"Stuff" happens quick around here
10 April 2010
I was doing some research for our upcoming trek up the Exumas when Beckie gets here, when I ran across the following from SailBlogs.
For those of you at home who were following our passage from Fajardo last week, you might recall that as we passed Rum Cay we had decided not to got in and anchor in the dark. It was around midnight and the moon was hidden behind the clouds. The decision not to go in was simple. The lights on the chart were either nonexistent or the ones that were there, did not match the chart. It was safer to sail on til dawn.
The following is an example of why you don't go into strange places in the dark or how fast things can happen even in daylight
March 21, 2010:
We arrived in Rum Cay and stayed there for a few days. We were there sitting on Sapphire watching Second Wind, from Quebec, go out of the anchorage, then turn around and come back, then turn and go back out again. As we were watching we said, why is he heading for the reef, then "bang" he was on the reef. (Apparently his engine was heating up and he went below to check on it, with his jib up and no autopilot - dumb)We all went out with dinghies and one whaler and tried to pull him off. It was soon apparent that he was never coming off the reef. His keel was broken and his rudder was off and the boat was filling with water. Mario got all of his valuables off first, with the help of Sapphire, Fine Lion and Night Hawk taking what they could to shore, then he came back for a few more things. At this point he knew there was no hope and told the locals to help themselves - and boy they did. Very sad, but it shows how fast things can happen. Rum Cay has a lot of corals around it and you have to be very careful.
There but for the grace of G-D go I.....
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