Yesterday at the Big Island Internet Society Meet Up, Devany Vickery-Davidson of My Hawaiian Home Blog, mentioned to a few of us that a cruise ship assisted in a rescue the other day off of Hilo.
Here is some information I was able to glean.
The Coast Guard and the cruise ship “Golden Princess” rescued Christopher Miller and Brandy Meisner on Friday off the coast of Hawaii.
Here are some pictures Courtesy of Princess Cruises:
The Coast Guard and the cruise ship "Golden Princess" rescued Christopher Miller and Brandy Meisner when they were forced to abandon their fishing vessel about 400 miles from Hawaii on Friday.
Miller and Meisner left San Francisco last month for what was to be a two-week trip to Hawaii, where they were to start a commercial fishing business.
Safely aboard
Cold but safe
Frightened but safe
The couple's two dogs -- Romeo and Akilah -- were also brought to safety on the cruise ship.
Akilah
Filed under: Big Island, Environment, Hawaii, Military, Security, Transportation Tagged: | Brandy Meisner, Christopher Miller, Golden Princess Rescues Seattle Couple
You can see more photos and more of this story at my blog space: http://christopheramiller.blogspot.com ~ I will continue to post more about our story on there, as well as future events!
It’s Me! I’m Christie’s Dad and the Chris Miller in this story. Ofcourse I knew the risks, there is always risks to anything. We had a good 1 week forecast from San Francisco when we left and that’s as far as the forecast gives. It’s a 15 day trip, so you have to buck up and go for it. Surely we could have stayed with the boat and fought out the storm, thus taking the risk of our lives. Who’s to say it may have worked out fine, but I chose the “safety first” way and got us assistance. We did recover the boat and all turned out well. The bottom line is that everyone is safe. Princess Cruises made good on publicity, we got help out of the storm, and we got our boat back. The media, such as CBS Early Show people were rude and hasty with us, promised us all kinds of things to get our story and simply treated us with much disrespect. I have an even more sour taste in my mouth for media programs as I did before after this experience. There’s more to the story, there’s more to who we are, and the shows simply want BUZZ!!!
Hi Chris
I’m so glad to hear from you and that you recovered your boat. I don’t know if you remember me-I spoke with you in the buffet eating area. I quess a lot of people spoke with you. Anyways, hows the tuna fishing in Hawaii-as you planned on doing?
Best wishes
Good to hear from you. I can best inform everyone via our blog! Check it out.
I also was on the Golden Princess for the rescue. But still search the internet to find the end of the story. Did they get the boat back and did they ever make it to honolulu with it. Any details?
Damon – Local media has not reported any recovery of the boat.
Hi Jon. The boat was recovered, and now sits in Honolulu Harbor, in fine shape. Brandy and I had quite a bit of clean up to do, as the boat drifted 10 days before we got back out to it in decent weather. We are now going to captain (as a couple) a 70′ vessel named the F/V Jenny to Saipan, and tow the Pacific Star behind us!
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we were on board the golden princess and were so happy to be able to help we wish the very best to chris and brandy we are wondering if they were able to recover the pacific star really hope so best of every thing and a merry christmas viola and earl young
Was on the Princess that trip, never expected to watch an at sea rescue. Poor weather the entire week made walking an adventure on the big ship, can’t say I would ever want to be on a boat that small and that far away from land. We have a video of the rescue but would really like to know if a salvage operation for the boat was or will be made? I know the engine was running at idle with enough fuel to keep the gps going around 10 days. Glad all is well with the passengers and if you have to abandon ship, how much more lucky could they have been to have had a floating buffet pick then up!
I with my wife was on the Golden Princess and saw the rescue- even personally spoke to Chris Miller on the ship. Would like to know if he managed to retrieve his fishing boat? Does anyone have an update to this rescue story?
Very, Very lucky people…… Glad the dogs were unharmed!!
Kudos to Captain Calabrese and his crew of the GOLDEN PRINCESS and the USCG, but for them these folks and the dogs would have perished. A job well done!!
This was an ill conceived voyage to say the least….. an excellent example of the lure of Tuna fishing $$$$ and lack of preparation, planning, experience, and the utter lack of understanding of the voyage attempted.
Based on news accounts, this was an incredibly ill conceived voyage with an incredible lack of preparation:
* Not enough fuel to complete the voyage
* No weather fax
* No satellite weather service
* No sea anchor or drogue to hold the vessel to weather during loss of power
Just to name a few……
WHAT WAS THIS GUY THINKING ??????
The USCG will no doubt classify this as “A manifestly unsafe voyage”
His comments in the interview with the CBS Early Show only amplify the lack of understanding of the voyage attempted.
See link to video interview below:
http://damontucker.com/2009/11/16/rescued-couple-on-good-morning-america-this-morning/
I can’t help but wonder if this guy realizes just how lucky they are??
Nice that he had a life raft…. But the only time to get in the raft is when you have to STEP UP to get in the raft….you never leave a floating vessel. This was the lesson learned in the tragedy of the 1979 Fastnet race.
Most maritime accidents, serious incidents and tragedies are the result of a series of events that culminate in the final occurrence. The errors made in this story are a clear example.
The sea is a wonderful environment….. It can also be the single most unforgiving environment on the planet………….
This is my dad.
I’m glad that they are safe.
Hi
Have you heard from your Dad? Was he able to retrieve his fishing boat?
Best wishes
What a great story!! I’m proud of Princess Cruises for doing the right thing. And I love the booties that the dogs are wearing….
thanks for sharing! the coconut wireless distorted it as two drunk guys with two goats aboard. I’m just happy the DOGS made it! I’ve crossed this ocean three times between Hawaii and North America and scary stuff happens out there, but usually not to good and prepared sailors like my husband and his brother, both US Coast Guard licensed captains.