Couple of leaking barrels, they smell it in the hull, and move the population of the ship in a hurry into the missing lifeboat. Unfurl half the sails so the ship won't go too fast, lower themselves down in the yawl so they can be towed towards the land that they've misidentified the location of. Sails catch a gust of wind, the ropes snap, the yawl's lost at sea.

Bang. Enduring mystery of our times.