Durban - The discovery of a hull believed to belong to the missing Sunsail RC044-978 has opened old wounds for the families of the Moquini yachtsmen.
A hull, suspected to be the Sunsail, was spotted 600 nautical miles off Port Louis, Mauritius, about two weeks ago and, although it has yet to be conclusively identified, hope is fading for its crew, Anthony Murray, Reginald “Reg” Robertson and Jaryd Payne.
The Moquini went missing 10 years ago during the Beachcomber Mauritius to Durban Yacht Race. It was found five months later, in February 2006, but with no sign of its crew of six.
Gail Dickerson, who lost her son, Sheldon, and nephew, Mark, and Sandy Samways, who lost her husband, Kurt, on the Moquini, have shared some of their experiences of what they went through.
Speaking to the Daily News at Durban’s Royal Natal Yacht Club, they said they understood what was going through the minds of Vijay Naicker and Storme Robertson, girlfriend and daughter respectively of Reginald.
Samways, who works at the Royal Natal Yacht Club, said when the Moquini tragedy unfolded, she went through an anger stage and a “numb period” where everything seemed surreal, like a terrible dream.
“You get angry at everything,” she said, and would ask herself why it happened to her and not someone else.
When she was on the search plane combing the area for signs of the Moquini, every piece of flotsam became a possible piece of the yacht.
But after the search she held a deeper appreciation for the effort it took to carry out a rescue and started to accept they could not do anything. It was then that they held a memorial for the six: Sheldon and Mark, Michael Goolam, Kurt Ostendorf, Neil Tocknell and skipper Graham Cochrane.
“If I could say anything to them, if there is a search plane, go!” Samways said.
The Sunsail RC044-978, a catamaran, was on its way from Cape Town to Phuket in Thailand when it disappeared.
“I think the big difference between us and them is that by the stage they found the boat we had accepted they weren’t coming back. It wasn’t still a search and rescue situation, five months had already passed… for them it is still very new,” Samways said.
They said when the Moquini came back, there were more questions than answers.
“From my own experience, in your mind you made up that they went very quickly and that there was no pain and suffering. Now you get a boat that is turned upside down and you start thinking in your mind: Did they see the boat floating away? Did they try to hold on?” Sandy said.
Dickerson, who owns a yachting services company, said: “Not one body was found, no life jackets... there was nothing.”
“There comes a time where your head has to take over from your heart,” said Samways. She said it was Dickerson who helped her realise they would not find their loved ones alive.
“Their next journey is the incredible one to the High Court as now you have to have them declared missing and seek presumption of death.
“For us it was difficult enough; we had a search that had taken place and held memorials... They still have to go through all of that,” Sandy said.
They advised them that when they got to the point where they had to go to court, they should not do it alone but to take a support group of family and friends.
For the friends, they have the Moquini bench, on the lawns of the Royal Natal yacht club, where they meet when one of them is feeling down.
The bench, which faces the harbour, is where the women share the burden of the tragedy they have gone through as they watch ships sailing in and out of the port.
Sometimes, there isn’t a need to even talk. Just by being together on the bench, watching the ships in port, Dickerson and Samways know what’s on each other’s mind.
But this was something that Naicker and Robertson did not have, with Robertson living in the UK and Naicker in Durban.
Receiving counselling was another step they could take, but also they should know that the sailing community would always be there for them, said Samways.
Daily News