Primadonna Saga Update

[Captain Bill]

A thread regarding the French boat Primadonna aground in the Bahamas and a cruiser that decided to avail; themselves of some equipment found on the grounded vessel was recently closed. I'm not trying to start the moral debate that got that one closed just bringing some news regarding the incident. Towndock.net reports that there is new news regarding the incident. Apparently the French counsel has inserted himself and has gotten the Bahamian authorities involved. Here's the link to the story.

www.towndock.net

[SaltyMonkey]

oh wow…the saga continues

Another article from the paper gives a good description of the vessel shape and how they came to be:

http://towndock.net/shippingnews/primadonna

[brutb]

Will it never end???? Karma, kleptomania, Kruising, and possible Konvict.

[ontherocks83]

But the fisherman told him he could take all those things off of it......so he's good right?

Just proves 2 things to me.

1) If its not yours don't touch it.

2) If you ignore #1 THEN DON'T POST YOUR STUPID ACTIONS ON THE INTERNET

[a64pilot]

Either way I feel for Paschal, how does it go, except for the grace of God, go I?
All it would take it one good trip and many of us would fall.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Either way I feel for Paschal, how does it go, except for the grace of God, go I?
All it would take it one good trip and many of us would fall.

I don't know. Pascal took a check for the rolling furler, and he asked Pat Stockwell to co-endorse it. I don't take checks, especially not cashier's checks, but this sounds like it might have been a personal check.

I buy and sell a lot of stuff, and it's always cash or paypal. Even though Pascal didn't write the bad check, someone else wrote it to him, I just don't see myself making those same mistakes. Pat knew they were derelict, they'd been freeloading there for a yr. As well intentioned as he was, everyone else's alarm bells must have been ringing off the hook.


As for the Fata Morgana, looks like the French consulate is making sure they are now in the cross hairs. This partially restores my faith in bureaucrats. OK, maybe only 1%, but it's better than nothing. Teh interwebz workz in mysterious ways! This is almost as good as those idiots who posted youtube videos of themselves stripping/trashing houses under construction, or the ones posting videos of random assaults on people and the cops using it in court against them!

[Cheechako]

"Please contact us immediately by e-mail at honsulfrance@afbahamas.org. The persons in question did not abandon the boat…it is merely “docked” there and you may encounter problems for removing their personal affairs without permission. They are still in the Bahamas. The authorities have been informed of this so you should contact us immediately regarding the return of said items. "

Haha, That's funny. Merely docked there.
Haha
I think in todays maritime law they could charge the owners for "saving" those items. If they could tow the boat off they might be able to charge tens of thousands for rescuing it in distress.

[SaltyMonkey]

"Pascal with the blade of his wind vane">Aries wind vane – minus a chunk out of its tip. The Aries steering gear uses the wind to keep Primadonna on course under sail. The blade – which is deployed in the water when the vane is in use – was attacked by large shark."

[rognvald]

Thanks for the update, Captain Bill. This is an interesting story on many levels: What is a cruiser? When does a vessel become salvage? Is there a cruiser's ethic? Does money make the cruiser? How do you define a derelict vessel? These are all questions that must be addressed not only by the legal authorities, but also by those on Cruiser's Forum. However, there is one sociological discussion that also needs to be aired and this concerns the desire of those like the crew of Fata Morgana to record and detail every aspect of their lives in a blog from the intimate to the banal and for us to ask to what purpose it really serves the reader as well as the writer/photographer? There is an obvious time factor where one must devote considerable energy to the maintenance of a blog. Is there a benefit to the reader or writer? Has this activity transcended to another level? What do you think?

[JPA Cate]

Cruisers who steal are rare. To have 2 sets close together is really highly unusual.

I don't think that looks like a shark bite on the windvane rudder blade. It's not being a low bucks deal that is the problem: the problem is dishonesty--or perhaps, mental illness.

The ethics of the cruising community seem to me like a small town's: there is a sense of interdependency, and the benefits of helping each other perhaps more easily experienced. Sort of like the old folk song that went, "Do unto others, as you'd have them do unto you; All men are brothers, this above all else is true."

Seems like Pascal and Fata Morgana didn't learn that one as children. [Sarcasm alert.]

I'm wondering if the boat went on the reef after they were put in detention for not clearing in? Had they left the US without clearing out? I would think the boat is not "abandoned" if the people are in jail. Detention doesn't affect ownership, just presence. So the boat isn't abandoned: therefore "salvage" cannot be begun, except at the request of the owner, a business transaction that he may not be in a place to accomplish. What a mess!

[Lake-Effect]

The persons in question did not abandon the boat…it is merely “docked” there

In other news, the 'Titanic' is merely in cold storage, waiting for museum space to be prepared.

Note that this is a statement from a French official in some capacity or other, and not Bahamian officialdom.

If I was in the crocs of the crew of Fata Morgana, I think I would offer to FedEx the stuff back in exchange for a letter of absolution from France and the Bahamas.

If that happens, Pascal will be able to sell some stuff he probably had no hope of salvaging, otherwise.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

"Please contact us immediately by e-mail at honsulfrance@afbahamas.org. The persons in question did not abandon the boat…it is merely “docked” there and you may encounter problems for removing their personal affairs without permission. They are still in the Bahamas. The authorities have been informed of this so you should contact us immediately regarding the return of said items. "

Haha, That's funny. Merely docked there.
Haha
I think in todays maritime law they could charge the owners for "saving" those items. If they could tow the boat off they might be able to charge tens of thousands for rescuing it in distress.

Doesn't someone have to request assistance or make a distress call for that to come into play?

[onestepcsy37]

wonder what could happen to the crew of nomadik if they check into a french island. assuming of course that this information is passed on to the french authorities in the caribbean...

[europaflyer]

What a mess. I'm impressed with the amount of effort the people at TownDock have put in to following this saga, they make a mockery of the average 'journo'.

It's good that CF getting on to this story has brought this whole thing in to the public eye. I hope that maybe we will help to bring some sort of justice out of this, hopefully including salvaging the boat... properly. I wonder how tenacious the French Consulate will be!

The Nomadiks still aren't exactly contrite. From their Facebook page:
"Also, Primadonna is still there, near Booby Cay, and will be there for a long time probably, and there is lots of useful things still left aboard for the grabs. I was thinking that the boat herself could be salvaged and someone could make a few bucks... It looked sailable... maybe not after we took some winches and ropes...but still...the hull is not bad."
How's that for hypocrisy eh? Now apparently it wasn't a wreck... until they tried to make it one. It's been funny hearing them backtrack on everything they wrote. According to their latest statement, all they got was some worthless junk:
"Our booty is not such a big deal: an old windsurf board without the sail, old snorkeling gear covered in mud, a weird dress, a few used winches, of which most turned out to be broken, old ropes… "
Not what they said before, is it! And they're trying to plead ignorance too:
"We are new in the world of sailing, less than one year experience, and what we knew about wrecking and salvaging was from friends and fellow sailors, as well as research in internet on the subject."

The results of http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ll-124393.html were interesting. Essentially, split between leaving the boat alone (32%), and trying to contact the owners (40%). Only a small number (16%) would have stripped it, which is heartening I think.

As the Nomadiks have now taken the blog post down, I attach a copy of it here, just so people can see how their tone is changing. I'm glad the efforts of us and TownDock have shown the Nomadiks for what they are... and proven that two wrongs don't make a right. Even Pat Stockwell, who was hit worst by the dishonesty of the Primadonna crew, feels that the Nomadiks were in the wrong. He sounds like a really decent guy, which I suppose is why they targeted him.

[gonesail]

1) If its not yours don't touch it.

2) If you ignore #1 THEN DON'T POST YOUR STUPID ACTIONS ON THE INTERNET