Helicopter rescue mission

The U.S. Coast Guard was contacted on Sunday night after the ship began taking on water. A Hercules C-130 aircraft was dispatched to try to get the crew to safety.

"We had a C-130 on scene that was running out of fuel and experiencing a little crew fatigue, so we dispatched another C-130 to arrive on scene and relieve them," said Petty Officer 1st Class Jordan Campbell.

The Hercules C-130 remains on the scene in the search for the missing crew member. A third MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter is on the way to assist in the search effort, said the U.S. Coast Guard.

Officials with the U.S. Coast Guard said the winds in the area are sustained in the 75 km/h range.

Claudia McCann, Captain Robin Walbridge's wife, told CBC News she hadn't slept since she received word the ship was taking on water. She said her husband was trying to get around Hurricane Sandy en route to Florida.

"He was just trying to avoid it, skirt it. Skirt through it, skirt around it," McCann said earlier on Monday.

"I'm sure he's devastated. Absolutely devastated. But the crew comes first and you have to save the crew."

'Just in case something happens'

CBC News spoke to Claudene Christian, whose daughter was a crew member on the Bounty, Monday morning as the rescue efforts began. She said her daughter Claudene had contacted her before heading out on her journey.

"She says, 'We're heading out and I just wanted to tell you and dad that I love you.' And I said, 'What are you saying that for?' And she said, 'Just in case something happens,'" Christian said in a phone interview from Oklahoma.

"She was truly and genuinely happy and loved the Bounty and loved what she was doing — and wanted us to know that just in case she went down with the ship."

The ship's Facebook page regularly updated followers on the plan to ride out the storm. "Rest assured that the Bounty is safe and in very capable hands," it posted on Saturday.

"Bounty's current voyage is a calculated decision...NOT AT ALL... irresponsible or with a lack of foresight as some have suggested. The fact of the matter is... A SHIP IS SAFER AT SEA THAN IN PORT!"

The replica of HMS Bounty, which launched in Lunenburg in 1960, was made famous in a 1962 movie starring Marlon Brando — Mutiny on the Bounty. It has also appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest starring Johnny Depp.

The Bounty operated as a sea school and was most recently in Halifax in July for the Tall Ships Festival.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/10/30/ns-hms-bounty-captain-search.html

HMS Bounty captain may still be alive

CBC News Posted: Oct 30, 2012 8:33 AM AT

Deckhand from hurricane-sunk replica tall ship pronounced dead in hospital

U.S. Coast Guard officials say the missing captain of the Nova Scotia-built replica tall ship HMS Bounty could still be found alive because of a combination of warm water and air temperatures.

Robin Walbridge has been missing since Monday morning, when the crew of HMS Bounty decided to abandon ship in high seas brought on by Hurricane Sandy off the coast of North Carolina. Walbridge didn't make it to a life-raft with the rest of his crew.

Petty Officer 1st Class Brandyn Hill, of the U.S. Coast Guard command centre in Portsmouth, Va., told CBC News the water temperature in the search area is 25 C and the air temperature is 19 C.

"It was reported to us that the captain of HMS Bounty was wearing a survival suit and this greatly increases his chances of survival in the water," he said Tuesday.

"At this time the Coast Guard is actively searching to find the captain alive."

The seas are 4.5 metres high and winds are about 68 kilometres per hour, said Hill.

A fixed-wing aircraft searched for Walbridge overnight, said Operations Specialist 1st Class Jacob Hyre with the U.S. Coast Guard in Portsmouth, Va.

"Through the night we had an HC-144 flying, the fixed-wing aircraft. This morning relieving it will be a C-130," Hyre told CBC News Tuesday morning.

"We also have the cutter Elm and we also have the Coast Guard cutter Gallatin en route in the search."

Hyre said the area of the search is about 2,500 square kilometres, close to where the crew decided to abandon ship after getting caught in 5.5-metre seas.

The Bounty sank several hours after the evacuation.

The 16 crew members of HMS Bounty tried to get to covered life-rafts but three of them were washed overboard in the process. One of the three people made it to the life-raft and was among the 14 people hoisted onto helicopters and taken to shore.