I was thinking about this “rescue” while walking the dog this morning. Since I’ve been considering a sailboat, there are lessons in the misfortune of others.

1. Learn to deal with bad weather. There are books such as the Storm Tactics Handbook... which might be a good place to start.

2. Learn to inspect and fix your rigging at sea. From what I read, sail power may have been compromised early and if so should maybe have triggered an abort and return to Hawaii.

3. A radio install isn’t complete until it’s tested at sea. I’ve seen a number of issues with new gear failing because of an inadequate installation of perfectly good equipment. People replace a problem radio only to discover the new radio doesn’t work either. It’s a system; the antennas, connectors, cables and grounding points are part of that system. Sailing the Pacific, good HF comms should be required, a satellite phone would be nice. For emergency situations, an EPIRB or PLB should also be included.

4. Assuming they had charts, navigation was not their problem; the handheld GPS they had will determine your location to within 20 feet; in the middle of the Pacific celestial navigation with 5 mile accuracy is adequate. One sailor on the SF-HI solo TransPac used a cheap plastic training sextant as his primary nav. You really only need the GPS when you get close to a destination to back-up/correct your cel-nav. (Just stay well clear of any shoals.)

That’s a start, but ...
5. Dogs?? I like dogs too which is why I wouldn’t take them on a Trans-Pac. The space for their food now becomes space for more of my food.