I don’t want to judge motives, but their own words say that they didn’t have enough experience for that trip. According to the article at Sailboat survivors recount doomed Pacific voyage Appel had been sailing the Hawaiian Island’s for 10 years and yet short of the boat actually sinking, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Owning a boat and day sailing on and off for 10 years does not equate to being an experienced sailor.

I wonder if the Ashland’s crew dipped the fuel tank to see if there was any fuel remaining — maybe, but probably not. Pick up the survivors and hit the road, Ashland still had places to be after that little detour. My gut tells me that somewhere southeast of Japan there is a perfectly good 50 foot sailboat waiting to be salvaged.

wiki page for USS_Ashland (LSD-48)
Quote:
...On October 26, 2017, Ashland rescued two American women who were drifting and lost at sea for almost five months (the sailors' sailboat lost engine power early in their voyage). The two Honolulu, Hawaii residents had been sending mayday signals for almost three months until a Taiwanese fishing vessel heard their signal on October 25, 2017. The Taiwanese crew contacted the U.S. Coast Guard in Guam. In a coordinated rescue mission between the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy, Ashland found the two sailors and their two dogs drifting at sea about 900 miles off the coast of Japan. Everyone was in excellent condition because, the boat owners told authorities, they provisioned on board enough food for a year, and an unlimited water supply by using salt water desalination devices.