Flying Dragon
After spending a wonderful Easter holiday at Yelapa we arrived back in the La Cruz anchorage blissfully unaware of the plight of Chinese junk 'Flying Dragon'. Owners Regis and Sybil, Sybil's eleven year old son Emiliano and his friend were returning to Nuevo Vallarta after spending the Easter weekend at Punta de Mita when they ran into difficulties. The 90 year old wooden yacht had lost engine power just outside the entrance to the channel into Nuevo Vallarta Marina and had run aground on Paradise beach. Many cruisers from both Nuevo Vallarta and La Cruz went to assist and spent the evening in an attempt to pull the boat off the beach but it wasn't until later in the evening that we discovered what had happened and that further assistance was needed. Towlines were required to try and haul the 40 ton boat off the beach at high tide which was expected in the early hours of the morning. We offered to help but it seemed that the main requirement was a fast dinghy to take rope six miles from La Cruz across the bay to Paradise Beach. Our 5 HP outboard was not up to such a journey but we offered to stand by if Fantasia was required to assist with pulling. Fortunately a fast boat, tender to M/V Dauntless was made available and 350 feet of rope was delivered from La Cruz to Paradise Beach in just 15 minutes.
We felt so helpless listening on the VHF radio to the efforts of everyone on the beach as swimmers swam out in the dark to take lines from Flying Dragon, through the surf line to cruisers in their dinghies, who in turn carried them out to the boats stationed a few 100 yards off shore. As each pull ended in failure and broken lines, more lines were taken out. It was exhausting work especially for the swimmers. Ailsa from S/V Alrita was concerned that they needed food to maintain energy levels and cooked a hot meal and attempted to carry it round to the beach together with hot coffee. However, Paradise Village is part of a private holiday complex and she was stopped by guards and refused access to the beach. It appears that they were blissfully unaware of the events unfolding on the beach they were guarding and must have been puzzled by a woman trying to gain access to the all inclusive resort with a large shepherd's pie in her hands in the small hours of the morning! Her husband Eric, who was one of the many swimmers was so hungry and exhausted that he resorted to eating a raw potato he found on Flying Dragon. We wanted to offer our assistance but there didn't seem to be any sense in setting off so close to high tide with an hour of motoring ahead of us. It gradually became clear that the available lines were not up to pulling the heavy wooden boat as the strain was too great. With the tide falling and lines severed, the effort was abandoned until first light.
In the morning, assistance was requested to help with another attempt to pull Flying Dragon off the beach at high tide. In addition, help was requested to remove as much as possible from the boat not only to lighten the load but also to save equipment and personal possessions should the boat be wrecked. Listening on channel 22, we heard cruisers discussing the setting up of help parties and co-ordinating everything after the morning cruisers net. We decided to take Fantasia to Paradise Village Marina as we are so well equipped with tools and paraphernalia after all the refitting we have done over the years. We weighed anchor at once and after a rather alarming fly past Cat2Fold, Brian and Deidre jumped on board for the motor across the bay. We had met Brain and Deidre back in San Blas on their amazing folding catamaran and always excited to see their unique twin masts on the horizon. They were just as excited to come on board Fantasia as they had never sailed on a ketch before! On the way we were treated to a baby humpback whale breaching just in front of us. Most of the whales have left the bay now but often the mothers stay on if their babies are still very young. We hadn't seen any spouts now for a couple of weeks.
As we passed Paradise Beach we could see Flying Dragon high and dry with a crowd of people around her on the beach. At that point we were hailed by a fishing panga which had broken down. We took their line and towed them safely into the harbour, it seemed very strange to be assisting with their boat whilst on our way to assist with Flying Dragon. We later found out that when Flying Dragon's engine failed they tried to sail but as Flying Dragon is a traditional Chinese Junk it can really only sail down wind and was being blown towards the beach by the onshore wind. At first they were assisted by a small panga which proved not to be powerful enough to be of any use. They then requested a tow from a Mexican Coastguard vessel who was standing by. This was refused and they were told that the Coastguard do not rescue boats, only lives. It lost them valuable time in trying to save themselves and by the time they deployed their anchor the boat had passed a line of buoys into the swimming area and surf. The force of the swell on the point on the bow where the anchor was attached threatened to pull the boat apart and the line was dropped. At this point Flying Dragon was washed onto the beach and was hard aground.
This part of the incident made me so thankful that in the UK we have voluntary organisation called the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) who will always attempt to assist with saving not only lives but also vessels in distress.
Once into the harbour Stuart alarmed both our crew and the owners of the boats in Paradise Village Marina as he parallel parked all 60 feet of Fantasia into the 61 foot space between two yachts moored on the end pontoon. With nervous boat owners on from either side scurrying around on deck ready to fender off, I held my breath as always in case anything went wrong. As ever, he made the manoeuvre look simple and we tied Fantasia up on 'A' dock telling told the dock master that we wished to leave the boat while we went to see what assistance we could give. On the beach we saw a huge pile of items that had been removed from the Flying Dragon. We went on board and helped to disconnect the batteries and equipment as well as passing all manner of items down to the waiting line of people below. The rudder had to be cut off using acetylene cutters as the skeg was digging deep into the sand and anchoring the boat even more firmly. The boat has a flat bottom with rocks and lead for ballast all of which were removed. Sybil and Regis syphoned diesel out of the fuel tank and we were able to use fuel cans from Fantasia to carry it from the boat. With the boat stripped almost bare Stuart stayed on board and extracted the last of the diesel from the tank as well as the oil from the engine with our oil extractor. Working alone this took several hours during which many people must have suspected he was taking a siesta back on board Fantasia before he came out on deck calling for assistance. It was vital that this was done as had the boat broken up either on the beach or during the rescue procedure the oil and diesel could potentially caused an oil slick on the white sands of Paradise Beach. With clean bilges any water bailed out was also clean.
By this time Fantasia and 'A' dock had become the place to take everything removed from Flying Dragon in readiness for transportation back to Nuevo Vallarta across the harbour where Flying Dragon had a slip. Barrow load after barrow load were pushed up from the beach by fellow cruisers as well as sun worshipers on the beach. Having offered Fantasia for this purpose I was quite concerned to see the growing mass of equipment both on the dock and on Fantasia's newly cleared decks, I had visions of taking it across the harbour with our decks awash! Berth holders at the nearby Nuevo Vallarta Marina came to the rescue and assisted to reduce the load by transporting as much as possible into trucks, working tirelessly for hours ferrying back and forth. At the end of the day Fantasia's decks were still full of cans of diesel, a dinghy and kayak, batteries, part of a mast and boom, furniture and countless other items.
Meanwhile back on the beach preparations were being made for getting the boat off at high tide. With the tide predicted to be lower hopes were not high but any efforts would assist efforts at a higher tide in the early hours of the morning. A mechanical digger was brought in to dig around the boat, freeing it from the suction of the sand into which it was sinking. Max from Fluenta coordinated the efforts of hundreds of people on the beach by handheld radio and told me that throughout the whole mission he never looked behind him but saw only what was happening to Flying Dragon, the pulling boats and the people working in the water. This was typical of so many people all undertaking their own individual roles with the bigger picture only becoming apparent as stories were told later on. Several boats were anchored off the beach, we recognised Heavy Metal, Destiny and Lungta
Swimmers continued to carry more lines out through the surf to dinghies to be attached to Lungta and an Azimuth motor boat, in readiness for the big pull. Rigo from Heavy Metal assisted with this task using his paddle board. 400 feet of Spectre line was offerered by Dauntless for this purpose. This line has strength equal to steel and so was a better option than the tow ropes that had snapped under strain the night before. A rigger supervised the setting up of a bridle using a braid on braid line and was taken right around the hull of Flying Dragon to which the Spectra line was attached. The kedge anchor was repositioned and was key to any gains not being lost with the next wave to wash onto the beach. Many of the swimmers were in the water all day and were almost unseen heroes. Brian from Cat2Fold and Joel from Compadre as well as Ailsa and Eric from Alrita swam with heavy lines in increasingly building seas for many hours positioning and repositioning the lines and anchors.
As the tide started to wash around Flying Dragon water started to come through the cracks that had opened up when the boat was pounded on the beach. On board, Stuart rewired the bilge pumps and linked them up to a petrol driven generator to stem the rising water level inside the boat. He even stuffed plastic bags into the cracks to keep the water out but more help was needed. Fantasia's buckets and bailers were commissioned and people were asked to come on board to help bail the water out. A father and son were quick to come forward and as his wife was swept forward in the rush she remembered that their other children were on the beach and was so apologetic that she couldn't help out. Another girl came on board to bail, the now famous 'tourista' the girl in the red bikini on 'Vacation'. It wasn't until much later that we discovered that 'Vacation' was not a boat! The crew of Destiny offered a petrol driven bilge pump and set off back to their boat anchored off the beach to fetch it. Unfortunately they were flipped by a big wave whilst trying to avoid swimmers on the way back and sustained damage to the pump, their outboard and their confidence. Meanwhile beach traders continued to ask me if I would like a henna tattoo or buy jewellery as I carried items up the beach! I am still puzzled how I could be mistaken for a tourist whilst carrying cans of diesel!
It wasn't long before the water was getting deep around Flying Dragon and the effort to turn her bows on to the waves began. This was accomplished with sheer man power. I don't think anyone got a chance to count, there were too many people. Little by little the boat was turned by working with the waves, people were either pushing on the hull or tugging on the ropes. The line of people stretched way out into the surf and I will never forget the picture. Fortunately Deidre managed to get some great shots, the one of a line of people pulling on ropes out into the surf tells the story in a picture. On deck Stuart, Conor from Moondance and Frank from Truant pulled in on the kedge by hand as there were no winches on board. Every inch of line gained was pulled around the Sampson post on the bow. This was the winning Bandaras Bay Regatta crew of Moondance working at their best! Afterwards they commented on how much it helped that they had crewed together on Moondance during the regatta.
On the beach, tourists asked if we were making a film or if it was an event staged by the hotel. Children made sandcastles and played in the waves despite all efforts to move them back. We warned them of the dangers of the line breaking and ricocheting across the beach yet every time people were moved back they inched forward again.
With the boat now facing the ocean and a line attached to the sailing vessel Lungta which had been applying pressure all day, another line was taken by swimmer and then by dinghy from S/V Heavy Metal to an Azimuth motor vessel, the 'Blue Boat' to assist with the pull. Pressure was maintained by both vessels whilst the crew on Flying Dragon continued to take up on the kedge. It was an inch by inch process taking several hours before high tide was reached. The plan was to maintain a steady tension and work with the waves and tide rather than try pulling and risk breaking lines or boats. Eventually the Azimuth had to leave and another powerful boat was sought. After a panic that a boat would not be found and the whole operation would fail at the last hurdle, a Nordhaven motor boat arrived and took up station to take a line.
In a breath taking moment Flying Dragon broke free and edged afloat into the surf. As the first wave hit there was a huge cheer from the beach and further cheers as she was pulled through each subsequent wave. Unknown to the watching crowd the Nordhaven was still not attached and the swimmers were battling heavy seas to get a line on board. The crew on board Flying Dragon kept hold of the kedge line until there was just one turn left around the Samson post. Had this been released everything would have been lost, they were literally inches from disaster should the line have slipped through their hands as it was the only thing keeping Flying Dragon from being washed back onto the beach. At the same time Lungta's had a problem with their windlass and they were unable to continue kedging forward. This resulted in the lines to Flying Dragon slackening, the boat started to veer sideways on to the surf and began to lose ground back to the beach. From my vantage point I could still hear cheers from the watchers but could see that things were going very wrong.
The surf was huge and I watched as a huge wave broke over the bow where Conor and Stuart were maintaining pressure on the kedge. I saw the wave break over Stuart's head and wash him along the deck. During this time there was no radio contact with Flying Dragon as their handheld VHF radio batteries ran flat, they were unaware of the problems suffered by the other vessels and increasingly fearful of the consequences should the lines go slack. All I could do was to stand open mouthed, holding my breath while the tension was eventually taken up by the Nordhaven and Flying Dragon started to move forward once again.
Once Flying Dragon started to move forward once again, everyone on board held on for their lives as they experienced a roller coaster ride through the surf. Stuart, having skippered a yacht in five Fastnet Races experienced as much exhilaration to satisfy his need for excitement for the foreseeable future. The bikini girl was still on board and finally stepped off the boat on the dock back in Nuevo Vallarta marina, hopefully her first boat trip not having put her off for life! Sadly we never found out who she was but she represented so many unnamed people who gave so much on that day. On board were:
Regis - Flying Dragon
Stuart - Fantasia
Conor - Moondance
Frank - Truant
Bikini Girl
We think there were three more people but are not sure who they were.
Back on the dock at Nuevo Vallarta Flying Dragon was still taking on water at an alarming rate. With the euphoria of the moment everyone disappeared and again Stuart and Frank were the only ones on board. Just as on our own boat Fantasia where he is very much at home down in the bilges, on Flying Dragon he found himself wiring up another bilge pump to assist with reducing the water level. With this all under control he finally hitched a dinghy ride back to 'A' Dock where rescuers were just finishing the last of a few well deserved beers. As no one had seen him all day I think he was considered a bit of a gate crasher to the party!
One of the guards at the Marina in Nuevo Marina put into words what so many people believed, it was a miracle that the boat was saved. A miracle brought about by the dedication and support of so many people, hundreds of people all working together on Paradise Beach.
A few days after the rescue Stuart and I visited Flying Dragon and were so surprised and glad to see that Regis and Sybil had managed to get the engine working again and were making good progress to turn the boat back into the wonderful home it had been before. Flying Dragon has had an illustrious history, built in Hong Kong in 1925 as a fishing boat it has also been used by smugglers, was a party boat, floating pavilion for the 1974 World Fair, Astoria brothel before being restored by and used as a floating Studio by renown Sculptor and world sailor Jerry Joslin. We ate a delicious home cooked lunch with them on board and went over the events of that fateful day. There are so many stories, some more accurate than others, some stories blurred by the number of different things that were happening and some total fantasy fuelled by gossip. My story has been written to give events from our perspective as well as the story of what happened on board the Flying Dragon as it was pulled off the beach. Hopefully, if there are any inaccuracies, I will be able to put them right.
Before we left, Sybil and Regis told me a story of an old man in his eighties who visited Flying Dragon, walking down the old broken dock where she is currently berthed. He wanted to meet Sybil and Regis, to see the boat that everybody was talking about and to tell them that he thought that they must be such very special people for such a monumental effort to be made to help them by so many people. He told them that never in all his life had he seen a feat of such magnitude, a sentiment that I believe will be shared by everyone who was there on that day.