Couple's Dream Trip Sinks Their Sailboat, Stranger Replaces it for $1

Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Jan 11, 2014
11,321
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Nice profit margin. Buy a cheap boat, sink it and collect $16K in donations. Where do I sign up?
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
I'm not really so hard on these folks. What did they really do wrong? They entered an unfamiliar channel after dark and got confused by the lights. No one else on this forum has gotten confused by navigation markers before?

They kissed the bottom and their keel fell off. If they had been sailing for years and their keel fell off... we would not be so critical.

EVERYONE who has sailed more than a few years has kissed the bottom. But our keels didn't fall off and we didn't become the butt of everyone else's schadenfreude. Instead, we managed to get our boats free, write up a little story on a forum like this and everyone congratulated us for being so clever. Could have been different.

If I felt compelled to be critical, I could point to the condition of their keel bolts and say they should have inspected them before going out. When was the last time you inspected your keel bolt? And they should have had insurance. Okay that one is on them. But the rest of the vitriol makes me sad to hear. I thought sailors were better people than most.
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,321
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
I thought sailors were better people than most.
A friend once posed the question: "Does sailing make people perfect or do only perfect people sail?"

More seriously, we have all made poor decisions and gotten our selves into some kind of sailing trouble or another. And we all paid the price, sometimes dearly. The problem I have with this situation is the lack of preparation, experience, and resources this couple had. And then they get national media attention, set up a Go Fund Me page, raise $16+K, and have a boat given to them. Not to mention that they signed over the old boat to the salvage company who won't recoup the costs of salvage.

I'm more than willing to help people out who fall on tough times, that's what people in civilized societies do. So help them find a job, get a place to live, and teach them how to sail.

This is the second incident in recent months of unprepared people taking off on journeys that are over their heads. It is interesting how much difference there has been in the response to this couple and the crew of the Sea Nymph. One Gofundme page has raised $16+k and the other $15.
 
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Likes: BigEasy
Sep 25, 2008
7,075
Alden 50 Sarasota, Florida
There is a difference between doing something dumb and doing something irresponsible. Most of us and certainly I have done something dumb but that's not what we have here. I don't think that assessment is "hard" on them as much as it is an objective judgment. And profiting from being irresponsible by the good natured generosity of people should not be condoned.
 
May 24, 2004
7,129
CC 30 South Florida
I don't think they did it on purpose, they had no guarantee that anyone would give them a boat and that there would be any donations. Mighty risky to be operating at night in that pass but then embarking on a life adventure in a small older boat is quite risky. It just shows the type of people they are. Hope they make it.
 
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Likes: Bob J.
Oct 10, 2011
619
Tartan 34C Toms River, New Jersey
I'm not really so hard on these folks. What did they really do wrong? They entered an unfamiliar channel after dark and got confused by the lights. No one else on this forum has gotten confused by navigation markers before?

They kissed the bottom and their keel fell off. If they had been sailing for years and their keel fell off... we would not be so critical.

EVERYONE who has sailed more than a few years has kissed the bottom. But our keels didn't fall off and we didn't become the butt of everyone else's schadenfreude. Instead, we managed to get our boats free, write up a little story on a forum like this and everyone congratulated us for being so clever. Could have been different.

If I felt compelled to be critical, I could point to the condition of their keel bolts and say they should have inspected them before going out. When was the last time you inspected your keel bolt? And they should have had insurance. Okay that one is on them. But the rest of the vitriol makes me sad to hear. I thought sailors were better people than most.
I don't know who is more forgiving, and optimistic you or Will (Dragonfly). I wish I could be more like that buy alas I am from JERSEY.
 
Sep 21, 2014
11
Oday 22 Hammond
It is at times I too have done foolish or irresponsible things that make for the best stories!
 
Jul 20, 2005
2,422
Whitby 55 Kemah, Tx
Oh...I have many stories of doing ignorant things when I started. I know I gave CG a good laugh 13 years ago. The difference is though I paid for my mistake myself, I didn't ask anybody else to pay for it.
 

JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,037
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
I read they did pay a salvage yard and turned over the title so they did follow up with what they said.
 
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Likes: justsomeguy