In the middle of nowhere...

A thousand miles from the Australian coast in the southern ocean is indeed the middle of nowhere. As the search continues for some sign of Malaysian Flight 370, the location is familiar to me because we mounted a search and rescue operation in that exact spot when promoting and producing a solo yacht race around the world.

Much of the race took place in the southern ocean which is known to be the most remote location on earth. The  boats were literally thousands of miles from land. Communication there is difficult even today. Satellite coverage is spotty. And the search and rescue efforts today face the same problems we did then.

Locations are out of helicopter range. Low-altitude flying conditions are dangerous much of the time and, with 30-foot seas in 60-knot winds, identifying an 80-foot, or in our case a 60-foot, piece of equipment is difficult at best.

It was early evening when our communications center received a signal from both emergency beacons that were required for each boat to carry. It was our leading competitor, who had already encountered some severe weather problems but was still making her way toward Sydney. We could not establish voice communication via satellite messaging or marine radio and that was very disconcerting.

It's times like this when partnerships are invaluable. Just like the current effort, the Royal Australian Navy and Air Force joined in to help. The beacons on board the yacht were transmitting its location, so the next morning, an Australian Royal Air Force Hercules aircraft left Adelaide at 4am to make a search.

It took 4 hours for the plane to reach the area where the signal was transmitting, 920 miles southwest of Australia's southern coast. Sound familiar? They began to fly a grid pattern over the area in hopes of spotting the boat. Another 4 hours had past when a member of Isabelle Autissier's shore crew aboard the plane saw the boat with Isabelle on the deck wildly waving at them.Tell me the boat doesn't look like a wave.

Her boat had been completely dis-masted with nothing visible on the deck. There was a gaping six-foot hole in the roof of the cabin. She had been hit by a rogue wave, rolling the boat in a complete 360-revolution. She was fortunately below deck when it happened. Otherwise she would have surely been swept overboard. An emergency kit including a small walkie-talkie type radio was dropped from the plane and they were able to communicate the rescue plan to her.

We were in constant contact with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center for that part of the world, based in Canberra, and they informed us that the Navy frigate HMAS Darwin had been dispatched to the site from Western Australia but it would still take approximately two days to reach Isabelle.

Nothing seems easy in that part of the world's oceans but the Darwin arrived on schedule.  They dispatched a Seahawk (GO HAWKS!) helicopter from the Darwin to her location and, on the hand-held radio, instructed Isabelle in the necessary procedures. They took a civilian linguist (her being French and all), a television pool cameraman and a medical officer to cover any contingencies and record the operation. With a strong harness and a trained rescuer on the winch, they plucked her off the damaged boat to safety with little problem.

We were in Adelaide at the Air Force base to meet her when she arrived in two more days' time. Emotions were high when we reunited. And the world media was waiting. This incident took about a week and we knew very quickly exactly were the boat was. It was only a day after the distress signal that we found out Isabelle was safe. Think about the families of Malaysia Flight 370 who have had no word for two weeks and about the searchers who are only going on a sketchy satellite image with a location that could have moved hundreds of miles since it was identified.

Hope is dimming now on all fronts. I am an optimist who is wishing for a happy resolution to this current situation but there are very strong doubts in my mind. After all, it is the middle of nowhere. Fingers crossed.