As the search continues for three missing American sailors, so does the speculation about what could have happened.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, Kerry O’Brien, Frank O’Brien and William Gross were last heard from on April 4. They departed from Mazatlán and were en route to San Diego and had planned to stop in Cabo San Lucas on April 6 for provisions. However, there was no record of them ever arriving in Cabo.
“It’s kind of shocking and alarming to hear people are missing,” said Brandon Bolic.
Bolic is a San Diego-based sailor with more than 35 years of international experience. He’s traveled the seas off the Mexican coastline where the sailors disappeared.
“A lot of things can go wrong, especially in an area that big. You don’t have good communication with shore if you’re only using a sailor phone,” said Bolic.
Bolic says he’s familiar with the 44-foot La Fitte the three were sailing.
“It’s a good quality boat designed by Robert Perry," he said. "He’s very well known, a great boat designer…those boats typically have a 60 or 70 horsepower engine.”
Bolic says even with a high-quality boat like that, the weather conditions at the time they were sailing (high winds and 15-20 foot seas) would have been a challenge.
“It is fairly dangerous, all things considered, with a crew of three people. It's very hard on the crew you’re getting bounced around in a small boat like that,” he said.
ABC 10News asked Bolic about other possible explanations for the crew's sudden disappearance. He says while piracy is relatively uncommon in that area, whale strikes can happen this time of year.
“There has been an uptick in the number of dead whales that they're finding ashore and the number of whale strikes. So that is a possibility its whale migration season,” he said. “I just hope they’re found safe and sound.”
Anyone with information about the missing boat or sailors is urged to contact the U.S. Coast Guard.
