Sunday evening in Carrabelle was exciting to say the least. After a quiet day in port waiting for the seas to calm down, we thought nothing much happens on Sunday. Wrong!
We had walked to the grocery store for a few things and stopped on our way back and started hearing the news on the waterfront. Two fishermen in a very small boat (19 ft.) had gone to sea on Saturday and apparently their boat had capsized in the heavy seas and they spent the night clinging to their overturned boat before being rescued Sunday afternoon. They were local men and one had seven children at home.
Later in the evening, as we were watching the 10 pm news on television, there was a thud and something hit the dock, causing our boat to rock. Rushing up on deck, we saw a large yacht, sinking by the stern and being tied up to the dock directly behind us. The boat, a 67 ft. Skipperkey yacht being moved to Ft. Lauderdale from Wisconsin, had taken on water in the engine room, while about 60 miles out at sea. The flooding caused the boat to lose all power and required that they issue a Mayday call to the Coast Guard, who responded with a spotter plane and a helicopter which dropped pumps. Of course all of this was in the middle of the night and in fairly rough seas. This was not weather related, but probably a mechanical problem. A nearby fishing boat was able to secure a tow line and all day Sunday was spent towing the vessel toward Carrabelle. When they arrived behind us, only the stern was flooded as can be seen in the first picture. The second picture shows the Coast Guard personnel talking to the delivery captains about 1am, which is when Judy and I went back to our boat and to bed.
Apparently during the night, in the course of trying to salvage the boat, several compartments were opened, which allowed additional flooding. The boat sank at the pier as shown in the third and fourth pictures and now will require extensive work to refloat. What a mess. The boat was a brand new $1.5 million dollar luxury yacht and will cost a small fortune to repair. We had intended to head out this morning, but hearing stories and seeing a boat sink, made us decide to stay in port at least another day and wait for things to calm down.
Ned Remember you can double click pictures to enlarge
We had walked to the grocery store for a few things and stopped on our way back and started hearing the news on the waterfront. Two fishermen in a very small boat (19 ft.) had gone to sea on Saturday and apparently their boat had capsized in the heavy seas and they spent the night clinging to their overturned boat before being rescued Sunday afternoon. They were local men and one had seven children at home.
Later in the evening, as we were watching the 10 pm news on television, there was a thud and something hit the dock, causing our boat to rock. Rushing up on deck, we saw a large yacht, sinking by the stern and being tied up to the dock directly behind us. The boat, a 67 ft. Skipperkey yacht being moved to Ft. Lauderdale from Wisconsin, had taken on water in the engine room, while about 60 miles out at sea. The flooding caused the boat to lose all power and required that they issue a Mayday call to the Coast Guard, who responded with a spotter plane and a helicopter which dropped pumps. Of course all of this was in the middle of the night and in fairly rough seas. This was not weather related, but probably a mechanical problem. A nearby fishing boat was able to secure a tow line and all day Sunday was spent towing the vessel toward Carrabelle. When they arrived behind us, only the stern was flooded as can be seen in the first picture. The second picture shows the Coast Guard personnel talking to the delivery captains about 1am, which is when Judy and I went back to our boat and to bed.
Apparently during the night, in the course of trying to salvage the boat, several compartments were opened, which allowed additional flooding. The boat sank at the pier as shown in the third and fourth pictures and now will require extensive work to refloat. What a mess. The boat was a brand new $1.5 million dollar luxury yacht and will cost a small fortune to repair. We had intended to head out this morning, but hearing stories and seeing a boat sink, made us decide to stay in port at least another day and wait for things to calm down.
Ned Remember you can double click pictures to enlarge
1 comment:
We spent 6 days in Carabella and crossed to St. Pete. Many loopers go to Tarpon Springs, but marina is way up stream...about an hour. Good Greek rest.. Nice to see Demopolis updated car. Was a mini van. Went to Church there. Spent two weeks on west coast of Florida. Don't hurry.
Craig and ML
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