Abandon ship at sea.
Documented abandon ship incidents from the Logbook — 17 records, each with sources, lessons, and the SeaWise procedures that address it.
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Abandoning is the last resort, and the accounts here show it is rarely the sinking that kills — it is a rushed, unprepared evacuation. The crews who came through stepped up into the raft, not down into the water: they briefed, dressed, transmitted a position, launched deliberately, and accounted for everyone. Deciding early, while the deck is still stable, is what keeps an abandon-ship orderly.
Between 22 and 24 August 2026 the Portuguese Navy coordinated the rescue of two French sailors from their yacht about 484 nautical miles north-east of Sao Miguel in the Azores. The boat was drifting with serious mast damage and no steering. A Spanish fishing vessel took the pair off, and they were later transferred to a Greek tanker in good health. The yacht was left behind.
On 26 September 2026 the Australian-flagged 15.5 m yacht Tai Tam struck a whale about 250 nautical miles north of Norfolk Island and began to sink. Her four crew activated their EPIRB and abandoned into a liferaft. An RNZAF P-8A Poseidon found them, and the cargo ship Sofrana Surville picked all four up unhurt early the next morning.
On 6 September 2026 a Canadian sailing solo from Darwin to Christmas Island was rescued after his catamaran took on water in severe weather. His brother raised the alarm when he missed two check-ins. An AMSA aircraft found the boat by radar and dropped a liferaft and beacon, and a Navy helicopter winched him from his tender, unhurt.
Late on 4 October 2026 a fire broke out aboard a sailboat about 5 nautical miles north-west of Cabo da Roca, Portugal. The skipper, a 69-year-old Swede sailing alone, left in the dinghy and called 112. A Portuguese Navy patrol ship found the yacht empty, then picked him up unhurt.
On 28 August 2026 the charter yacht The Third Man, a 2024-built Dufour 530 Smart Electric, caught fire in the Bay of Palma, Mallorca. Local press reports the fire began in her lithium batteries. Nearby boats and jet skis took all five people aboard off unhurt, and the burning yacht sank under the supervision of Salvamento Maritimo.
Before dawn on 14 October 2026 a sailboat anchored in Xero cove, on Peristera near Alonissos, lost her anchor in a north-east gale and was driven onto rocks. The British couple aboard climbed into a cave. Coast Guard officers on a private boat took them off. They had hypothermia but recovered.
Early on 10 October 2026 a 30 ft sailboat with one man aboard took on water and sank in Woods Hole Passage, off Falmouth, Massachusetts. He was wearing a life jacket. A Coast Guard crew from Station Woods Hole pulled him from the water. He was checked for hypothermia and was not hurt.
On 30 September 2026 a Norwegian sailor crossing alone from Bergen in a 9 m yacht found her taking on more and more water in strong southeasterly winds and heavy swell, about 14 nautical miles east of Whalsay, Shetland. Lerwick lifeboat took him off, uninjured, while a trawler gave shelter. The yacht was abandoned.
On 10 March 2026, the sailboat Amadeus lost all power and began taking on water during a passage from Union Island to Martinique. Disoriented, the crew believed they were in the Saint Lucia Channel but were actually 30 nautical miles further west. A diverted tanker confirmed the boat was sinking before the helicopter Dragon 972 hoisted all three crew to safety.
On the evening of 30 June 2026 a sailing yacht sank about five miles west of Kefalonia in calm weather. The two Italians aboard abandoned in good time into the yacht's own tender and were picked up by a passing private vessel, escorted ashore by a Hellenic Coast Guard patrol boat. Both were unhurt; the cause is under investigation.
In November 2025 the sailing yacht Magic Bus, bound from Stonington, Connecticut to the Bahamas, began flooding about 260 nautical miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Her five crew abandoned into a life raft, were located by a Coast Guard HC-130, and were all lifted off by an MH-60 helicopter — refuelled via the carrier USS George H.W. Bush — unhurt.
On 10 October 2025, about 50 nautical miles off Peniche, Portugal, orcas battered the rudder of the French-flagged sloop Ti'fare. The helm spun freely and within roughly 20 minutes the boat was flooding faster than the pumps could handle. The family of five aboard — two adults and three children — abandoned to a life raft, were picked up by a fishing boat, and were airlifted to safety by the Portuguese Air Force, unhurt.
The 40 ft J/122 Alliance struck a submerged object in the Gulf Stream around 2:45 a.m. on the third day of the 2024 Newport Bermuda Race, roughly 300 nm from land; she flooded and was lost, but all nine aboard were taken off by two competing boats that answered the Mayday.
The Bavaria 47 Essence was abandoned and sank in 7.5-metre seas 25 nautical miles N-NE of Cape Brett; three of four crew survived.
The 42 ft monohull Rauruahine was abandoned 80 nm WNW of Cape Reinga after a chainplate failure flooded the saloon; crew of two recovered by container ship.
Italian-built 54 ft carbon racer; keel fastenings gave way en route Maldives → Red Sea, the yacht inverted in under 30 seconds — the couple drifted nine days in a leaking liferaft before a Belgian tug spotted them.
On 2 June 2005 the 277 m container ship OOCL Malaysia was outbound from Southampton when the pilot saw the 6.7 m wooden yacht Ibis about to enter the moving prohibited zone ahead. A launch was sent to tell Ibis to hold clear, but her singlehanded skipper tacked, lost the wind, and was caught in the ship's path. He jumped clear and was picked up by the launch; Ibis was run down and foundered. No one was hurt.