Sailboat wreckage washes ashore in FL

[bottleinamessage]

Reports show the wreckage of a boat washed up on the shore of a New Smyrna Beach this morning.

The remains of the boat are located north of Beachway Avenue near Surf Street. It appears to be a 45-foot-long catamaran in several large pieces.

It is unclear if a boat has been reported missing.

Officials are at the beach trying to determine what happened with the craft.

[RanAweigh]

According to this morning's news account the 47' catamaran drifted off of her moorning by the "Down The Hatch" restaurant. The new article goes on to say "The $30,000 craft owned by New Smyrna Beach resident Bob Werner was for sale.

Werner said everything was fine as he worked on the boat last night but sometime during the night a mooring pin came loose, allowing the boat to drift away." Now there's an Oooops.
Breaking news - newsjournalonline.com

[AlanBrown]

I bet a lot of folks trying to sell their boats in this lousy economy wish their mooring pins would fall out, especially if their boat insurance was still current.

Reminds me of the story about the two friends who bumped into one another while on vacation at a beautiful, upscale resort.

One guy asked his buddy how he could afford to take such an expensive vacation when the economy was so bad. The fellow replied he had a fire at his business and that he had collected a lot of insurance money.

This fellow knew that his friend's company was also having some financial difficulties so asked him how he could also afford such an expensive trip. He replied that he had collected a lot of insurance money when his business was damaged in a flood.

The fellow's eyes lit up and he eagerly asked his friend, "How do you start a flood?"

[RanAweigh]

Well it could have been a band of marauding vandals in inflatables skulking through the mooring field.

[smackdaddy]

That's true, Ran. I just finished reading a story on CNN where mooring pins are going for US$2.88 each on the Asian black market. Check your boats.

[SSBN506]

In the news article it mentions "The boat was not insured."

[sailingSammy]

Does it say if he still wants to sell it? This sounds like the project boat I am looking for. Since it is already in pieces it will be easier for me to extend the hull by 15'. I plan on useing some OSB board Lowes has on sail this month and making it waterproof with a coat of bondo from the auto parts store. I also want to widen one of the hulls by 4' so I have room for my two pitbulls and shetland pony. The dogs are trained to wear funny hats and ride on the pony while he jumps through a flamming hoop. I figure I can support myself by stopping at different islands and putting on a dog and pony show for the tourist. I won't need much money because when I get low on food I will just stop at one of those deserted islands you hear about and hunt for animals to eat. I will have plenty of firepower because I am planning on taking my AK-47 with 10000 rounds of ammo, a 357 magnum with two cases of hollow points, a homemade flame thrower that runs on nap gas and a 200 pound fertilizer bomb. I want to have all that with me to protect myself and my pets from pirates and other foreigners. I am going to convert the hot water heat exchanger into a still so I can make my own rum and I am going to clean out the holding tank and brew beer in it. If anyone would like to go on a trip of a lifetime I would be willing to take crew along for just $200 a day plus equal share of expenses. I could knock $25 off if you're a hot coed that like to sunbath nude and maybe even $30 if we can come to some sort of "arrangment" (wink wink). I am very safety minded, I am going to bring my cell phone in caes we get into trouble, it has unlimited roaming and the salesman told me I can get reception all the way across the ocean. I also have all the charts we need. Well actually I have a AAA road map of the southeast US and a postcard that shows all the caribbean islands. Oh and a flaslight in case we got to signal for help. I have to work fast because I want to leave by mid september, head south to St. St. Martin and then go east to Cape Verde and get there by the end of October. I will gladly send a postcard from one of my stops to anyone willing to help me with the work as long as they bring their own tools and enough beer to go around.

[sailstoo]

SS, you have WAY too much time on your hands!

[hellosailor]

Insurance fraud, especially in sunny FloriDUH among powerboaters, is nothing new. Apparently a large number of shiny toys traditionally sink at the dock when their owners don't want to do maintenance, or need a change of upholstery color. "Gee, a fitting must have come loose."

And I also know at least one boat where the mooring fittings failed very much without the owner wanting them to. Boat was saved, but last heard of, the insurer had some words to discuss with the mooring man about his inspection procedures.

[WanderingStar]

Sammy, that was a great (and funny) summary of the Worst of Sailnet. It ought to be a sticky.