Missing Canadian sailor Jay Caunter’s yacht Venture had been hammered by a squall in the hours before he disappeared in the Caribbean, a friend tells the Toronto Sun.
Now, they worry the experienced sailor who sold all his possessions to live out his dream may have fallen overboard.
“I am still hoping Jay is out there. (That) he will show up in Carriacou. But as the days pass, my hopes get bleaker,” friend Doug Prince says.
Caunter, 68, sailed from Chateaubelair, St. Vincent, on Feb. 24, and has not been heard from since. He was reportedly having engine trouble at sea.
“I would like to tell people close to Jay and his family we were with him the last week or so,” Prince said, adding that Caunter was sailing with friends in the Grenadines.
“We had a solo Canadian sailing group of three boats. Myself on Sabbatical II, Ron Hamilton on Moxie V and David James aboard Robin. We met Jay first in Bequia. We asked Jay if he would like to join us while we were in Martinique. He agreed. We invited him into our WhatsApp group contact.”
Prince said the group broke up briefly and he was in St. Lucia with Hamilton while James was in St. Vincent and Caunter was in Martinique.
“Eventually we were all able to meet in Chateaubelair, St. Vincent. Jay had lost use of his prop coming down to Chateaubelair so we ended up towing him in on Monday, Feb. 17,” Prince said. “In discussion with Jay about his prop problem, it was decided he would have to haul his boat out of the water. The best place for that was Carriacou.”
Prince said the following day Caunter was dragging anchor as he headed out into the bay.
“I was ready in my dinghy to tow him back in. David had just received a text from Jay saying no don’t come out, he would put up his sails and continue on to Bequia and meet us there,” Prince said.
Caunter’s last WhatsApp message that day was at 4:49 p.m.
“He said he had been hit by a squall with 44 kt winds but was able to get back on course. He also said he had to bail his dinghy. I assume the squall filled up his dinghy with water. He said he had never done this while under sail,” Prince said.
“I am speculating could he have fallen overboard.”
Caunter was last heard from 4.5 hours later when he told family on Messenger that he was without an engine.
He was the lone occupant of Venture when he set sail.
Caunter had moved from Toronto to his hometown in Quebec’s Eastern Townships several years ago to take care of his ailing father. After his dad died, he sold all his possessions and hit the high seas.
He purchased Venture in Sarnia and then sailed the vessel down Lake Huron and through Lake Erie to Buffalo before heading down to New York City on the Erie Canal and the open sea. His final destination was St. Vincent.
Venture is 10.3 metres long, has a white hull, bimini, white sails, and green accents, and a registration number of ON1637651.