Starving dog the only trace left of sailor missing in Bahamas

When officers with the Royal Bahamas Police Force climbed aboard an abandoned 30-foot boat last week, they found little more than a starving dog and a Canadian flag.

The boat's owner, 72-year-old John William Batchelor, wasn't there. It's not known how long the vessel was in the waters between two small Bahamian islands.

Police in the Bahamas are treating the Canadian man's disappearance as a missing person's case. But members of a small Ontario sailing community say something is amiss – Mr. Batchelor was healthy and well accustomed to sailing alone. Some friends say they suspect Mr. Batchelor, who lived on his boat but had a mailing address in Pickering, was a victim of foul play. "He was healthy, he was alert, he was competent and most of all, John Batchelor was not a wuss," said close friend Robin Morrish from Belleville, Ont. "If somebody came aboard, he will have tried to [take them on]himself, which makes me quite nervous."

Ms. Morrish, a sailor herself until a recent injury, said something just doesn't seem right about the situation and reports that the boat was ransacked. Mr. Batchelor had been living on his boat for decades, and it was his 18th sailing trip south, so it's unlikely he made a mistake and fell, she said. Because he didn't believe in taking a firearm, she's worried Mr. Batchelor could have been easily overpowered.

Ruth Allen, who has been on more than one excursion with Mr. Batchelor, said he wouldn't have gone swimming by himself. "The whole thing is just wrong," she said from Kingston, Ont., where she lives on her boat.

However, Steve Porter, who's the emergency contact on Mr. Batchelor's passport and who's been in touch with the Bahamian police, disputes the notion that a crime was committed. "There's nothing suspicious or untoward, nothing like that," he said. "There was no robbery, no foul play, there was no piracy."

It's more likely Mr. Batchelor, a friend of 20 years, was tending to something on the boat's side and got swept away in an overpowering current, he said.

The friends agree that it's almost impossible he's still alive because of the time that has passed and the currents in the water off West End, Grand Bahama, which is known for sharks. They say they probably won't ever know what happened.

"A man disappeared in the middle of the ocean," Ms. Morrish said. "Nobody's ever going to know. This is what happens when you cruise, it happens in international waters, out of sight of land and there's nobody to rescue you."

Foreign Affairs officials are working with authorities in Nassau to gather more information. As well, a detective from Durham Regional Police is assisting police in the Bahamas.

Friends hadn't had updates from Mr. Batchelor for weeks and police say he was seen in the Bahamas late in December. They are trying to piece together the puzzle of Mr. Batchelor's past, before he turned to sailing decades ago.

Originally from England, Mr. Batchelor has an elder brother, Henry, who still lives there and is his only known relative, Mr. Porter said. After leaving England, Mr. Batchelor lived in Australia and Nigeria before ending up in Canada.

There are suspicions that he once had a wife in Australia, friends say, and possibly a daughter in Canada, but no one has been able to confirm their existence.

Friends say Mr. Batchelor was well-educated and taught for years before retiring. He also spent time building boats and had his pilot's licence too, they say.

"There's a lot we don't know," Ms. Allen said. "We probably all talked about the same stuff: sailing."

A government vessel registry lists Mr. Batchelor's boat, the "Joy B," to a Pickering postal box. The beige and red boat was built by Whitby Boat Works in 1966.

He spent most of his summers in Ontario, friends say. Mr. Batchelor didn't have a home dock, but Waupoos Marina in Picton and Frenchman's Bay Marina in Pickering were among his haunts. And for the past two decades or so, every winter he'd head for the Bahamas by himself.

Online, tributes have appeared on the Cruisers Forum where people have posted about sightings of him over the years in the Bahamas and enroute, in Florida.

"Boy, I remember his face," said Mike Ahart, describing Mr. Batchelor's bearded visage, white hair and six-foot stature. The two met briefly in 2010 at Bahamian Hatchet Bay. "He was the cruising, sailor-type," Mr. Ahart said.

The last time Mr. Batchelor lived on land was a winter several years ago when his arthritis was acting up. He didn't go anywhere for long without his dog, Dingo, Ms. Allen said.

The greyhound and Labrador retriever mix was found on the boat. Dingo is now at a Bahamian animal facility, police said, but the friends are trying to bring the dog back to live with someone familiar. "It's probably all we can do to honour John at this point," Ms. Allen said.

Mr. Batchelor opted for Dingo's company more often than that of his human friends and was often opinionated, his friends said. But he was a talented sailor. "John was what every cruiser should be," Ms. Morrish said.

"He was pretty much committed to the cruising lifestyle, as long as he was able to do it," she said. "He fully anticipated dying at sea and at least he made it to where he loved, he loved the Bahamas."