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From: Roy Rogers <roy.skipperroy.rogers@gmail.com>
To: Roy Rogers <roy.skipperroy.rogers@gmail.com>
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The sailing catamaran appeared to be the victim of a sailor's nightmare - an anchor that dragged or a mooring that broke in the middle of the night when no one was awake and no one knew the boat was moving until the wind blew it into the rocks. I can imagine the scene. The owner/captain is awakened by a loud thump and sudden jarring impact from the leeward hull. His first thought is What the...No, this can't be happening. But the boat's motion is no longer right and he can hear the sound of fiberglass grinding. He rolls out of his bunk and races through the dark cabin to the cockpit. Looking around in the night, he can see the silhouette of the hillside is wrong. The boat is not where it had been.. He's on the rocks. Maybe the damage is only light and superficial. There are only moments to save the boat from more serious damage. He bends to the engine controls and starts the engines. They both start normally and this gives hope, but waves are slapping the windward hull. The boat lurches unnaturally, is pushed harder onto the rocks. He knows he's got to maneuver the leeward hull, the starboard hull, off with a rotating force while keeping the windward hull, port side, clear and in deeper water. He's got to rotate off and back away. Don't think about the damage now. Get off. He engages the stbd engine transmission. Reverse. No change. Waves continue slapping the port side. More throttle. The dark shapes of the shore are not moving. The boat isn't responding. He gives it full throttle and thinks, I've got to make the boat move, even if more damage is done doing so. I've got to get off before the waves push us farther on. But the boat doesn't move. Or maybe it moves a little but then settles into a deeper gap in the rocks. One more thing to try. Desperation. Put the port engine in forward. Maybe that will help the stbd hull rotate off. But if it does, be ready to go to reverse before you drive the port hull onto the rocks. The waves are relentless. The hull is pounding and scraping.
As I approached the wreck I looked down into the clear water checking for depth. The bottom was all rock. I saw the long white blade of a rudder laying on the bottom. When I got close I cut the engine, pulled the outboard forward and it's shaft out of the water, then waited for momentum and the wind carry me to the catamaran's port hull. I had seen from a distance that the boat had been stripped. The mast and rigging was gone. Now, drifting close, I saw that even the portlights were gone. The bow and stern pulpits were gone. Someone has spent a lot of time and effort to do that. It seemed like this wreck had been here for some time, but I would soon learn differently. The side of the inflatable dinghy kissed the hull and I stood to grab hold.. I found a cleat and tied off the painter.
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