"Oh, there it is. In the water."
Saturday 24th January 2009. Eve and Sam were driving to the supermarket when we drove past the yacht club and looked out towards our faithful vessel. Tui in the Hand was in the right place, but it didn't look quite right. Sam's eyesight isn't terrific, but he could usually see the mast and today, he couldn't. We ran to the yacht club wharf for a closer look and yes, the mast was in the water.
We turned right around, threw the oars in the back of convertible (we looked well cool) and rowed straight out. Only as we approached did we see the full extent of the damage. The starboard side had been run into. Near the aft of the cabin the hull was dented and the cabin and deck were cracked above. The deck was also cracked at the front of the cabin. The perspex window was destroyed and the tiller was snapped at its base. We arrived onboard a little before 8:30 pm with the sun low in the sky.
The cabin was a mess. The starboard shelf was detached from the wall and one end lay in the middle of the boat. There was very little water in bilge, which indicated that the boat was not yet leaking through its new scars. Ben's trusty solar panel had been knocked off the port window and was lying in the bilge. The starboard deck along the side of the cabin now bends and it's quite possible that whole side may give way sometime soon in the rough sea.
It appears that the offending boat went straight into the side of ours at the aft end of the cabin. Their bow probably dived down and towards our bow. Out hull is heavily scratched in this direction and black (rubber?) from their boat has rubbed along the where the old name was and has coloured in the letters. The shock of the impact snapped the forstay at the top of the mast.
The mast was secured to the hull via a single pin that allowed the mast to be hoisted from horizontal (top of the mast hanging over the stern), so when the stay broke, the mast feel directly aft, which snapped the boom track off, and landed on the tiller, snapping it at its base. Whoever hit us then covertly disappeared and at some point between impact and when we found the boat, somebody tied a thick line between the mast head and the starboard winch to prevent the mast moving around. Unfortunatly the rough area that the boat is moored in managed to jerk the mast off the port side, twisting the base and breaking it. The base of the mast went into the air and the mast head sank. Only the array of halyards stopped the entire mast from going overboard as the stays had plenty of slack in them.
Sam cut most of the halyards away so that the mast could be hoisted back on board and secured the base to the pulpit and the head to aft. The forstay and furled sail remained secure at the bow and was lashed to the aft so that nothing was left dangling in the water. Most of the valuables (except sails and spinnaker pole) were placed in the dinghy in case the boat sinks before we get back to her. By the time all of this was done, the sun had set and we returned to shore around 10.00 pm.
I blame Frenchie. Where is he anyway?
