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| Atalanta in Tow on the Hip of Argosea |
As we reflect on our most recent challenge
at sea, Rachel is in Burlington defending her Ph.D. thesis, Caitlin and Jason
are both starting new jobs, and Tara & Chad are beginning construction of a
new home. We recognize the challenges they face are far greater than those we
are contending with. We are so proud of
each of them.
On Thursday night S/V Argosea and Atalanta
were anchored in 9’ feet of water off of the remote Belizean fishing village of
Sarteneja. With winds picking up we decided
to take refuge there and found a small, picturesque fishing village tucked into
a cove. In the evening a squall
developed on the horizon and quickly advanced from the north. Although the anchorage has good holding and
is protected from the south, it is wide open to the north and northwest. After
dinner aboard Atalanta, Tony and Anne hurried back to Argosea ahead of the
storm. The squall arrived promptly and brought
at least
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| Mexican Coast Guard |
40 knots of wind and large swells.
Given that water everywhere in Chetumal Bay is “skinny” we found
ourselves in a precarious position. The
anchor dragged for 20-30 yards before resetting but put us in only 7’ of water. With the swells building, the wind howling,
and rain beating, our rudder and keel banged repeatedly on the bottom. Needless to say, 35,000 pounds of boat striking
bottom was a jarring experience. Damage
to the rudder stock made moving the rudder impossible. Tony risked life and limb in his dinghy to
help us attempt to advance the boat by setting a second anchor and pulling
forward. After an hour the squall
subsided and the next morning, Argosea towed us into 10’ of water where we sat for
days trying to figure out how to deal with the situation.
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| Belize Coast Guard |
The dilemma is simple to describe but complicated
to solve. We were on a boat that could
not be steered in a very remote part of a developing country where no services were
available to help. Communication by cell
phone, internet or satellite phone was extremely limited and we realized how
isolated we really were. In addition, we
were physically in Belize since it was on the route to Chetumal where we planned
to officially checkout of Mexico. The
next days only served to illuminate just how difficult our problem was and how
challenging it would be to solve. Our
saving grace was that we were sailing with our friends Tony and Anne on
Argosea, a 47-foot Moody.
Day two of the ordeal was spent at anchor
in Sarteneja where we found a wifi cafe so we could contact our insurance
broker to get the wheels rolling. We were assigned a surveyor, Bill Casey, from
Fort Lauderdale who quickly became the primary resource person for our rescue
plan. His efforts on our behalf have
been exceptional and we are most grateful for his support, reassurance, and
advice.
It soon became apparent that there was no
way to move the rudder into a neutral position or to obtain repairs. The only travel lift in all of Belize is
located at Cucumber Beach Marina in Belize City, 90 miles away. Bill contacted
dive boat companies, sport fisherman, commercial fisherman, and the Coast Guard
to no avail. On Saturday, with no other option, a towline was connected to
Argosea and off we went toward Nesting Bird Cay. Towing on the hip turned out
to be too risky for the boats and we decided that unless there was dead calm, it
would no longer be an option.
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| Being Towed into Belize City |
Sunday we decided to stay put at anchor and
develop a new plan. A Belize Coast Guard
boat was dispatched to assist us. The
Belize CG arrived in a small dory powered by single small outboard. They had more firepower in their automatic
weapons then they did horsepower on their boat. They informed us that they
could not be of assistance since we were .5 miles into Mexican waters. We pulled anchor and Argosea towed us a mile
into Belize waters but the CG then informed us that they could not help anyway.
Frustrated, Argosea resumed towing us.
Although Atalanta pulled hard to port, Argosea was able to maintain a heading and
stay in the 10’ deep channel. We motored the entire afternoon at the blazing
fast speed of . . . 2 knots. At sunset,
we anchored in open water and settled in for the night. The four of us shared
dinner and we enjoyed their company immensely despite the fact that all of our
nerves were frayed.
With Bob’s support, a tug was finally
located and hired to tow us the rest of the way to Belize City. We waited
another day, anchored in shallow but open waters, for the Henry Travis to
arrive for the journey that would take 12 hours and cost $14,500.00 USD. Ouch!
By 10 PM we were just offshore from Belize
City. A larger tug arrived to take us to an anchorage for the night where we
bounced in strong winds and moderate seas.
After yet another sleepless night, the George Two arrived for our final
tow down a very narrow entrance into Cucumber Beach Marina. The 3000hp tug skillfully guided us between
two rocky breakwaters before leaving us right in front of the lifting well.
In the next bit of good fortune, we hooked
up with Pico, a Swiss expat who shipwrecked in Belize 20 years ago and never
left. He assessed our damage, met with
Bill who arrived from Florida, and developed a plan that we have been systematically
working on. As of May 14th,
the rudder is removed and ready repair at a Mennonite community in central
Belize. The 20ยบ bend in the rudder stock
needs to be pressed and straightened, the shaft re-rounded, and a bit of
fiberglass repair on the hull completed.
We found that Belize has very limited
services and supports for cruising sailors.
Nevertheless, everyone at the boat yard is knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful.
Hopefully, in a week’s time we will be repaired and ready to move south. And we
remain grateful to each and every person who provided us assistance.
Thanks for following.
Richard and Kay
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| Bent Rudder In |
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| Bent Rudder Out |
