Yacht Deckhand Sinead McNamara dies in Greece

Sep 11, 2018 by Dorie Cox

Updated report on Sept. 11, 2018:

The family of Deckhand Sinead McNamara has hired an attorney to investigate her death on Aug. 31 on M/Y Mayan Queen IV in Greece. She was found unconscious and hanging by a rope, according to coroner reports.

Ms. McNamara had talked with her mother and brother by phone shortly before the incident and was crying, according to attorney Charalampos Triantafyllopoulos.

“The family finds it crucial to thoroughly investigate both the conditions of death and the events and incidents that preceded this event in order to reveal the full truth and learn what actually happened and led their 20-year-old daughter’s death,” Triantafyllopoulos said in a statement as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.

For more visit The Sydney Morning Herald.

Updated report on Sept. 5, 2018:

Greek authorities have ruled that Deckhand Sinead McNamara’s death on Aug. 31 was due to hanging. According to a Greek coroner’s report, she was found unconscious and hanging by a rope from an aft deck of M/Y Mayan Queen IV about 1:45 a.m. She died while being airlifted to hospital from near the Port of Argostoli in Cephalonia, Greece.

Ms. McNamara had been seen by a captain on a neighboring yacht who called for help and crew attempted to revive her.

CNN reported that Coroner Elias Boyiokas said examinations showed “no visible signs of struggle or physical abuse” except for marks left by a rope on Ms. McNamara‘s neck.

“It is not yet possible to say if she was psychologically pushed to act or was under the influence of drugs at the time,” Boyiokas said. Toxicology test results are not expected for several weeks.

Her family questions the ruling and have hired an attorney.

For more visit Greek City Times and CNN.

Original report posted on Sept. 3, 2018:
Authorities are investigating the death of yacht Deckhand Sinead McNamara of M/Y Mayan Queen IV on Aug. 31. Media reports vary as to whether she died on board the yacht near the Port of Argostoli in Cephalonia, Greece, or en route to hospital. Cause of death has not been reported. She was 20.

Photo from Sinead McNamara’s Facebook account labeled “A day in Symi in Sými, Dhodhekanisos, Greece” posted Aug. 7.

Ms. McNamara, from Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia, had been a deckhand on board the 306-foot Blohm + Voss for about four months. She got her start in the yachting industry last July when she and friend Sally Bird flew to Antibes, France, after graduating high school.

While at The Hop Store, a popular yacht crew gathering spot in Antibes, France, the women met several veterans in the industry including Norma Trease, editor-at-large at Yachting Matters, who helped update their resumes. Capt. Marvin Wilson guided them to a yacht clothing store for appropriate outfits.

And they also met Capt. Ennes Harchevich who told them they had arrived late in the yacht season for work, but with about 30 crew onboard, he recommended they visit the Lurssen M/Y Phoenix 2 for interviews.

Phoenix’s chief stew decided to hire both of the women, Ms. McNamara as a deckhand and Bird as a stew.

“Sinead wanted to be a deckhand,” Capt. Harchevich said by phone. “She wanted to work outside with the boys, she wanted more activity.”

Ms. McNamara worked on Phoenix 2 until February.

“She was happy but she decided she wanted to see different places,” Capt. Harchevich said. Although he did not spend much time with Ms. McNamara, he said he and the crew will miss seeing her. She had kept in good contact with them after she went to M/Y Mayan Queen IV.

“She was sweet, the calmest, kind of quiet, and friendly,” Capt. Harchevich said. “Everyone loved her. We took to her like a little puppy. She never said stupid things, her mouth was controlled and always proper. She was full of life.”

Trease kept in touch with Ms. McNamara after their initial meeting and agreed she was “so full of life and with the whole world apparently at her feet.”

“I was very proud to have been able to give her advice from time to time,” Trease wrote in a message to The Triton. “She was so excited to be a deckhand … . Her spectacular looks sometimes led her to be pigeonholed as a stew, so this was quite an accomplishment for her.”

Media reports described Ms. McNamara as an Instagram model and social media influencer.

The yacht and crew of M/Y Mayan Queen IV were held in port for official investigations and released after two days. An autopsy is underway in Athens and investigations continue.

For more visit The Australian, The Guardian, The Times, and News Hub.

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About Dorie Cox

Dorie Cox is a writer with Triton News.

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