Don’t give up on lost sailors

THE families of three missing yachtsmen have been urged not to lose hope and to pray for the authorities to undertake an extensive search.

The message of support comes from one of the Moquini widows and the sole survivor of the 2005 yacht tragedy.

It is 10 years since six local yachtsmen were declared dead – their bodies never found – after the Moquini yacht capsized.

Six men – Graham Cochrane, Kurt Ostendorf, Neil Tocknell, Michael Goolam and Sheldon and Mark Dickerson – were declared dead after their yacht, Moquini, capsized on its way to South Africa from Mauritius in 2005.

The yacht resurfaced off the Wild Coast months later without its keel.

In the latest missing yacht drama, two experienced former Durban yachtsmen – Reginald Robertson and Anthony Murray – and a first-time sailor, Capetonian Jaryd Payne, 20, have been declared missing. Their catamaran Sunsail RC044-978 failed to arrived at its Phuket, Thailand, destination more than a month ago.

Cochrane’s widow, Denise, who now lives in Cape Town after moving from Durban four years ago, said this would be a “devastating” time for the families. She called for the three families to not give up just yet, as it was still too early.

“They cannot give up hope, we must pray and call for a co-ordinated search effort to take place. I know it’s going to be a huge area to search because they haven’t had contact since January 18, so where do you start? But efforts must be made,” she said.

She said there was a time to search and a time to let go and accept that they were gone – but for now, it was a time to search.

“There is still hope. My heart goes out to the families for what they are going through.

“We cannot lose hope unless we have tried everything,” she said.

Cochrane, a founding member of ICare – an organisation that aims to transform the lives of street children – had been trying to change the lives of Goolam and sole Moquini survivor, Sifiso Buthelezi.

Now 34, Buthelezi had experienced sea-sickness and flown home as the other six sailed back to South Africa. “I am not happy to speak of that incident because these men died trying to change our lives for the better,” Buthelezi said.