{"id":23909,"date":"2020-11-27T14:26:01","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T19:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=23909"},"modified":"2020-11-28T14:50:46","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T19:50:46","slug":"sailboat-sinks-at-gorge-harbour-public-dock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/sailboat-sinks-at-gorge-harbour-public-dock\/","title":{"rendered":"Sailboat sinks at Gorge Harbour public dock"},"content":{"rendered":"

By De Clarke<\/p>\n

On or around November 22nd, the 30-ish foot wooden sloop\u00a0Hoy Hoy\u00a0<\/em>sank while tied to the\u00a0Gorge Harbour Public Dock<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"Underwater<\/a>

Underwater picture of Hoy Hoy with her fenders floating upwards - De Clarke photo<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Hoy Hoy<\/em>\u2018s Story<\/h3>\n

Hoy Hoy\u00a0<\/em>has made more than one ocean crossing, but most recently belonged to an American who seems to be known locally only as \u201cEarle.\u201d He visited\u00a0Cortes<\/a>\u00a0in 2019 for an extended period,\u00a0living aboard\u00a0<\/a>with his young son on the\u00a0Gorge Harbour Marina<\/a>\u00a0dock. He left the country in the Fall, prepaying four months\u2019 moorage and intending to return in February or March of 2020.<\/p>\n

Over the winter of 2019\/20,\u00a0Hoy Hoy<\/em>\u00a0took on water slowly but steadily and had to be pumped out regularly by neighbour Rodney Pohl. Then along came a pandemic, and Earle was unable to travel to Canada. Unfortunately, he also didn\u2019t pay any more moorage (after February).<\/p>\n

Each year when tourist season begins,\u00a0Bill Dougan<\/a>\u00a0(manager of GHM) asks liveaboards and locals to remove their boats from his docks, to make room for summer visitors who pay higher seasonal rates for shorter stays. \u201cIn May,\u201d Bill recalls, \u201csome strangers came and took\u00a0Hoy Hoy<\/em>\u00a0away.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Oil<\/a>

Harbour Authority Cortes Island responds by putting an oil boom above the sunken hull - De Clarke photo<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

A Homeless Boat<\/h3>\n

The boat apparently went as far as Owen Bay,\u00a0on Sonora Island<\/a>, where it stayed for some time on the public dock. Friends or local contacts of the owner pumped it out regularly, but there came a point when they could no longer be responsible for it. \u201cSo one day, \u201d Bill recalls, \u201cI saw a boat being towed into Gorge and I said\u00a0Oh no, it\u2019s back.<\/em>\u00a0And it was heading for our dock, so I went down there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The people bringing the boat in said that they had been assured the moorage issue was settled and the boat could come back to GHM. Bill told them otherwise: \u201cIf that boat\u2019s on my dock when I get back, it belongs to me. The guy owes me a grand.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Red<\/a>

On the foredeck is a nice red Sabot dinghy - De Clarke photo<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The boat was not there when Bill got back. It had been moved to the Whaletown public dock. To oblige Earle, Bill visited the boat to check on it: \u201cI had actually been pumping the boat out\u00a0every five days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a few conversations with him about the boat,\u201d says Bill, \u201cbut whenever the question of paying for the moorage came up, I wouldn\u2019t hear back from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Then It Sank<\/h3>\n

\u201cThe day before it sank,\u201d Bill recalls, \u201canother sailboat tied up to it. He checked the boat out for seaworthiness and felt confident rafting up to it. He left for a few hours, and when he returned saw\u00a0Hoy Hoy<\/em>\u2018s mast sticking up out of the water. He told me he was shocked \u2014 because\u00a0there was nothing wrong with the boat several hours earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sunken boat was blocking access to a section of the public dock, and was very slowly leaking oil\/diesel. There was only a \u201cdrip\u201d (upward to the surface) every 30 seconds or longer, but over time it would accumulate. The question now was what to do about it.<\/p>\n

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\"Oil<\/a>

Oil drips upward from sunken boat - De Clarke photo<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Island Sea Farms helps out<\/h3>\n

Jenny Hartwick is the harbourmaster for\u00a0HACI<\/a>\u00a0(Harbour Association of Cortes Island). A sunken boat at one of their docks can be very bad news; but Jenny says, \u201cBill was a real community hero here, he took responsibility for a vessel that wasn\u2019t even his, and made arrangements\u00a0[with ISF]<\/em>\u00a0to have it moved the day after it sank. The weather delayed that a day or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Island Sea Farms<\/a>\u00a0has a very capable aluminium barge with a Hiab hydraulic crane. They also make regular use of the public dock and ramp facilities. Before long, ISF was contacting DFO to get their blessing on lifting\u00a0Hoy Hoy<\/em>. (This phone call was somewhat important; without DFO\u2019s blessing, anyone trying to lift a sunken vessel is personally responsible for any oil spills or other environmental contamination that may ensue.)<\/p>\n

On a gray but dry late morning on November 25th, the salvage operation began. To \u201crescue\u201d a sunken boat, you lift it until the deck and hatches are just clear of the water, then use a gasoline-powered pump to suck the water out until the boat floats on its own. This is what ISF did over the course of several hours. Despite one exciting moment when a lifting line snapped, patience was rewarded and the boat floated again.<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Spectators\"<\/a>

A popular event for spectators! - De Clarke photo<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Gas<\/a>

The gas pump in action - De Clarke photo<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Stern<\/a>

The stern\u2019s rising but the bow is still heavy\u2026 - De Clarke photo<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"And<\/a>

And up she rises! - De Clarke photo<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Possible Cause?<\/h3>\n

In talking with the ISF crew who raised the boat, Bill learned some new information which he found troubling. \u201cWhen the boat was retrieved, it was discovered\u00a0once it was pumped out that the head valve was open and water was rushing in. It is believed at this point that the valve was opened deliberately\u00a0\u2014 since it was not faulty or damaged, but simply open.\u201d Most mariners are careful to close the head valves when a boat is left unattended for any appreciable time, so it\u2019s unusual to find it open on a stored boat.<\/p>\n

Bill says, \u201cMy best guess is someone opened the valve \u2014 the boat had no holding tank so the waste would have gone straight into the ocean. Either someone opened it up on purpose to scuttle it, or they used the head and \u2014 not knowing any better \u2014 left the valve open which sunk it\u00a0.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plans to demolish the vessel<\/h3>\n

Though it\u2019s possible to repair and reclaim a sunken boat, the cleanup effort is enormous and the engine and electronics can be a write-off. The plan (as explained to me at the time by people on the dock) was to tow\u00a0Hoy Hoy<\/em>\u00a0over to the log dump, haul her up on shore, and demolish the vessel. This apparently encouraged some Gorge Harbour locals to start stripping the boat for salvageable fittings and gear.<\/p>\n

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\"Local<\/a>

Local salvager doesn't waste any time - De Clarke<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Not all agree that a write-off was inevitable, though. The boat has intrinsic value and pedigree.<\/p>\n

Hoy Hoy<\/em>\u00a0was built by the\u00a0Woodnutt<\/a>\u00a0Co. of St Helen\u2019s, Isle of Wight in the UK. The designer was\u00a0Frederick R Parker<\/a>, a successful marine architect whose best-known design was the famous\u00a0Maybird<\/a>. Given the build quality and materials used, it\u2019s most likely she was built after WWII but before the era of fibreglass, and was a \u201cgold plater\u201d in her day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a real shame,\u201d says retired wooden shipwright and Cortes Island resident Jon Knowles. \u201cThat boat was a superb build. I had a peek inside after she was refloated and the planking looks like Honduras mahogany, copper-riveted throughout. It was built by a professional, high-quality builder, maybe as long ago as the 40\u2019s or 50\u2019s. There are custom bronze castings, the standing rigging is beautifully parcelled and served. I mean, that was a gorgeous, yacht-quality boat, real craftsmanship. And it had a new mast, a new sail, and a Yanmar engine younger than the one in my boat. Someone put quite a bit of money into a refit of that hull because it\u2019s a really high-class build and worth preserving\u2026 and now it\u2019s been wrecked.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new mainsail, bagged headsails, the bronze portlights, primary self-tailing winches and anything else of value aboard were stripped by locals as soon as the boat was raised. When I visited her late in the evening the following day (still at the HACI dock) even the fenders had been taken.<\/p>\n

Some waterfront denizens say this is simply \u201cright of salvage\u201d when a vessel is sunk; others say it was not appropriate because the boat still belongs to its legal owner and \u2014 at most \u2014 ISF and Bill Dougan can and should have a lien on it for the unpaid moorage bill and the costs of salvage. HACI has been unsuccessful so far in contacting Earle in the US.<\/p>\n

Local boat owners say that theft and vandalism have been on the increase at the Gorge Harbour public dock in recent years.<\/p>\n

Check Your Bilge Pump!<\/h2>\n

ISF kindly undertook this operation\u00a0gratis<\/em>, paying a crew of half a dozen or so (including two commercial divers) for several hours\u2019 work. These images of a salvage operation may help non-maritime readers to understand exactly how costly it is to deal with a derelict or abandoned vessel that has sunk in a working harbour or navigable channel.<\/p>\n

These kinds of emergencies are\u00a0likely to become more common<\/a>\u00a0as an ageing fleet of pleasure and work boats \u201cgoes down the food chain\u201d to owners less and less able or willing to maintain and attend them. If you own a boat kept in the water on Cortes Island, please make sure your bilge pump works! And if your boat does sink and needs rescue, you should probably be present to protect it from enthusiastic \u201csalvagers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Links of interest<\/h2>\n