Crash!

Well, Life thought I was bored, so it sent a phone call from the marina. I became un-bored. I was the victim of a boat crash.

I got back to the marina as quickly as possible with a ton of worst case scenarios racing through my head (and the accompanying solutions) because they didn’t have a lot of information. All I knew was that the boat had been hit and there was damage. I held out hope that since the boats on either side were bigger that I only got a glancing blow. Nope – bullseye up the keister.

A large trawler (40 – 50 ft) had a mechanical issue. Half way through his turn he shifted into reverse but a linkage broke, so the boat stayed in forward. Thinking he was fighting a current, he increased power. By the time he realized the problem, it was too late. He powered through a piling straight in the stern of the Palani.

Damage Report

The damage, for the most part, looks to be not structural. The stern pulpit is mangled and broken. This pushed into the backstage which broke some strands, and the whole rigging system will need to be tested. The teak railing across the stern is shattered and will need to be replaced. There is a baseball size divot where the bowl line hit. The biggest issue seems to be the deck to hull seam. You can slide your fingers in the gap. I taped black plastic over the hole, so I’ll get no water ingress when it rains on Thursday.

The trawler has some white marks on the bow. Trawler 1 – Palani 0. It seems she’s a lover, not a fighter.

I had hoped for my new sail to show up in a couple of weeks and start getting out on the water but that’s out of the question until the insurance is settled and repairs done.