Vanished: Was the crew of the Kaz II abducted?
By Javier Ortega · September 24, 2011 · 1 Comment, 43 views
Headline, Macabre, Paranormal, UFOs · Tagged: kaz II, mary celeste, mysterious vanishings, top unsolved mysteries, UFO, USO, vanished person
The sea. Man’s nightmares and curiosities lie within its seemingly eternal abyss. Countless tales and explorations revolve around its mystery. None can capture the great vastness that inhabits the world’s oceans. It leaves the curious to wonder: “What monstrous beasts lurk through the depths of the abyss?”



The sea was a bit choppy that afternoon on April 20, 2007. But that didn’t pose a problem for the experienced three-man crew of the Kaz II. Derek Batten was a fifty-six year old yachtsman with 25 years of nautical experience. He had meticulously planned out the route in which his yacht, the Kaz II, was supposed to navigate. He had invited with him his neighbors. Sixty-nine year old Peter Tunstead and his sixty-three year old brother, James. They too were no strangers to the sea. They had been sailing together since teenagers and were very savvy when it came to boat navigation and safety. The brothers also volunteered in the radio rooms of the Volunteer Sea Rescue unit. Suffice to say the Kaz II was no ship of fools.

When police boarded the Kaz II on the evening of April 20th, off the northern Australian coast, they felt as if they had stepped into the Twilight Zone. The Kaz, it was completely soulless! The experienced navigator had left the engines running and was nowhere to be found. And the brothers? Besides finding James’ sunglasses and shirt, there was no sign of them either. Something was off. As the police investigate the boat for any signs of the men, they find that whatever grim fate the men met, it caught them off-guard. A plate of food was set on the table, a laptop was left turned on and of course, the engines were still on. Gut feelings told the police that there was no foul play and it seemed to them that the men simply vanished. There were no signs that a rogue wave might have washed the men off the yacht. They did notice something important though. One of the sails was damaged. A big tear that ran vertically through the sail. Torn sail and running engines and missing crew? They might as well have stepped onto the decks of the infamous Mary Celeste.

During the forensic investigation, a video tape surfaced. Recorded on it, were the last moments of the three friends.
The video

The last moments of the men were recorded by James on the morning of April 15th. Which is said to be shortly before their vanishing. The video shows Derek commandeering the vessel. Peter is seen fishing off the Kaz II in a very relaxing manner. From the video, the investigators noted that the engines were not running and that a long rope was trailing behind the boat. Another interesting fact is that James’ sunglasses and shirt are not seen in the location where they were found.

With this information, the investigators were able to understand the approximate location the men were in when they ran into trouble. The coroner ruled out foul play, but was not able to determine what actually happened to the bodies. Piecing together a possible scenario using the video tape, this is what State Coroner Michael Barnes believed happened to those aboard the Kaz II:

“On Sunday, 15 April 2007, at 10:05 A.M., the Kaz II was sailing in the vicinity of George Point. Up to that moment everything was going as planned but, in the following hour, their situation changed dramatically. The men hauled in the white rope that was trailing behind the boat and bundled it up on the foredeck, possibly to dry, next to the locker it was normally kept in. For unknown reasons, James Tunstead then took off his T-shirt and glasses and placed them on the backseat. The report says that since the men’s fishing lure was found entangled in the ship’s port side rudder, an obvious explanation would be that one of them tried to free the lure and fell overboard while doing so. Standing on the boat’s ‘sugar scoop’ platform (a platform at the back of the ship close to the waterline) while the boat is moving is perilous and falling in the water is easy, but getting back aboard almost impossible. One of the other men then came to the rescue of his friend, while Batten, still on board, started the motor and realized he had to drop the sails before he could go back for his friends.

As he left the helm to drop the sails, a deviation of the ship’s course or wind direction could have easily caused a jibe, swinging the boom across the deck and knocking Batten overboard. This could even have happened before Batten was able to untie and throw out the life ring to his friends. A blue coffee mug found near the life ring may support this. Since the boat was travelling before wind and at a speed of 15 kn (28 km/h), it would be out of reach of the men within seconds. The report states: “From that point, the end would have been swift. None of them was a good swimmer, the seas were choppy; the men would have quickly become exhausted and sunk beneath the waves.
http://www.ghosttheory.com/2011/09/24/vani...kaz-ii-abducted

http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightAust...0&#entry8682780

From The Sunday Times
April 22, 2007
Freak wave blamed for ghost yacht
Paul Ham, Sydney

THREE men who disappeared from their yacht last week were most likely washed overboard in a violent squall or freak wave, according to police.

The “ghost yacht”, Kaz II, was found listing in Queensland waters with the table laid for dinner, the global positioning system and laptop humming, and the engine idling - yet with no crew.

Derek Batten, 56, the skipper, and his neighbours, Peter and James Tunstead, brothers aged 69 and 63, from Perth, Western Australia, had bought the new 40ft catamaran at Airlie beach, in the Whitsunday Islands, north Queensland.

They planned to sail around Australia’s northern coast to Western Australia on the “trip of a lifetime”, according to Keryn Grey, James Tunstead’s daughter.

Police said that while their disappearance did not appear “suspicious”, an investigation would examine “a range of theories”.

Derek Batten’s son Chris said yesterday: “My old man had bought the boat in Queensland. He’d been sailing for two years and was a member of Voluntary Sea Rescue. So, hopefully, he knows a bit about it. But they’re not the best swimmers - they’re middle-aged men.”

Batten was a skilful sailor who knew how to handle dangerous situations, according to his Sea Rescue colleagues. “Des wasn’t an idiot and he’d seen first-hand what idiots do,” said Brad Ander-son, a member of the group.

Police emphasised that the most plausible explanation for the mystery was that the men fell overboard when the boat struck high waves whipped up by gale-force winds soon after it sailed out of Shute Harbour, near Airlie beach, last Sunday.

That theory would explain the torn headsail - the only damage to the catamaran. But rescue crews remained puzzled yesterday by what they found aboard the yacht.

“Everything appeared normal,” said Jon Hall, of Emergency Management Queensland. “The engine was running, the computers were running, there was a laptop set up on the table which was running, the radio was working, the GPS was working and food and utensils were set on the table ready to eat, but no sign of the crew.”

The mystery has been likened to “a modern-day Mary Celeste”, after the ghost ship found abandoned by its crew off the coast of Portugal in 1872. Seasoned mariners pointed out that table settings on modern yachts are usually attached with rubberised mats, and would stay in place through heavy seas.

Peter Scott, an experienced yachtsman, agreed with the police theory: “One of the crew might have been urinating off the side of the boat after a few beers to celebrate the start of the voyage when a wave knocked him overboard.

“The other two tried to save him, when a second squall or freak wave struck them. The headsail may have unfurled itself and got ripped in the struggle.”

Kaz II had been found with the engine in neutral, which may confirm the overboard theory. Scott explained: “The only situation in which you’d have the engine in neutral is if you’re in the process of manoeuvring to pick up someone or something.

“These were older blokes, and trying to get somebody out of the water over the lifelines is very, very hard. It takes two to three people.

A police check of the yacht’s GPS navigational equipment showed that it had been sailing towards an area of high wind and rough seas last Sunday night, said chief superintendent Roy Wall of the Australian police.

The search for the missing men continued last night. Yet only two helicopters were in use, scaled back from 10 aircraft midweek, after police accepted medical advice that they could probably not have survived this long.

The catamaran was not equipped with a liferaft and the vessel’s dinghy was still attached.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle1687274.ece

Yacht crew search called off as hope fades
Authorities have called off the search for three West Australian men missing from their yacht, Kaz II.

The catamaran was found abandoned on Wednesday on the outer Barrier Reef in far north Queensland.

It is believed 56-year-old skipper Derek Batten, 69-year-old Peter Tunstead and his 63-year-old brother James have been missing since last Sunday.

Forensic experts who investigated the yacht after it was towed into Townsville yesterday found no evidence to shed light on the men's baffling disappearance.

Police spokeswoman Adelle O'Donnell says while the men are now presumed dead, police are still investigating the incident.

"Police continue to make inquiries in relation to the circumstances surrounding the men's disappearance and the search status will be continually reviewed, based on new information which is received," she said.

"Investigations indicate the catamaran ran into some bad weather last Sunday afternoon and that the men may've been missing from the boat since that day."

The head of CQ Rescue, Phil Dowler, says it is unlikely the men have survived.

"CQ rescue hasn't been notified at this stage whether we'll be returning to Airlie Beach today to continue our search, either by the Queensland Police or Australian Search and Rescue," he said.

"Unfortunately up to now it's supposedly a week since they've gone missing - it's quite difficult to survive without adequate food or water."

Print Email





Related Video
Authorities have called off the search for three Western Australian men missing from their yacht, Kaz II.

[Real Broadband] [Real Dialup] [Win Broadband] [Win Dialup]

Rescue teams search for 3 men missing from empty yacht PRINT FRIENDLY EMAIL STORY
PM - Friday, 20 April , 2007 18:34:00
Reporter: Kathryn Roberts
PETER CAVE: It's a mystery that's left the Queensland search and rescue teams puzzled.

A yacht has been found drifting in waters off Townsville, minus its three crewmembers.

The empty yacht was spotted by Coastwatch on Wednesday.

When searchers went to investigate, they found food on the table, computers running and the radio on, but there was no sign of the crew.

A massive air and sea search is continuing to try to find the three Western Australian men.

Police are also analysing GPS data to determine the yacht's route over the past few days, so they can narrow down the search.

From Queensland, Kathryn Roberts reports.

(Sound of men talking over two-way radio)

MAN 1: ... are well clear, you're clear out to the right, you've got the boat visual.

MAN 2: I have the both visual. Unfortunately, it is swinging around.

MAN 1: Understood. (inaudible) halfway out now.

KATHRYN ROBERTS: Late yesterday the search and rescue helicopter winched a man down to the drifting yacht.

MAN 1: He's going up the water now. He's swimming.

KATHRYN ROBERTS: An ABC documentary team just happened to be making a film about the chopper service when the call came in to investigate a catamaran seen drifting aimlessly off the coast of Townsville.

The director of that series, Jan Cattoni, says it was a nervous wait while the searcher boarded the 10-metre yacht.

JAN CATTONI: Well, I think everyone in the helicopter, including the cameraman who was filming, was really waiting I guess in anticipation to see, you know, what was going to happen.

There were some concerns about the safety of the rescue crew officer, because he was boarding a vessel on his own.

So I guess everyone was waiting and hoping that he came up safely because, you know, there was no sense of what he might find below deck.

KATHRYN ROBERTS: Once onboard the Kaz II, the mystery only deepened, as John Hall from Emergency Management Queensland explains.

JOHN HALL: There was no sign of the three crewmembers believed to be onboard. All of the emergency equipment was functioning, the computers onboard the radio onboard, the GPS unit. They said it was a little eerie actually, because all of the personal effects of crew were still there. There were sunglasses on the table and a laptop set up and running, and there was even food on the table which had obviously been prepared for a meal

Our crew actually returned to the yacht at 5am today and they did a thorough search. We managed to drop two of our crewmen down and they searched the yacht, and they actually found the three lifejackets, the emergency beacon, and the dingy were actually all still onboard, as was all the emergency equipment, which was fully functioning.

KATHRYN ROBERTS: The only sign of trouble was a shredded sail. The sail was up and the engine was running.

It's not clear how long the yacht had been abandoned or how the men simply vanished. What is known is that three Western Australian men set off from Airlie Beach on Sunday and were planning to stop in Townsville on their way to Western Australia.

The missing men are 56, 63 and 69 years old.

John Hall says the rescue helicopter returned to the boat this morning to recover the GPS data.

JOHN HALL: And what they're hoping to do is to look at the information which was recorded on that and figure out exactly the route this boat has taken since it left Airlie Beach on the 15th, and they're hoping by stepping backwards they might be able to notice anything out of ordinary or anything amiss, and be able to narrow down the search area to find the three missing crewmembers.

KATHRYN ROBERTS: The helicopter's chief pilot, Trevor Wilson, has described the scene as eerie.

TREVOR WILSON: The mystery of the whole episode is how good a condition everything is on the vessel. If people had been thrown overboard I guess during high seas or a storm, you wouldn't expect all of the computers to be sitting on and running, a number of lights running, all utensils and charts and maps all on the tables, a lot of personal property. It's almost like someone has just stepped off the boat.

KATHRYN ROBERTS: Water police are now leading a massive search effort involving 12 aircraft and four rescue boats, covering a huge area spanning the Whitsundays to Townsville.

Police Chief Superintendent Roy Wall says the men could've been missing for three days or more.

ROY WALL: Well, we're obviously very, very hopeful that we will find them. Unfortunately, as time goes on our hopes diminish a little, but at this stage of the game, it's still only early days. There's a lot of aircraft out there with a lot of first-class equipment onboard, so we're still hopeful that we will locate them.

KATHRYN ROBERTS: The Kaz II will be brought back to Townsville tonight.

Relatives of the men are expected to arrive in North Queensland this evening.

PETER CAVE: Kathryn Roberts
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s1903065.htm