Man tucks cat into coat before jumping for his life onto rescue boat in stormy seas

[Liberal_in_LA]

Source: telegraph

watch the dramatic moment when a French sailor jumps between boats - with his cat in his coat - after his vessel is disabled by heavy seas

he US Coast Guard has released a video showing the dramatic moment when a man jumped from his yacht onto a rescue ship in high seas while holding his cat.

The coast guard said the man activated his emergency beacon after his 30-foot sailboat lost its rudder and rigging around 400 miles south of Cold Bay, Alaska.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11945087/Man-tucks-cat-into-coat-before-jumping-for-his-life-onto-rescue-boat-in-stormy-seas.html

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Videos of the jump at link

[Judi Lynn]

1. He's a good, decent man to have included the helpless kit in his care. Democrat, no doubt! n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

4. Chest full of claws, no doubt.

[7962]

8. Never trust a man who hates cats!

[Unemperor Justinian]

2. May the gods bless him!

Anyione who loves cats cannot be all bad.

[Divernan]

7. Henri, the existentialist cat: "We are all born to suffer."

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. I've gone from boat to boat in chop and it ain't easy.

[shenmue]

5. ...

[Divernan]

6. Much more rescue detail from Dutch Harbor/Unalaska station KUCB

http://kucb.org/news/article/sailors-desperate-pacific-ocean-leap-onto-shell-icebreaker/
snippet:

"I am sad to tell you that La Chimere is lost," Wattecamps-Etienne told his Facebook friends.

He said his whole life was on his sailboat. Without it, he said he feels useless and without purpose, like a soccer player who's just lost a leg.

Translated from the original Facebook post in French:

Last night, I was battered by a wave, boat upside down. The boat finally righted itself, full of water, everything on the deck was destroyed, none of the instruments worked and the water kept getting in despite the pump which turns... I abandoned my boat this morning after several more capsizes, followed by a physically demanding rescue. From now on, I am a captain without a ship. I lost everything, all my life was on my boat. Worse than that, I am starting from below zero since I still have to pay off Euros for a boat that is no more... I feel like a soccer player who just lost a leg: useless and without purpose. I will have to wait years and years before being able to walk on the deck of my own boat.

[JudyM]

10. Thanks for posting, better vid here. He timed it perfectly to release his boat and flip right

onto the other. Whew, scary and gotta love him for taking his cat.

[Liberal_in_LA]

11. Thx for additional detail. I hope someone 'gofundme's another boat for him

[7962]

9. THAT was a rough sea and a heck of a jump! nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. Yes it was

[Judi Lynn]

13. French sailor had no fear in leaping to rescue boat

French sailor had no fear in leaping to rescue boat
Published: Saturday, October 24, 2015 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, October 23, 2015 at 11:53 p.m.


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The French sailor who made a daring jump from high up the rigging pole of his disabled ship to a rescue boat said he wasn't frightened by the 20-foot seas that were battering his sail boat around.

"I was not terrified at all but concentrate. disconnecting the heart from the brain, animalizing me," Emmanuel Wattercamps Etienne wrote to an Associated Press reporter on Friday. The exchange though Facebook Messenger came as Etienne remained on the Tor Viking, the ship that rescued him and will deliver him to Port Angeles, Washington, on Wednesday.

Etienne made the jump Tuesday from his sailboat, La Chimere, after the sailboat lost its rudder and rigging in high seas and gale force winds about 400 miles south of Cold Bay, Alaska. He tucked his cat inside his coat before making the leap off the doomed sailboat.

He had activated a location beacon and then waited for help. The Coast Guard sent a Hercules C-130 airplane and asked the Shell drilling fleet, which was returning to Washington state, to act as a Good Samaritan.

More:
http://www.goupstate.com/article/20151024/APA/310249956

[center]

Awwwwwwww![/center]
Photo from the sailor's website:
https://www.gofundme.com/wb6wj8ts

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. Awwwww. Tiny cat

[leftyladyfrommo]

15. I think cats are pretty common on boats.

I saw one case where some people's boat was sinking and they were wearing life suits. Both of their cats jumped into the water before the boat went down. And they both swam over to the people in the water and were pulled on top of the people where they were safe from drowning. Everybody made it out OK. It was amazing. Smart cats.