[Rhodes22-list] Slim....more details

[elle]

Slim,

It could have been much, much worse. So glad no one was hurt.

Keep us informed as to the progress of this event..

BTW...with the boat on the trailer, isn't the mast another 5 or so feet  higher? 

elle

We can't change the angle of the wind....but we can adjust our sails.

1992 Rhodes 22   Recyc '06  "WaterMusic"   (Lady in Red)


--- On Fri, 7/25/08, Steven Alm <stevenalm at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Steven Alm <stevenalm at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Slim....more details
> To: "The Rhodes 22 Email List" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Date: Friday, July 25, 2008, 6:33 PM
> Folks, here's the story:  This happened at the end of
> our 5-day trip down
> the Mississippi River.  We had a very nice voyage and
> I'll post some pix
> later but I know you all want me to get to the gory details
> first.  We were
> at the Winona Yacht Club on our last night.  All was good. 
> The next morning
> we planned to pull the boat out and head for home.  We
> decided to pull the
> boat out with the mast up and pack it down out in the
> parking lot.  When I
> got a few yards from the top of the ramp I snagged an
> overhead wire and tore
> the mast off.  The wire was very high and must have caught
> the top foot or
> so of the mast.
> 
> First, it could have been much, much worse.  Overhead lines
> and masts can
> and have lead to serious injury or death.  This time nobody
> got hurt!  The
> wire didn't electrocute me nor did it break and sizzle
> and zap somebody.
> I'm thankful for that and feel I got a little lucky all
> things considered.
> 
> Now friends, this accident was my fault.  I'm the one
> who drove into the
> wire and as we all know, it's always the captain's
> fault and there are no
> excuses but...  When I booked the slip, the first thing I
> said was it's a
> sailboat and we're about 30 feet tall and I asked if
> there were any overhead
> wires or bridges or any other height restrictions and the
> owner of the
> marina said absolutely not and he, himself has a sailboat
> and there would be
> no problem.  Hearing that, the whole issue was completely
> off my mind.
> Further, he, Dennis the owner was standing right there
> watching me load the
> boat on to the trailer offering his help and watched me
> pull up the ramp.
> Don't you think he could have said something?  It's
> his frickin' marina and
> he knows the wire's there.  He stood there silent and
> watched the whole
> thing go down.  I'm not blaming him for the accident
> but I gotta say that I
> think he's some kind of dummy for letting this happen
> in his yard.
> 
> Damage report:  The mast tabernacle broke away from the
> cabin roof.  This is
> what it's supposed to do.  Just three hefty wood screws
> hold it on and if it
> were through-bolted it would have torn off a nice big chunk
> of the
> roof--which it did not.  The bow stay broke about a foot up
> from the chain
> plate.  The forward lower shroud chain plate on the
> starboard side pulled
> completely out.  The stern rail has a big bend in it where
> the mast hit it.
> The jib furling tube has a little bend toward the top and a
> small tear in
> the sail.  Wires to the radio antenna and the steaming
> light tore apart.
> But there was no significant structural damage to the boat
> itself.  The mast
> does not seem to be bent after hitting the stern rail and
> then falling to
> the ground.
> 
> With the help of some friendly and sympathetic bystanders I
> stripped
> everything down and loaded it all back up on the boat while
> my poor wife
> stood in the parking lot horrified and sobbing.  I drove
> directly to a boat
> yard back home and dropped it off there.  I'm fairly
> handy at fixing stuff
> but I'm going to let the pros handle this.  I finally
> got a call from Tim,
> the boat fixer and things don't seem to be all that bad
> and I feel a little
> less shitty.  The worst part is the stern rail.  It's
> not yet known if it
> can be straightened or a new section of it replaced or if I
> have to get a
> whole new one.  But the good news is that part can wait
> until sailing season
> is over.  The rest can be fixed in what he thought would be
> about a week.
> If I wanted, I could even just take the stern rail off and
> sail without it.
> Like Tim said, there are dozens of J22 stern rails laying
> around that were
> taken off and never put back on.  Or we could just sail
> with it bent until
> we decide what to do.  I have insurance with State Farm but
> I don't have an
> estimate from Tim yet so I haven't contacted them yet
> to make a claim.
> 
> I did not take any pictures of the damage.  I should have
> but I was too
> shaken by the whole thing that I didn't think about
> that.  I had to just
> drop off the boat and head out of town for my gig this week
> in the Lake of
> the Ozarks.  I won't be home until next Thursday and by
> then it might be
> fixed.  Except the stern rail.
> 
> Slim
> 
> 
> On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 8:53 AM, Hank
> <hnw555 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > Nope, he hasn't told us yet.
> >
> > Slim, we're all in great suspense!  Hopefully no
> one was hurt in the
> > dismasting.
> >
> > Hank
> >
> >
> > On 7/23/08, elle <watermusic38 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > > but now my boat's in for repairs for a
> few weeks.
> > > > I'll let you know when we're back in
> the saddle.
> > > >
> > > > Slim
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Did I miss the details???
> > >
> > > elle
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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