thanks)
My blog address - http://oceanecho1.blogspot.ca/
Kind regards. JJ (Jara) Holcman s/v Ocean Echo 1
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(The old blog's address - http://oceanecho1.wordpress.com/)
Please, excuse my poor writing skills and grammar. Google translate does good job converting
text to other languages.
text to other languages.
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Ocean Echo 1 - The End
Ocean Echo 1 - Good old days!
