Days: 7
Skipper: John Alden
Crew: Lesley Alden, Bill Cox, John Taylor
Low Water reveals a sorry sight:
My recent week in the Channel Islands turned into an impromptu cycling holiday as winds consistently over 45 Knots and gusting to 50 limited us to just two good days sailing.
In fact the weather was distinctly odd, huge winds, but during the day at least dry hot and sunny. When rain belts did come through the wind ensured that it was done and dusted in ten minutes and the sun was soon out again.
Apart from Monday where we zipped out from Jersey to Guernsey and Thursday when we returned to Jersey we spent the week safely tied up in St Peter Port and St Hellier with a godzillion other boats. Sadly for the owner of a Dufour 41 the shelter offered by a 'fixed' swinging mooring in St Catherine's bay Jersey proved inadequate and the boat at some point slipped its mooring and was dashed and rolled along the unforgiving seabed before coming to rest sunk alongside the harbour wall.
We had heard the new navigational warning on the VHF during our sail back to Jersey and decided to take a trip to see what had happened.What would only days ago have been a lovely boat had been shorn of mast and virtually all deck fittings.
It's sail drive had been torn off completely and was by the time we got there, heaped on the quayside with a tangle of other recovered bits and pieces. The port side deck where it meets the hull looked just as though a giant had used one of those old fashioned knife style can openers to rip a gash along the hull which at its worst point allowed a view into the saloon. A large 8 wheeled crane had been carefully driven down the quayside to lift her out and a salvage team wearing high viz jackets bearing the Beneteau logo had arrived.This team certainly seemed switched on as they soon had the cradle rigged and guided the crane operator to lift her just enough to see if she would drain through the various cracks and holes in the hull.It quickly became apparent that she was too heavy with water to lift and they deployed a pump to clear the compartments.
I had thought that they would lift her onto a lorry but it appeared that the salvage team had in fact decided to effect temporary repairs using glass fiber matting and plywood on the quayside and then float her off at high water for a tow to a boatyard.They certainly didn't hang about, barely had the keel touched the quay when half a dozen salvagers descended with rollers, glass fiber, drills and angle grinders to get her water tight as the tide crept ever closer to the crane.Various holes and cracks
were papered over with glass fiber matting and then covered with plywood panels screwed to the hull while the crane twisted and turned the hull to give better access. Eventually they secured her to the harbour wall and allowed the crane to retreat from the advancing tide. One would hope that she was fully insured but I have no idea if she is to be repaired or scrapped.
