Searchers Believe The Nina, Which Set Sail From Mystic Seaport, Sank In South Pacific

By Ellyn Santiago

A third day of aerial searches for the Nina, an 85-year-old wooden sailboat once docked at Mystic Seaport, ended on Friday with no sign of the ship or its crew. The boat left New Zealand on May 29 bound for Australia. The last known contact with the crew was on June 4. 

Rescuers were alerted the boat was missing on June 14, but weren't unduly worried at first because the emergency locator beacon had not been activated. On Friday, the Associated Press reported that rescue crews searching for a classic American schooner carrying seven people believe the boat sank between New Zealand and Australia, although they haven't given up hope of finding survivors.

The six Americans on board include captain David Dyche, 58, his wife, Rosemary, 60, and their son David, 17. Also aboard was their friend Evi Nemeth, 73, a man aged 28, a woman aged 18, and a British man aged 35.

The leader of Friday's search efforts, Neville Blakemore of New Zealand's Rescue Coordination Centre, said it's now logical to assume the 70-foot (21-meter) boat sank in a storm but added that it's possible some crew members survived either in the life raft that was aboard or by making land.

A Mystic Seaport spokesman said the Nina is quite a famous boat. According to an Associated Press news report, the vessel sailed up from Florida to the Mystic Seaport two years ago, where it stayed to prepare for its voyage to Australia and New Zealand. 

The last time anyone heard from the Nina was on June 4 when a meteorologist in New Zealand reported having spoken to a crew member about deteriorating weather conditions in the South Pacific, the AP story said.