I see this forum is now back online so I can now post what I have learned. My apologies for some of you that might be seing this information again, as I have posted on some other
forums or emailed you directly.
I can also provide further corroboration to the details as I have found one of the former owners (Liz) and met with her to reminisce about the "old days".
Onagarah did in fact make port in Puerto Plata
Dominican Republic (“DR”). Exactly when I don’t know. It is safe to assume late in 1982 or 1983. I base this on the fact that Onaygorah left Kingston in 1981, had to break down her
rigging for the trip down the Erie Barge
Canal. I am guessing
refit would have taken a few months.
I did find a picture of Onaygorah on the web showing her under
sale and the picture was labeled “Onaygorah under
sale in the
Atlantic Ocean off Domician Republic” This picture was taken by a Canadian photographer name Dale Sanders out of
British Columbia.
In 1985 Onagorah was sold to a French corporation. I confirmed this with Transport
Canada. Onagaroh was to be moved from Puerto Plata to
Martinique where it was to be used as a floating restaurant.
Enter
Captain Joe. Captain Joe was the captain of the vessel that was hired to tow Onaygorah from DR to
Martinique.
I spoke via skype with Captain Joe. Captain Joe was towing Onaygorah and using much more
fuel than they had budgeted for. They unhooked from Onaygorah to
head out to refuel in St. Croix. Onaygorah was left under her own
power until Captain Joe returned. Onaygorah broke an
oil line in the
engine room. A short time later, there was a large explosion and fire.
Captain Joe hooked back up to Onaygorah to continue the tow.
Weather picked up and Onaygorah was hit with a tropical wave where she
lost her top
mast. A second top
mast let go and the two pieces crashed through the
cabin. Rough waters and taking on
water through the holes in the
cabin the Captain Joe and his crew fought all day to keep Onaygorah afloat. In the overnight/early morning hours Onaygorah had taken on enough
water that she started to sink. At this point Joe remembers Onaygorah sinking quickly. They raced to unhook her so that she would not drag Joe’s ship down with her. Onagorah is presently resting on the floor of the
Atlantic Ocean somewhere off the island of Montserrat. Despite information I have read about Onaygorah sinking and taking all hands with her, there was no loss of life in connection with Onaygorah’s sinking.
Rereading many of the posts on various
forums about Onaygorah many of the stories contained some truths interwined with misinformation. For instance, I had heard Onaygorah made port in Port au Prince,
Haiti. Puerto Plata DR is where she spent the bulk of her time...but in my reunion with Liz, they were in
Haiti for a short time. Sadly, the rumours of her sinking are no longer rumours. She did go down about September 1985.
There was a story about Onaygorah being on the cover of a travel magazine in 1988. This is also true. Liz saw the magazine, which she remembers as being the Air Canada in flight magazine "Enroute". It was weird seeing the ship in the magazine knowing it had sank. I am trying to find a copy of this issue at
Archives Canada. The last email I received from them, they may have it but I still have a little searching to do to find it.
Was Onaygorah used as a floating bar? Yup. Lots of booze was consumed, tabs were run. Another truthful story...I read somewhere that this happened in
Mexico...Not true.
Lastly, for anyone interested, you can also read a little story about Onaygorah and her time in DR. There is a chapter titled "Paco and the Colonel" in a book called Margarita Cat by Bruce Van Sant.