Sailboat slams into Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

[thomm225]

Sailboat slams into Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

The boat is/was a Hunter around 40' or so. (despite what the article says) One of the yard guys (that can fix and/or repair almost anything on a boat) said they were cutting it up and salvaging the useable parts.

The stern must have rubbed something for a while because there's a hole on one side. They cut another hole maybe 8' forward of the stern and the fiberglass is actually thicker there.

So there is a head, engine, expensive winches, etc for sale.

The word is he possibly nodded off for a bit coming down from Annapolis and headed out for the Caribbean.

Boat value the fellow said was around $300,000. Insurance paid $140,000.

[goat]

I like the comment; '"The boat's sail broke and the vessel hit the southbound span exiting the Chesapeake Tunnel."

I hate when my sail breaks.


goat

[carstenb]

"untangle the sail"?

mainsail furling snafu?

Lots and lots of unanswered questions here - be interesting if anyone can come up with more details.

If he was able to sail the boat under its own power back to the marina - how can it be totalled?

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by carstenb

"untangle the sail"?

mainsail furling snafu?

Lots and lots of unanswered questions here - be interesting if anyone can come up with more details.

If he was able to sail the boat under its own power back to the marina - how can it be totalled?

They have already pulled most of the wooden items from the interior and mentioned I could get what I wanted from the pile they had going. I asked about a winch but since it costs more than my entire boat, I passed on it.

I never looked at the boat closely because it was on the other side of the yard from where I am, but I did see that a couple of the stanchions had been bent. The stern port side was all taped up at that time. The keel looked to be in good shape though. It had a deep keel easily 6' plus.

They have now moved it over across from me. They didn't mention that the boat also hit one of the "islands" of the bridge (the 3rd island) which are made of these gigantic possibly granite boulders. So he almost made the channel heading out.

Point is he may have bounced off those sharp rocks for a while before he hit the span. The currents there can be ridiculously strong also depending on what the tide is doing.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ches...ed=0CAYQ_AUoAQ

[carstenb]

In any case - a sad demise for a boat.

[Suijin]

Been through there a lot. While it's not a place to fart around, and its tempting to shade close to the islands when big ships are passing through the relatively narrow gap of the tunnel, I can't imagine going on the rocks unless you hit a perfect storm of things going wrong. But when you're single handing you have to sort of expect those sorts of situations and be prepared for them.

Can only assume he was under jib only and the sheet broke just as he was approaching the gap and rocks, engine wouldn't start and did not have time to get the main up, or something like that. Shame.

Good reason to have a danforth on a pushpit bracket ready for rapid deployment.

[thinwater]

I wonder if "the sail broke" (unlikely to happen just then) or whether the combination of strange currents and fluky winds pushed him aside.

Unless the wind is very steady, I generally have an engine running, just incase the wind swirls. Sailing is cool, but around many bridges a back-up is handy. As he learned, "the engine wouldn't start" is a part of many of these stories; start it early.

[LeaseOnLife]

The boatyard has a f-book entry for this:
https://www.facebook.com/cobbsmarina...96213790527792

[GordMay]

Evidently, Ross Peg was on his way south on his Hunter 45 named “Black Hawke V”. He left Owen Sound, Ontario and came down the Hudson. Since his wife is still working, she joined him for a vacation in Philadelphia, and planned to come down again in the Bahamas.

[captlloyd]

Saw the ''Facebook'' pictures, I would be curious to see more, a mess but sure doesn't look totaled to me.

[thomm225]

I looked at it again this morning, and it may be that the whole thing is twisted sort of like a car with the frame bent.

You can see ripples or something along the sides in the hull. It's not a consistently smooth form along the sides of the hull.

Plus like I said they have cut a huge chunk out of the starboard side aft.

If it got tangled up on one of the Island's Boulders, bad things would have occurred. It would be like hitting your average jetty.

The last boat that did that was destroyed also, and it was another newer model with a very thin hull.