Mutiny on the Bounty Coleman, McIntosh and others—generally vanished from the public eye after the closing of the procedures. After leaving Tahiti on 22 September 1789, Christian sailed "Bounty" west in search of a safe haven. He then formed the idea of settling on Pitcairn Island, far to the east of Tahiti; the island had been reported in 1767, but its exact location was never verified. After months of searching, Christian rediscovered the island on 15 January 1790, east of its recorded position. This longitudinal error contributed to the mutineers' decision to settle on Pitcairn. On arrival the ship was unloaded and stripped of
HMS Bounty on volunteer crew. On 29 October 2012, sixteen "Bounty" crew-members abandoned ship off the coast of North Carolina after getting caught in the high seas brought on by Hurricane Sandy. The ship sank, according to Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, at 12:45 UTC Monday 29 October 2012, and two crew members, including Captain Robin Walbridge, were reported as missing. The Captain was not found and presumed dead on 2 November 2012. It was later reported that the Coast Guard had recovered one of the missing crew members, Claudene Christian, descendant of Fletcher Christian of the original HMS "Bounty". Ms.