Sailboat sinks at mooring Hamburg Cove, Lyme, Ct

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
The owner would hardly be the first owner to not know how to take care of his boat. There is a big industry built around fixing up abused and poorly maintained boats. Plenty of owners leave their boats without closing all underwater valves. Somewhere on that boat was an open BWL thru-hull full of fresh water, once that connection started leaking it was up to the bilge pump. When the bilge pump loop froze it clogged and quit bailing itself out. The rest was destiny. If the story about being assisted and not following up with a fix he may find himself with cancelled insurance and a record that puts him out of the boating scene.

  • Close ALL through hulls.
  • Remove bilge pump hose back-flow valves.
  • Don’t winter a boat on a mooring.
I saw something similar on a Sabre, except the ice in the bilge crushed the fuel line and added diesel to the mix of water that had to be removed to save the boat. You know how much diesel contaminated bilge water will cost you to dispose of?
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
I don't want to bash this guy. We don't know what was going on in his life. Maybe he is ill, or has someone close in the hospital and had to be away, or recently lost a job and is scrambling to secure his career or has a child in crisis. There are times when we simply lack the bandwidth to keep on top of everything. Maybe the boat fell to the bottom of his priority list.

But it sure was a beautiful boat. I'd refloat that for free if he was willing to give it to me. About $25,000 in restorations and I'd have a hell of a good boat.
 
Jan 2, 2017
765
O'Day & Islander 322 & 37 Scottsdale, AZ & Owls Head, ME
It looks like he was more interested in the insurance money that the boat. What a crime.
 
Oct 9, 2008
1,739
Bristol 29.9 Dana Point
That owner was on scene prior to her sinking brings substantially more fishiness to the story.
Nobody investigated the water source? They just left her to sink?
The bilge pump sticking does not alone sink a 52 foot yacht.
The influx source would have to be substantial, and easily located simply by listening for rushing water just after the boat was pumped.
That type of yacht build would likely not have an interior fiberglass liner, more likely a wood structural cabinetry interior, where bilge access would be good.

I did communicate with the Hamburg Boat Yard, which stated that the sinking is true.

She's apparently a Little Harbor 52.
Doc expired Nov 2018. Attached.

image.png
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
I'd refloat that for free if he was willing to give it to me.
With the right salvage application before anyone else applies, the owner doesn't have to give it to you. It's yours. Of course, you have to be able to afford the lift fee or dock fee and the time to repair and maintain her. A 53 foot boat isn't going to be cheap to own, no matter what the acquisition coast. I too would salvage that boat in a second, but I'd be in debt within 24 hours after taking ownership. Unless I could resell her shortly after, I can't afford to call her mine. :wahwah: The missing cockpit cushions would be enough to break me.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
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Likes: RoyS
Jul 1, 1998
3,062
Hunter Legend 35 Poulsbo/Semiahmoo WA
Following "Silver Tongue" Will here (see his post #50!), what I'm going to write about has nothing to do with this event except that it was unusual. Or, hopefully unusual.

A number of years ago, in Friday Harbor (San Juans), there was a Tayana 52 that was anchored out. It became adrift on it's anchor and was "rescued", or prevented from being damaged, by someone. Then someone demanded, or presented a bill to, the owner, to be reimbursed for saving it from being damaged.

Hmmm ... did a diver help loosen the anchor? Guess we'll never know. But that possibility was talked about for some time. Just thought readers of this thread might find it interesting.

Like I said, nothing to do with this situation but people with expensive boats have to be on the lookout for possible scammers.
 

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
It was once a very nice boat but zooming in on the images, it looks to me like the boat has not been maintained and could have been on the water - year round - for a few years(winters).

You can see the last remnants of varnish on the aft toe rail(zoom in), showing the toe rails were once protected. Now those fine toe rails are stripped by mother nature and completely gray (looks like mold setting in). That takes several years.

And the teak decks, likely original, are past 30 years old. Nice boat, but not worth anything like the listed boat(which I doubt would sell for 500k in the used boat market).

The two boats in the background had spent the last several winters on these moorings when this photo was taken(2015). They look pretty good in the lens! When you get up close with the naked eye and check them out, I doubt you could get more than 10K for the pair.

4 - 5 seasons year round on a mooring, largely unmaintained, decline in value - rapidly.

I doubt either was (is-one is still out there!) insured. I don't know what the extra insurance coverage would cost to leave a boat in the water but surely it would be more than hauling the boat.

Ice breaking Rockport Harbor.jpg
 
Last edited:
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
With the right salvage application before anyone else applies, the owner doesn't have to give it to you. It's yours.
Well the wording of the Law of Salvage is vague. It goes something like this...

The law of salvage is a principle of maritime law whereby any person who helps recover another person's ship or cargo in peril at sea is entitled to a reward commensurate with the value of the property salved. (Wikipedia)

It does not say that you get to keep the salvage. The original owner still has rights. The brief poking around I did seems to indicate that the typical "reward" is between 13% to 25% of the value of the salvage commensurate with the amount of personal risk I assumed. Also, the owner has to accept your help in the salvage. So I cannot simply rush out to the scene with a dozen air mattresses, float the boat and call it mine.
 
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Likes: Will Gilmore
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
Very interesting. Not exactly how I'd come to understand it, but it is consistent with a story a merchant marine friend told me about an engineer who put out a fire in the engine room. He was awarded a "reward" by the company based on some percentage of the ship's value.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Oct 9, 2008
1,739
Bristol 29.9 Dana Point
She apparently sold in 2010 for $535k, back when her name was Quintessence.
It says 53 feet but USCG says 52.

image.png
 
Oct 3, 2006
1,003
Hunter 23 Philadelphia
There's a new video posted by the video author. Sounds like there was a lot of activity prior to the sinking, including a fire department visit; owner being on site and advised to install additional pumps, owner not doing it, and boat finally sinking

 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
That is very interesting. Hard to imagine but there must be a larger story here.
 
Jan 29, 2019
15
Zodiac 10 Essex
I’ve attached a few photos above for everyone to see. Clearly you can see the fire department was involved, you can see the pump hoses running out to the boat and you can see men working on the boat.
 
Feb 2, 2010
373
Island Packet 37 Hull #2 Harpswell Me
The owners ay not have insurance coverage. I sail and live in Maine and my "in water" insurance only runs from 1st May through to 31st October. I am covered on the hard for the other 6 months. Very sad if the owner was called away by ill health.
 

NYSail

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Jan 6, 2006
3,048
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
The owners ay not have insurance coverage. I sail and live in Maine and my "in water" insurance only runs from 1st May through to 31st October. I am covered on the hard for the other 6 months. Very sad if the owner was called away by ill health.
Owner was on-site and reportedly did not put additional pumps into boat as the fire department requested.... so I read.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
I'll just go ahead and say I think the authorities should have prevented the sinking of this boat. Never mind its value. That's not the point. Never mind it isn't the authorities responsibility. That's not the point. Never mind that the legal work can't be done that fast. That's not the point. Never mind the owner was negligent . Never mind the insurance. The point is now the town has a sunken boat in its waters which may be an environmental hazard and is certainly going to need to be salvaged at considerable expense. All for the want of a pump schedule that could keep it afloat. You figure out all of the other stuff later. Keep the boat floating first.
 
Oct 29, 2016
1,915
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
@shemandr that is an interesting point, I guess the could have kept pumping and dragged the boat into the shallows before it sank completely. But then the city or county would be opening themselves to legal ramifications.