The one that did not get away from Hurricane Irene

[MrBill_FLL]

how in the heck do you drop your pants with hand cuffs behind your back? (practice? ;/ )

I'm with Kenn, hull didn't look that bad from the pics...

and

Stupid, SHOULD Hurt!

This guy gives sailors bad rep's..... Grrrrrrr!

 

[Fly_H23]

Who said he took his pants off? I bet he just crapped his pants for getting arrested twice in one week. One very bad week for this guy. Hope he can get straightened out.

 

[KD3PC]

finally a report from the woman aboard...and some insight in to how they ended up on the beach....

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/norfolk/Woman-rescued-from-boat-speaks-

still doesn't make a lot of sense, but a differing perspective on how...

YMMV

 

[Ross]

I doubt that there is a better hurricane hole on the entire bay than Portsmouth Marina. I said earier that no one in their right mind would leave the Elizabeth river and sail into the open bay with a hurricane bearing down on them.

 

[KD3PC]

But Ross,

If "an angel" is going to deliver you to the beach....then likely the best hurricane hole south of the Potomac is no reason to stay put...

They both are lucky they have made it this far in life...in the 70's I would have suggested she was a space cadet...not sure what the PC equivalent now adays is. Me thinks she would have been better served staying hidden with the cat.

 

[Maine Sail]

The latest interview with Calabrese's fiance:

Quoted from WAVY.com

"
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - WAVY.com spoke with the owner of the beached boat in Ocean View. Gina Sullivan and her fiance, Michael Calabrese, were rescued from their boat, Maybe Tomorrow, after they tried to escape the path of Hurricane Irene.

Since the rescue, Calabrese has been arrested three times and most recently attempted to take his own life.

Sullivan said Calabrese has several medical conditions, is an alcoholic and sometimes does not take his medication.

Calabrese is now at a psychiatric hospital and Sullivan added she thinks her fiance is in a downward spiral.

Sullivan and Calabrese met at a VA Hospital, both served in the military. They lived together on the boat that is now beached in Ocean View. Sullivan told WAVY.com about their battle with Hurricane Irene.

"The winds were ripping things apart," Sullivan said. "...I did not fear for my life. I did not feel like I would die. We've been through storms before." Friday before Irene hit Sullivan and Calabrese had some very important decisions to make.

"We decided it was best to high tail it out of there to find a safe ground," Sullivan said. They left Portsmouth Marina without a boat motor. WAVY.com asked Sullivan if she thought it was smart to leave the marina without a boat motor.


"No. I mean, yes, because we had the capability to sail," Sullivan answered. "Did they have motors back in the old days?"

When the couple was 1000 yards off Ocean View they dropped anchor taking time to sleep as Irene worked overtime heading up the coast.

"We put out two anchors. Those are big anchors," Sullivan added. "Big anchors, but the chains didn't hold."

The strength of the storm broke the anchor, ripping the chain through the boat.
"I wasn't scared, because I didn't know how close we were to land," Sullivan continued. "The pounding of the boat....it pounded numerous times...she was crying, but we still believed in her. She saved us."

Then Sullivan said a miracle wave came along, "one big wave took us over the jetty. It was an angel that took us over the jetty to bring us over into the sand."

The Maybe Tomorrow now sits beached on the sand, but her days may be numbered.
City of Norfolk officials have suggested cutting her up and taking her away.

To that plan Sullivan said, "that is our home. We've lived in it everyday. Chop it up? Oh, no. How would you like to have your home chopped up?"

The Coast Guard is removing all hazardous material from the boat and the city has ruled the Maybe Tomorrow a public nuisance. WAVY.com also saw an environmental remediation specialist at the site Tuesday preparing his bid to remove the boat. The deadline to remove the boat expired at midnight, leaving the city to figure out what to do next. "

 

[Rick486]

I am frankly shocked to see the ugly, arrogant side of some of the people who post here. You know who you are. I am also very surprised at the lack of sympathy and compassion for a family who obviously screwed up and as a result have probably lost their home, which happens to be a sailboat which presumably we would all love as our own if she belonged to us.

I'll make the same offer here I made elsewhere:
There's $50 of my hard earned money available as aid to these folks to save their home. Who is willing to match that?

 

[Rick Webb]

Save Your Money

Thier "home" is a wreck and will neve sail again. Giving cash to them will only enable them to buy more liquor. If he is able to pull himself out of the bottle that is the time to give him a helping hand not now. On the other hand it is your moneywhat do I care what you do with it.

 

[KD3PC]

Rick486,

sorry to be "one of those people"...but you would be better served to make the donation to a charity/church of your own choosing, IMHO. He was bailed out by local good samaritans twice before this last arrest, offered a meal and some cash, and was offered, on at least two occasions that I know of, real help to develop a plan. Check out his facebook page for more ..."357 lives saved" by him, etc, etc

The time to save their home was about 6 hours before they left the slip.

In the local news this am, "the CG has finished removing the hazardous waste" and an environmental waste engineer (PC word for breaker) was on site this morning. The owner has been committed, and in this state that is a three day stay no matter what. The deadline for him to present a plan was midnight Monday.

It is sad, but to paint us as you have, when you do not know our situations is in itself what you accuse us of doing. PM me if you want the details, but by your post, I am as "entitled" to your $50 as this skipper is..

 

[Maine Sail]

I am frankly shocked to see the ugly, arrogant side of some of the people who post here. You know who you are. I am also very surprised at the lack of sympathy and compassion for a family who obviously screwed up and as a result have probably lost their home, which happens to be a sailboat which presumably we would all love as our own if she belonged to us.

I'll make the same offer here I made elsewhere:
There's $50 of my hard earned money available as aid to these folks to save their home. Who is willing to match that?

As I mentioned earlier he sounded a little manic to me throughout this whole debacle. I have no idea what his psych diagnosis is but it is sad that he stopped taking his medication and made some really bad decisions. Luckily he's now under a doctors care and in a psych hospital. His fiance however likely had the ability to see this string of bad decisions forming / coming on and evidently did not stop it.

It is indeed very sad that this happened but people make bad decisions all the time. I've made them! Hell I bought GM on the IPO day... :cussing:

If I thought it would do any good I'd pony up some cash too but he needs to get his life in order before the money would help rather than fuel more of a fire and create more issues than it solves.

Perhaps his worst decision might be that he stopped taking his meds which then potentially lead to all the other bad decisions. If it was an antipsychotic medication like Seroquel, Abilify, Zyprexa, Risperdal etc. his choice to DC could have lead to an acute manic episode of which the behavior he exhibited is very much how a manic episode manifests itself.

This is of course armchair quarterbacking based on the limited available data but having worked in CNS field for 10 years I have seen this type of behavior many times.

The boat I suspect is beyond repair based on the USCG deeming it unfit due to cracking, warping and splitting. Sadly due to his mental state Calabrese did nothing to work with the city on this and missed his deadlines. This is just another bad decision in a string of them. Sadly he's been in jail most of the time and has now been admitted to an in-patient facility.

Based on his mental status I do feel sorry for him. On the other hand I do know many successful people with psych disorders who choose to actively manage their health and do just fine despite having a DSM-IV psych diagnosis.

If I had to take a stab in the dark I'd guess he may have at some point been diagnosed with BPD, as going of an antipsychotic medication can cause behavior like he has recently shown. Either way it is sad and sad that his girlfrind was a sort-of innocent by-stander in all of this.

In the Blizzard of 1978 our neighbors house was lifted off the foundation and dumped across US Route 1A. The state destroyed the house to clear the road and gave them no time or chance to move it. It was salvageable and movable but all they got out of it was furniture and belongings. Their insurance company simply paid for a new home because they had the proper flood insurance. There are plenty of precident cases of storms moving homes which the state or city then destroys if the owners can relocate them in a proper time fashion. I do feel, as I have said before, that the city was being very unreasonable but they then did extend the deadline.

Does anyone really know what the status of their insurance was? Did they have any or was it denied coverage for sailing in a named storm? One would think that if he had insurance the insurace company would have already dealt with this.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

Does anyone really know what the status of their insurance was? Did they have any or was it denied coverage for sailing in a named storm? One would think that if he had insurance the insurace company would have already dealt with this.

-from what was posted here and sailnet, the insurance claim was denied, when they left a 'Safe Harbor' during a Hurricane Watch.

This guy was from Florida, and should have known better.

(Sorry, no sympathy from me.) same for people in line for ice and water less than 24 hours after a storm takes out the power.

Hurricanes, Unlike Earthquakes give you time to prepare. not being prepared is just stupid...

===========================

-OT,

Does anyone else find it strange that the anchors and rollers were ripped off the bow of that hunter?

I can see the chain ripped through the bow, so it was anchored to the hull... and the roller pulpit is just gone.. (earlier pics)

would this occur on any other production boat?

 

[KD3PC]

-OT,

Does anyone else find it strange that the anchors and rollers were ripped off the bow of that hunter?

I can see the chain ripped through the bow, so it was anchored to the hull... and the roller pulpit is just gone.. (earlier pics)

would this occur on any other production boat?

Not strange at all, and I had a Hunter 42 with similar gear until very recently. The gear is there for anchoring, not riding out hurricanes...I had strengthened mine with some more metal, and used multiple anchors, bridles and riding rigging in gales. The chain ripping through the bow, most likely occurred from the grounding, while anchor still set....if you look closely at the pictures, the rip seems to happen after.

Given the nature of the grounding, and the affects of the beach, breakwater, shoal, breakers and wind...any production boat would have met similar fate or worse.

My guess is that some of the even more "upscale boats" would have done the same or possibly worse, as their weight (much heavier than this hunter), build out, and beam (likely narrower than this hunter) were much lower to the beach and would have presented more mass to the anchor...and the weather, causing more, or more aggressive damage.

 

[zeehag]

maybe sending him to rehab might be a good start in helping, after he gets his boat off the beach......alcoholism is a disease rather than a criminal act, even tho it is treated as if it were criminal. some things alcohol does to folks is make them intolerable. i hope this man is able to get his stuff together if he intends to save his life, he needs to participate in that saving, instead of making new excuses to drink.
i live paycheck to paycheck trying to make sure this kind of horror doesnt happen to my humble home.
is there a plan for removal of this boat from beach or is it crusher fodder....seems a shame to crush something that
i would contribute to the rehab fund.....

 

[Bill Roosa]

I get that this guy may have a medication problem, I get that he has a drinking problem, and I get that he found himself in a situation that was less than optimal for riding out a storm. What I don't get is how he got into the less than optimal situation. Lots of folks have the first two problems and it does not end up in a grounding, why is that? I'm thinking that I would have to be pretty drunk and for a pretty long time to not realize that this storm was coming. Could it be that he did not have any weather info from not having a TV/radio or not using it due to his lack of a motor to charge batteries???? Which gets back to the real issue, IMHO, he was systematically using the boat in a way that would have resulted in some calamity and it was just a matter of time before it happened. The storm just made the inevitable happen sooner.

In the immortal words of COL Sytoo from “The Bridge over the River Quy” “he was not a good Captain”

 

[Gunni]

What Maine Sail said, this looks like the outcome of un-medicated, or self-medicated BiPolar. The alcoholism is just a symptom. It is all just very sad. Unless you have experienced a BPD person you won't understand. The mania, the depression, the huge swings in mental state. The spectacular high-risk behavior. That most BiPolar folks are above-average intelligence only increases their suffering, they know they are deeply handicapped. Thanks to those of you who have tried to help.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

not to pile on,

But this guy is why cities all over Florida created anchoring laws to remove live-a-boards. (an ruin it for the rest of us, responsible sailors)


-I'm still kinda shocked the tip of the boat was ripped off. this was not a huge/strong hurricane. but a lee shore and 8-10' wind blown choppy waves didn't help.

What I'm wondering is if I were in a similar bad storm, should I not trust the cleats at the bow? Should I go around the mast, or back to the winches?

 

[Gunni]

In a MacGregor 26 you should be on a trailer at the house, mast down, in a similar storm

Plenty of boats rode the storm on moorings without damage. From the video it looks to be a cascading disaster; anchored off a lee shore with massive fetch, unrolled headsail causing the boat to hunt, veer, and strain the anchor, too close to shore to increase anchor scope, no engine to power off and re-set. Shallow water, breaking waves, dragging anchor and a rock breakwater awaiting. Not entirely sure he even used his cleats, relying instead on his windlass. This was all-chain rode, he would have needed elaborate snubbing and lots of chaff protection. None evident. Given the predicted storm winds and direction this was one of the worst places to ride out the storm.

 

[Maine Sail]

In a MacGregor 26 you should be on a trailer at the house, mast down, in a similar storm

Plenty of boats rode the storm on moorings without damage. From the video it looks to be a cascading disaster; anchored off a lee shore with massive fetch, unrolled headsail causing the boat to hunt, veer, and strain the anchor, too close to shore to increase anchor scope, no engine to power off and re-set. Shallow water, breaking waves, dragging anchor and a rock breakwater awaiting. Not entirely sure he even used his cleats, relying instead on his windlass. This was all-chain rode, he would have needed elaborate snubbing and lots of chaff protection. None evident. Given the predicted storm winds and direction this was one of the worst places to ride out the storm.

Not to mention that they left Portsmouth Friday evening heading for Annapolis, which is roughly 129 nautical miles. Even at 6 knots average, not going to happen as a SOG for 129 miles, that is going to take 21+ moving hours to get from Portsmouth to Annapolis under the best possible scenario.

The hurricane was moving at 14+ knots and was over 400 miles in diameter. The front edge of this storm was hitting their area by Saturday morning well before sunrise. Rather than moving through the night to make way they decided to sleep and get rest on a lee shore with miles and miles of fetch.. Definitely a decision by an individual who was not clear thinking..

Basic math tells you he could not leave at that time and make Annapolis without being caught out in the storm.

 

[Bill Roosa]

But to get back on topic, why do I have to share insurance costs with this type of individual? Even the insurance companies address this with the increased deductables during "named storms" I'm thinking there should be reduced rates and deductables for folks that can demonstrate either experience or class work that would lead one to believe they are at a lesser risk of damaging their vessels. Now that is a situation where I would gladly take a safety course cause it would let me buy more beer 8-D

 

[Steve Dion]

Bill:

The penalty is usually based on where you live. My friend in Fl. paid $1200/yr for his H'31 and we were paying $300 in the California Delta for basically the same boat (both insured with BoatUS).