We're still piecing together the facts but it appears that he abandoned ship when he found the boat was taking on water and his bilge pumps couldn't keep up with the inflow. I must surmise that he left the Mollie Milar in the Viking Liferaft so generously donated by Poul Jensen of Viking Lifesaving Equipment in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The container ship Emont came to his rescue and dispatched a lifeboat with crewmembers to make the transfer from the liferaft to the ship. After getting Dad and Mickey aboard the lifeboat, enroute back to the ship, the lifeboat capsized spilling all aboard into the storm-driven turbulant waters. Dad and the heroic crewmembers were subsequently rescued and brought aboard the ship but Mickey was lost at sea. Our hearts and thoughts go out to Mickey, Dad's loyal companion for so long, and we're just thankful that Dad survived and is reportedly safe and sound aboard the Emont.

Some of the reports we've received so far can be found below.

The sad news is that Mickey was lost at sea. According to the ham operator who contacted me, the boat sprang a leak and the pump could not cope. It was very heavy weather so when he realized that the situation was hopeless he called for help and a passing container ship sent a lifeboat to pick him up; and he had Mickey with him. But on the way back to the ship the lifeboat capsized and everyone ended up in the water. It was 10:00 pm last night, so it would have been pitch dark and in all the trauma Mickey got lost. I?m sure David is heartbroken, as am I. All of you who have met Mickey along the way know what a special little guy he was.

?So close, and yet so far away,? I guess the quote goes. As soon as I hear from David I will send you all more information.

Lynda

BC-SAFRICA-SAILOR
> > Pioneering U.S. sailor sinks in solo record bid
> > By Jeremy Lovell
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Reuters) - Californian David Clark's bid to become the oldest person to sail solo around the world in a fully documented voyage ended Thursday when his yacht sank two days after leaving Cape Town. Clark survived and was picked up. "His yacht started taking on water and he radioed for help. He abandoned ship and was picked up by a nearby vessel, but his dog was drowned," Sea Rescue Coordinating Center spokesman Jinx Botes told Reuters by telephone.

"He is safe and sound and on board the Safmarine vessel Emonte heading for East London," he added. Clark left Cape Town aboard his 42-foot steel-hulled boat "Mollie Milar" Tuesday on the final 7,000-mile leg of a solo around-the-world journey that would have taken him back to port in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on May 17 -- his 77th birthday.

It was Clark's second sinking in two circumnavigational attempts. His last effort 10 years ago ended when he dismasted and sank his previous boat.

In the past 14 months at sea, Clark sailed past the Bahamas, Panama, the Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Australia and Mauritius to South Africa.

The lap home would have taken him to St. Helena, Barbados, the Bahamas and back to Fort Lauderdale. Clark had planned a big party when he got back to Fort Lauderdale, but the 30 cases of South African bubbly he was carrying went down with the ship.

Before leaving Cape Town after a month of rest and repairs, Clark said that he would never again attempt such an undertaking. "I am not ever going to do this again," he said. "You have to be totally mad to do it."

REUTERS
Reut10:27 02-08-01

Solo American sailor rescued as yacht sinks
02/08/2001
Associated Press Newswires
Copyright 2001. The Associated Press - All rights reserved

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) - An American sailor who was attempting to become the oldest person to sail solo around the world had his dream shattered when his yacht sank off the South African coastline on Wednesday night. David Clark, 76, sent off on his quest from his Florida home more than two years ago. He stopped off in Cape Town last month before setting off last week across the Atlantic on the final leg of his voyage. His boat, the Molly Milar, began leaking after being battered by a howling gale and rough seas, and sank. Clark was picked up by a container ship, but his traveling companion, a dog called Mickey, was lost at sea, the Cape Argus newspaper reported Thursday.

A former World War II veteran, ski instructor and musician, Clark
worked as a street musician at ports to earn extra money.

Well a ham operator, Deon Erwin (ZR1DQ) has formed a group of people to give David all kinds of assistance. On arrival he was accommodated by Trevor (ZS2BV) in East London. He was given an airline ticket to get back to Cape Town. They have found sponsors for clothing and a 5-star hotel room when he returns to Cape Town. ?The David Clark Boat Project? was started by Matt Greyvenstein (ZS1MJJ) two days ago following a discussion on the air. Deon tells me that Matt has immense enthusiasm and is driving the project.

We are totally indebted to the people on the ship who rescued David and brought him safely back to East London port. And, we can?t express how much we appreciate the ham operators and all the people of S. Africa who have loved and supported David and are now offering him so much assistance. It is a great demonstration of the ?goodness? of people.We want to express our thanks and appreciation also to all of you who have emailed me with messages of sympathy and prayers. We will keep you UPDATEd as information is received.

Lynda

I heard from Dad by phone this morning about 7 AM California time - here is a summary of our converstion:

As reported elsewhere, the storm was huge and violent and Dad discovered the Mollie Milar was taking on water when he noticed high water in the engine room at about 5:00 PM. The bilge pump was not able to keep up with the flow and yet the boat was not sinking too rapidly. Dad was able to get a radio call out on the VHF radio and due to the cooperative efforts of the maritime distress network the Safmarine container ship E Monte came to the rescue.

The Captain of the E Monte dispatched a lifeboat with four crewmembers but in the 25'+ seas the boat flipped and the crewmembers were then in danger. As I understand it from Dad this happened when the ship was still some distance off and Dad did not witness the efforts himself. The ship retrieved the four crewmembers but I don't have information as to whether they were able to recover the capsized lifeboat or if the crewmembers were retrieved one by one from the sea. Dad had deployed his own life raft in preparation for abandoning the Mollie Milar and he had the raft attached alongside with a painter line. He was still aboard the yacht when the ship came alongside giving the Mollie Milar some protection in the lee as the huge waves raged all around. As the small boat rose and fell in the wave action by the ship the crew dropped a line over the side and Dad used his mountaineering skills to secure the end of the rope to his waist so the crew on the rails of the ship high above could hoist him aboard. As the deck of the Mollie Milar rose and fell many feat in the heaving seas Dad was plucked from the deck and hoisted up the side of the massive ship and over the rail an onto the deck.

Mickey was lost at this time and I did not want to ask too much about how it happened because it is obviously the most emotionally disturbing part of the whole story.

The Captain and Crew of the Emonte were wonderful to Dad and provided rest, food and comfort. Dad reports that the crew was Russian and that they spoke little english so communication was minimal.

Upon reaching East London he was welcomed ashore with a warm and moving outporing of support and interest. Representatives of the ham operator Working Group established by Matt Greyvenstein (ZS1MJJ) met him at the Emonte and he was then shown the wonderful hospitality of another member Trevor Foxcroft (ZS2BV). These gentlemen and others have provide money for clothes, food, shelter and the other essentials. They've vowed to help Dad complete his mission by assisting with the location of another boat.

This outporing of support and love is beyond comprehension all of us in the family truly appreciate the warmhearted efforts of the South African working group and others.

We'll the information updated here.

8:00 AM 2/10/01

Hi David and Family

We met your Dad at East London Harbour at 08:45 SAST ( 06:45 GMT ). The Emonti was on time, but it took some time for all the official business to be dealt with before passengers could disembark.

I'm very pleased to say that your Dad looks fit and well, and in his words "indestructible". He's just very sad about Mickey, but very determined to continue and complete his voyage.

He was met by a few members of the press who interviewed him, ( He'll be on TV and in the papers here... ) After we got rid of them, it was off to Trevor Foxcroft's QTH to let all those on HF know he was safe and sound. Your Dad was overwhelmed by good wishes all along the coastline. Then he made his call to Lynda. ( At this point we wished him well, and took our leave, so that they could talk. ) We'll most probably see him off at the airport tomorrow morning.

Your Dad is a gentleman and an inspiration to us all.

I'll send you photo's as soon as they are developed and scanned in. It was apleasure to have been able to help such a wonderful man.

Kind Regards

Richard Seddon ZR2CLI
Chairman, Border Radio Club, East London SA

Dave Clark, from Florida in the United States, arrived here more than a month ago on his yacht Mollie Millar accompanied by his dog Mickey.

Clark, also an accomplished musician, raised money over the past few weeks by playing his clarinet and saxophone to crowds of people at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront here.

He left here on Tuesday but had to abandon his yacht when it began taking on water north of Saldanha Bay.

Clark was picked up by the Safmarine container ship E'Monti on Tuesday night, but his beloved pet was lost at sea.

He vowed that he would not be put off by this latest mishap. -- Sapa

There was later a confirmation that David had been met at the airport and taken to the Spier Hotel where he has a reserved room for the next 10 days, and a press conference was held. David tries to tell the facts as clearly as possible but sometimes things can become very confusing to those who are recording these facts. I did confirm certain facts with him when I spoke to him last night on the phone.

There were 2 ships, but one did not have a lifeboat and it went on. The container ship (Emonte) launched a lifeboat with 4 crew, which subsequently capsized (David and Mickey were not in the lifeboat). All of the crew were retrieved from the water by the container ship—no lives were lost. David, thinking the ship was not going to be able to rescue him, prepared his own lifeboat (sponsored by Poul Jensen of Viking Lifesaving Equipment in Ft. Lauderdale) for launch.

The ship was by that time within a few feet of ?Mollie Milar? ready to attempt a rescue. A large line with a ?monkey fist? (large knot) was thrown down. Mickey was put into a sling to bring aboard first. With a lot of wiggling and squirming he was able to free himself of the sling before he reached safety and was lost at sea. David had all he could do to get himself up the side of that ship at this point, and limited time to do it.

David does not know for sure where the leak started and did not discover it until the bow of the boat was pretty flooded. The bilge pumps couldn?t begin to keep up with the inflow. He said that the water was deepest in the engine room because most of the weight was there, but the floor boards were floating around in the boat and it was listing to the portside with the rails underwater. It was very fortunate that there was a ship close by.

We thank the crew of the SAF Marine vessel Emonte again for rescuing David and bringing him safely back to East London town, and we want to thank the group of ham operators who have provided David with so much assistance, as well as all his other friends in East London and Cape Town.

Lynda & David

Yachtsman tells of rescue drama

Report and picture by Rob Mellin

EAST LONDON -- The doughty 76-year-old David B Clarke, whose yacht sank off the West Coast last week, may still continue with his quest to rewrite the records as the oldest person to sail around the world single handedly.

Clarke, of Fort Lauderdale in the United States, was plucked from a stormy sea by the crew of the container ship Emonti when his yacht the Mollie Milar started sinking on Wednesday night. It was a double tragedy for the ancient mariner. His beloved companion, Mickey, a seven-year-old West Highland terrier who had accompanied him since the beginning of the journey, perished at sea.

The Emonti docked in East London at the weekend and a shaken Clarke stepped ashore, still determined to tackle the rest of his journey.

Clarke sailed from here about two months ago for Cape Town. An unconfirmed report said an American businessman wanted to help his fellow American to complete the voyage he set out to accomplish two years ago. Visibly disturbed by the ordeal, Clarke said he lost everything except a small bag which contained his passport and some cash.

Describing the events which led to his unsche-duled return to East London, he said the 18 ton steel-hulled yacht began taking in water around 5pm on Wednesday about 240km from Cape Town.

He thought the hull might have split. "I was horrified to see water around the engines. "The engine room was flooding. First I tried pumping by hand and then with motor but the electric pumps couldn't keep up ... so I got on the radio and called Mayday." Emonti picked up the distress and the captain, Ukrainian Victor Popov, dispatched a life boat with four men on board. The sea was very rough with a 25 knot wind and it was getting dark. "Unfortunately during the attempt to rescue me, the life raft capsized and they all went into the drink.

"I was standing in three feet of water and I couldn't see what was going on because it was dark but I could hear them talking (in Russian) on my radio. I thought because of me they they had lost some of their sailors and I was feeling terrible. "Somehow they must have got back to their boat but they couldn't start it because the sea water had disabled the engine. "I therefore assumed they would be more interested in getting their crew back on board. "At that point I didn't know what the solution was so I jettisoned my life raft thinking that was the only recourse." The Emonti's captain, who spoke little English, said when he realised there was a problem with the first life raft, he immediately sent a second rescue vessel.

"With aid of the search light we were able to find them. They were all clinging to a single life buoy," said Popov. "It was a difficult operation. Difficult because of the high seas and because we were drifting away from our people at about four knots. "With the rescue boat riding high on the wave it was also difficult to steer the boat." With the help of the second rescue craft Clarke and all the sailors were saved and were back on board an hour later. Popov and Clarke said they had both tried desperately to save Mickey, but it was too risky an operation.

Clarke said he had battled to get Mickey into a life jacket, but he wriggled out and fell into the sea. Saddened by the loss of his dog, Clarke said he didn't want to talk about it. He was met at the dockside by a group of local radio hams who had been in contact with him throughout the ordeal. They have helped him with accommodation and a plane ticket to Cape Town where he hopes to acquire another yacht and continue his quest.

A member of the radio hams, Trevor Foxcroft, said an American businessman wanted Clarke to complete the journey and would sponsor him. "I'm not about to quit," Clarke said. "I'm indestructible. ''Ask my wife Linda, she knows."