The members of Sailing La Vagabonde have reportedly been involved in an incident off the coast of Japan.
Sailing La Vagabonde is a popular YouTube channel with over 1.9 million subscribers. It features an Australian couple named Riley and Elayne, who have spent years documenting their travels circumnavigating the globe on their yacht La Vagabonde.
What Happened to Sailing La Vagabonde?
Most recently, Sailing La Vagabonde has been traveling through Japan. However, it appears that an accident occurred during the family's journey.
On November 4, Riley from Sailing La Vabaonde penned a statement on their Facebook page, explaining the family's boat had been struck while they were sleeping and put them through "the most harrowing ordeal of [their] lives:"
"We recently experienced the most harrowing ordeal of our lives. Whilst my family and I were sleeping our boat was struck in an accident that has left us shaken and deeply impacted. We are immensely grateful for the messages of support and understanding from everyone during this time.
As we process and recover from this incident, we kindly ask for your patience as we take some much-needed time to regroup and assess the situation."
Riley clarified that no one onboard was physically harmed but that Sailing La Vagabonde's journey has been "interrupted indefinitely:"
"No one was physically harmed, for which we are deeply grateful. However, the damage to our vessel is extensive, and our sailing journey has been interrupted indefinitely."
Sailing La Vagabonde Collision Controversy Explained
Along with the collision, the Sailing La Vagabonde family appears to be dealing with some inaccuracies involving local media reports on the accident.
In the same Facebook post, Riley mentioned a Japanese article that "contains inaccuracies regarding the incident" and asked for patience as they "address these discrepancies:"
"While we will provide further details in due course, we are aware of an article circulating in Japan that contains inaccuracies regarding the incident. We ask for your understanding as we address these discrepancies and manage the legal complexities involved."
The article in question was noted in an Instagram story from Sailing La Vagabonde's Elayne, who posted a picture of the article from Yahoo! Japan with the comment, "Hey guys. We were in an accident but we're okay. Thanks for all your messages, we'll reply when we can."
The Yahoo! article reports that a fishing boat collided with a sailing boat near the Island of Okinoshima in Kagawa Prefecture at 2:40 a.m. on November 4th. It was stated that there were five adults and two children on board and no one was injured, nor was there any oil leakage as a result of the collision.
It's unclear which parts exactly of the article contain the inaccuracies that Riley referred to, however, Japanese media has noted that the Shodosihima Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the accident.
Sailing La Vagabonde had only recently posted a new video blog detailing the family's trip to Hiroshima.
During their journey, the La Vagabonde was stopped by the Japanese Coast Guard, and the members on board were required to show their official papers. However, they were released with no concerns, with Elayne stating the officers were "super friendly."
The video was posted to Sailing La Vagabonde's channel after the time of the reported collision and did not include any details on the incident, so it was likely a scheduled upload.
