Even in the best weather, sailing on the high seas can be a gamble. Despite advances in meteorological technology, storms can still creep up out of nowhere.
Then there are the twin threats of equipment malfunction and even pirates in certain areas of the world. The harsh reality of dealing with both is a lesson that a pair of Dutch tourists apparently learned in a terrifying way earlier this month.
Earlier this month, Redditor pottomus and his brother were out sailing at night when they nearly collided with this abandoned ship that was beached somewhere off the West Coast of the United States.
The brothers, obviously intrigued by what they found, went in for a closer look. That’s when they started snapping photos of the ghost ship.
In the photos posted to Reddit, pottomus said that the ship was flying a French flag. However, one commenter pointed out that it was actually a Dutch flag.
While the boys were prepared to start salvaging, one commenter chimed in with the answer that could explain what the boat was doing beached off the coast like that.
The commenter (robshookphoto) is an avid boater, and this ship had actually been sighted adrift weeks earlier. The owners of the boat ran into some trouble off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia, and had to be rescued. They left their boat behind.
(via Reddit)
This story is still developing, and there’s no word yet on what will become of the boat. As of now, it’s still beached somewhere on the West Coast. Regardless of the outcome, this is not making me any less terrified of the ocean.