Sandra, I carry a small bolt cutter to cut cables, if necessary, in the event that I have an experience similar to yours. You may want to consider adding one to your tool inventory. Glad to hear there were no injuries. Clarence Andrews Carpe Ventum M-17 #604 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Seawitch" <seawitchlj@yahoo.com> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 12:00 PM Subject: M_Boats: Vacation in FL
Hi all, thought I would share with you my recent experience in Fl. I trailered Seawitch down to St. Petersburg to spend the Thanksgiving week sailing on Tampa Bay. The weather was in the 80's during the day, and sunny most of the time. I launched at the Municipal boat ramp on Demens Landing in downtown St. Pete. Prior arangements got us a spot in Harborage Marina, not far from Demens. On my final sail Fri. the winds were 10-15, and predicted to be increasing as the day progressed due to a major cold front rolling in. I had full sails and we were moving along on a port tack. I decided it was time to start making way towards Demens to haul out so we tacked to starboard. My 1st mate, my 7 year old grand daughter moved from the starboard side of the boat in order to be on the high side with me. I was looking at the port side stay and before my eyes, it pinged where it enters the swedge, and from there in seconds it unraveled and the mast, boom and all the sails droped into the water on the starboard side. I hauled the whole mess up onto the boat, secured things with some of the line that was floating aroound. A large motor boat came along, and offered to tow us into the launch area. Once tied up to the dock, I was able to unravel all the line and cables and get things back in order so I could haul her out for the ride back to GA. Now, I will spend the winter working on getting the boat re rigged. I will probably replace all stays since I no longer feel like I can trust the existing rigging. This time I want to have more easily adjustable stays. As always, I appreciate your comments and the benefit of those of you who have more experience than I.
===== Time for a cool change! Sandra(Seawitch #617)
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