the short haul
11 November 2010 | Wanchese, NC
Bill
Well, it is hard to see in the photo... we obviously banged the rudder at some point in the "incident". Banged hard enough to crack the fiberglass at the top of the skeg and pop the fairing compound around all the hinges. Note the wet spot above the prop. the bottom paint has vertical cracks in it that indicate that the skeg was stressed there. I have more photos, of course...
Other damage is to the base of the mast post, where it is tabbed into the keep and hull. We have not done a rig inspection to see if there was any damage from the shock.
We are now back in the water and plan to motor carefully across the north side of Pamlico sound to where we can get some knowledgeable people to help repair the damage.
For the crew: we discussed PTSD and continue to share our emotions and feelings left from the ordeal. Of course it helps to make jokes about different moments that at the time were not so funny. For me, one of the most bizarre moments was when I called for everyone to put on their Type 1 PFDs, maybe because it was the first time I verbalized that I felt we were in serious danger. We hope to get everyone to post their rendition of the event.
Of course we also discussed what we can learn: Lots... Don't go out when we know the conditions are gnarly, regardless of what others say and others are doing... And we feel we made the correct decisions... aborting the crossing, picking the right crew, sailing the right boat, having new standing rigging, securing everything on board, not having stuff lashed on deck, spending time making sure the little right details were taken care of...