FL FL - Isabella Hellmann, 41, catamaran off Cay Sal, SE of the FL Keys, 14 May 2017 #1 *GUILTY*

[Jersey*Girl]

All water is littered with debris/floatsam. I've run across very interesting threads before on what people have enocuntered in the water, including bundles of drugs.

I was on a cruise in April and we had to stop and inspect a capsized boat.

I don't have a boating or captain's license and I pilot our boat. You learn through experience. If you take a beginning sailing class, they throw you right in with rigging and all.

Boatng isn't for sissies. There is a level of risk, but man, it is my most favorite thing. I am at home on the water.

Yeah, learning as I go along but finding in various articles flotsam is known to be on the path they took. So I still wonder why he'd place Isabella at the controls if she didn't have experience...at night...and being 30 miles from the Bahamas then why not just drive the 30-45 minutes it'd take to get there and drop anchor? They could've both then slept and left at the break of dawn. :thinking:

 

[bears10]

Fall off often.

I googled it and some sources say 10,000 a year fall off. IMO that seems like a high number, but even if accurate, 10,000 containers is nothing compared to how many containers DON'T fall off a year. There are millions upon millions of containers shipped a year.

 

[frisson]

I've been very confused about the point of this trip as well. The catamaran arrived at st. marten on April 8th, they left for st. marten the 29th, Isabella didn't want to go but needed to, they were bringing it back for "hurricane season", but Bennet's business partner was coming to help Bennet take it back to Australia...

So, WHY did the boat even come to st. marten IF it was supposed to be going back to Australia?

Isabella's sister said this was not a honey moon, but more like a task they needed to get done so they went together.

I'm guessing the boat came because of Bennet's "business" that we still don't know about.... lol

Yes, it was indeed a task and I have a sad feeling what the task was.

 

[Estelle]

This might give boaters some ideas as to what could have happened.

30 Ways To Sink a Boat { ...and 29 to prevent it }
The top 30 preventable disasters, and what to do to keep them from happening to you.

http://www.boatingmag.com/how-to/30-ways-to-sink-boat-and-29-to-prevent-it

 

[frisson]

Why did he not plan ahead in Cuba to get some rest before sailing to Key West?? I still do not understand WHY he left her navigating a boat, overnight, where there are shipping channels and uncharted waters???

he's the captain with the sailing experience, from what I read they have sailed before but with others, not just the two of them.

THIS ^^^^ yes this.

 

[bears10]

They have different sizes of shipping containers. Yours were big; my bil works for Cargill. I'll have to ask him about theirs

I've never hear of Cargill so idk.. I used Turkon, Zim, Mediterranean mostly. But Turkon and Zim are mainly 20' and 40'. Any smaller than that isn't really cost efficient for business whose products are solely imports and/or exports IME. It's also important to keep in mind that it's very common practice to ship overweight containers to maximize profits.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Yeah, learning as I go along but finding in various articles flotsam is known to be on the path they took. So I still wonder why he'd place Isabella at the controls if she didn't have experience...at night...and being 30 miles from the Bahamas then why not just drive the 30-45 minutes it'd take to get there and drop anchor? They could've both then slept and left at the break of dawn. :thinking:

They were not near the Bahamas as in Nassau or Freeport, they were 30 miles west of Cay Sal, which is about equal distance between Key West and Cuba. Cay Sal is very small uninhabited island but has been a known stop for pirates and illegal drug smuggling. Cay Sal, although far from the large Bahamas islands, is still part of the Bahamas territory.

 

[JerseyGirl]

He claims the cat was taking on water, so why didn't the weight of the water in the cabin force the catamaran to sink? From the the pictures, it looks like it just overturned or turned on it's side.

 

[MsArk]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/c...ella-hellmann-husband/29MTelJJDnOiiRai7yYGjJ/

http://www.wptv.com/news/region-s-p...close-friend-opens-up-about-marriage-troubles

I am very curious about where LB has gone with that dear baby.

Maybe he already had an around the world airfare booked eg CAIRNS-LON-FLORIDA-LAX-CAIRNS??? I guess the FBI can trace where he has gone. I wonder if he has even made a statement to police yet as a witness.

Most men I have met who are divorced do not really enjoy bringing up a baby alone after a few years and then when they are teenagers, enjoy them more.

I am wondering whether he has a woman in Queensland as he was only able to spend 90 days each year in USA on the visa? No wonder he wanted Isabella to move to Australia. Maybe at her age, she wanted to have a baby before it was too late and agreed to marry him so that the relationship was legal for tradition's sake being Colombian. And perhaps he thought that by marrying her, she would be more willing to move to Australia.

But it looks as if their relationship before marriage already had serious problems over parenting issues, his relationship with her family and where they were going to live.

From what I have read in above article, Isabella paid for the condo and he told her he had come into family money but it all went into the catamaran in 2013. They must have met in 2013 when the catamaran was purchased as Isabella was with him when he bought it but the media often says they met in 2014.

I have no idea why they would have married with so many unresolved issues. Did one of them lead the other one on that they would move if married with no intention of doing so? They seem to have had one reason to stay together and that was their baby. Maybe LB gave IH the ultimatum on that delayed honeymoon trip that he wanted her to move to Australia or else?

I wonder when the media will interview his parents in the UK? Apparently, Isabella met them once.

I find this very riveting as it is difficult to predict what will happen next. Investigating this will be costly and time-consuming.

As a plumber, I think he must have found some way to flood the boat as the media has reported that there were no holes (only scrapes on the bottom and they could have already been there) on the catamaran thus allowing himself time to grab what he needed and get into the lifecraft.

From your link

Bennett wouldn’t come to Florida. Instead, he’d fly Hellmann to meet him and his catamaran at various ports, including Tahiti and Singapore.

Then ...
When Cortes spoke to Bennett, she said, “he told me he was a plumber.” She said Hellmann had told her Bennett had come into some family money and had poured most of it into the boat, and that he made a living transporting people.[/]

Odd, IMO

ETA- what is the rush to get out of the country? It hasn't been a month yet! What about the condo? I assume it is jointly owned if she paid for it and he handled the cost of renovation. I guess he will list it with an agent but what about the furniture?

I also want to more about this business partner. He seems to be a jack of all trades but really, where does the money come from to be able to fly her across the world for time on the cat?

I'm suspicious.

 

[Estelle]

They were not near the Bahamas as in Nassau or Freeport, they were 30 miles west of Cay Sal, which is about equal distance between Key West and Cuba. Cay Sal is very small uninhabited island but has been a known stop for pirates and illegal drug smuggling. Cay Sal, although far from the large Bahamas islands, is still part of the Bahamas territory.

So do you think they were on course? Would they be using automatic pilot?

 

[Jersey*Girl]

If it's true that the water was too deep to drop anchor, what's your theory on the boat hitting something that caused damage on the BOTTOM of the boat? I'm asking you because I know nothing at all about boating.

Jumping on the question because its a great question.

I just have a small boat so I dont know anything about salt water deep sea boating but I do know that if it was too deep to drop anchor then if they hit something floating in the water then wouldnt the object just get shifted in the water? I dont think it would be enough to knock a person overboard unless the floating object was so large and big like another boat.

I had assumed they hit a rock but now not so sure since talk of deep water.

No idea as I've never been in command of a boat, but I wonder if it's possible that a large dead marine life was what they hit. If it were a whale or shark, it'd float. If Isabella was steering the boat, she may not have seen it until it was too late. The catamaran could've hit it and catapulted up and then down from the front, causing it to take on water and flip. Depending on the speed of impact, the tragectory could've thrown Isabella in the opposite direction of where the catamaran was going or opposite of where her husband was. Considering the dark surroundings, if she were unconscious then he wouldn't have been able to see her. If it was a large dead fish/mammal they hit then they could've been near a feeding ground, in which case she could've perished. Is this at all possible to you more knowledgable boaters out there?

 

[Estelle]

He claims the cat was taking on water, so why didn't the weight of the water in the cabin force the catamaran to sink? From the the pictures, it looks like it just overturned or turned on it's side.

Maybe the water was only on one side.

 

[frisson]

He claims the cat was taking on water, so why didn't the weight of the water in the cabin force the catamaran to sink? From the the pictures, it looks like it just overturned or turned on it's side.

'


fishy

 

[Hiandmighty]

He claims the cat was taking on water, so why didn't the weight of the water in the cabin force the catamaran to sink? From the the pictures, it looks like it just overturned or turned on it's side.

Boats are designed to not sink.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zaNBKfQCze0 BostonWhaler unsinkable tour

 

[frisson]

Guys... please. why was SHE (supposedly ) steering the boat at 1 am ALONE when HE is the expert with sailing experience? please.... that screams WEIRD to me.

 

[Jersey*Girl]

He claims the cat was taking on water, so why didn't the weight of the water in the cabin force the catamaran to sink? From the the pictures, it looks like it just overturned or turned on it's side.

Not sure how I came upon this info but I could swear I read that the catamaran was made for floating even if damaged.

 

[bears10]

Not sure how I came upon this info but I could swear I read that the catamaran was made for floating even if damaged.

Off topic but I was really confused why JerseyGirl kept replying to her own comments. Took me this long to realize there are two of you lol

 

[Hiandmighty]

I suppose it is possible they hit a dead whale

 

[frisson]

Imo she was NOT at the helm at 1 am. She was already dead.

 

[Hiandmighty]

Guys... please. why was SHE (supposedly ) steering the boat at 1 am ALONE when HE is the expert with sailing experience? please.... that screams WEIRD to me.

They were sailing, this is what you do. You take 6 hour shifts where one person steers and sails and watches and the other sleeps. It was her turn. He would take 3-9 am