No LL
Nowadays, as one enters the channel to the Marathon City Marina, one sees a startling sight, as shown in the picture below.
I haven't met the owner of this vessel yet, but I did ask around about the story behind the dismasting. The first story I heard was that the vessel was struck by a rogue wave and knocked down. As she righted herself, the weight of the water in the sails broke the mast. Well, that story is hard to refute. Satellite imagery has proven conclusively that rogue waves exist and are more common than once thought.
I heard a second version of the story that is more detailed and more believable. According to this version, the owner packed everything his owns on board and was headed for the Dominican Republic to live. (Look at the picture below. One sees motorcycles, batteries, lawn furniture and all sorts of things lying on deck in a most unseaworthy manner, plus a deflated rubber dinghy hanging limply from the stern.)
The story continues that the owner tried to leave the harbor but ran aground right in front of the City Marina. Then, the marina employees offered assistance to re-float the vessel. It didn't pull off easily, so they grabbed ahold of a halyard from the top of the mast and heeled her over. That worked, and the vessel sailed away. However, it was soon back with a broken mast and it reported that the mast broke only 30 miles away from Marathon. I'm sure that there have not been any rogue waves within 30 miles of Marathon this year. The suspicion is that pulling sideways on the mast somehow damaged it, causing the failure.
Now, there must be fear that the owner of the vessel may try to sue the marina. Oh what a mess. The marina employees never should have volunteered to help. That is a job for professional towing services. The reason is the liability, as this anecdote clearly illustrates.
I emphasize that both versions of this story are local gossip. I have no verification of their truth.
The real reason that this story moves me so much is that it touches on my most secret inner fear. I never met the skipper of this sad vessel but all appearances are that it must be owned by someone who became so old and infirm that he or she was unable to keep up with the actual demands of a cruising life. It is an inglorious end. Heaven help us that Libby and I should avoid that fate.
Dick, there is side loading on a mast most of the time when sailing. I have gotten free from grounding at least twice using a halyard from the masthead. After all, that is what the upper shrouds are designed for.
ReplyDeletePerhaps, the subject boat's rigging was not adjusted properly - lose lower shrouds, or lose upper shrouds. Either could allow too much bend in the mast and weaken it. Of course, there could well have been some undetected problem even before the boat left the harbor. The mast could not bend like that without some standing rigging giving way - broken wire, cracked toogle or turnbuckle, etc.