Buy boat, crash it after just 700 metres
Discussion
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport...
A pair of wannabe sailors have won unwitting fame after they bought a yacht on Ebay - only to crash it within minutes of starting out on its maiden voyage.
Sid Hashim, a 62-year-old engineer from Carshalton in south London, bought the £3,000 vessel with his son Mark and had headed to St Peter Port in Guernsey to pick it up.
The boat initially stayed in the marina to be patched up a little, but with the work done the duo were excited to get out onto the waves - despite the fact that the sun had gone down by the time it was ready. They decided to test the water by moving the yacht from the marina to a neighbouring harbour - a journey of just 700 metres.
That was when disaster struck: a high tide prevented the Hashims from noticing a reef just outside the harbour, and they dashed the craft - a pale blue 24ft yacht named 'Ardel' - against the rocks.
Their SOS call was quickly answered by a lifeboat, but their rescuers were unable to get close enough to help them off. Eventually they were taken to safety by a dinghy - with their boat left marooned on the rocks.
"They were doing it in the middle of the night," explained Guernsey harbour master Peter Gill. "They were about 400 metres into the journey.
"They had been on the top of the tide and it deposited them on the rocks. In the end a harbour dinghy took them off because the lifeboat couldn't reach them."
A gloomy weather forecast initially suggested that the boat might well be dashed to bits by waves before it could be recovered, but the boat was successfully towed off the rocks late on Monday.
But the hapless Mr Hashim isn't out of the woods yet: a colleague of the engineer at his offices in Penge told the Telegraph that he had phoned in sick after the incident so he could stay in Guernsey and try to recover the vessel.
"I'm worried for him now as everyone will know what's happened," she said.
Not that Mr Hashim himself is too bothered, apparently: "He has taken it all in his stride," his wife, Linda, told the Daily Express.
A pair of wannabe sailors have won unwitting fame after they bought a yacht on Ebay - only to crash it within minutes of starting out on its maiden voyage.
Sid Hashim, a 62-year-old engineer from Carshalton in south London, bought the £3,000 vessel with his son Mark and had headed to St Peter Port in Guernsey to pick it up.
The boat initially stayed in the marina to be patched up a little, but with the work done the duo were excited to get out onto the waves - despite the fact that the sun had gone down by the time it was ready. They decided to test the water by moving the yacht from the marina to a neighbouring harbour - a journey of just 700 metres.
That was when disaster struck: a high tide prevented the Hashims from noticing a reef just outside the harbour, and they dashed the craft - a pale blue 24ft yacht named 'Ardel' - against the rocks.
Their SOS call was quickly answered by a lifeboat, but their rescuers were unable to get close enough to help them off. Eventually they were taken to safety by a dinghy - with their boat left marooned on the rocks.
"They were doing it in the middle of the night," explained Guernsey harbour master Peter Gill. "They were about 400 metres into the journey.
"They had been on the top of the tide and it deposited them on the rocks. In the end a harbour dinghy took them off because the lifeboat couldn't reach them."
A gloomy weather forecast initially suggested that the boat might well be dashed to bits by waves before it could be recovered, but the boat was successfully towed off the rocks late on Monday.
But the hapless Mr Hashim isn't out of the woods yet: a colleague of the engineer at his offices in Penge told the Telegraph that he had phoned in sick after the incident so he could stay in Guernsey and try to recover the vessel.
"I'm worried for him now as everyone will know what's happened," she said.
Not that Mr Hashim himself is too bothered, apparently: "He has taken it all in his stride," his wife, Linda, told the Daily Express.
It was the Sealine. A result of god-knows-what in the tank (it was brown!) and a coil on the way out.
It's got quite a big remote fuel filter, I have a feeling the bloke filled it up with good fuel before I arrived to show me the engine running smoothly for a few minutes.
Thanks for the Freeman advice, now Humdinger's nearly back on the water, I'll make a start on the other half of the fleet
Thought I'd best do one at a time, or I'd just end up with two boats that don't work!
It's got quite a big remote fuel filter, I have a feeling the bloke filled it up with good fuel before I arrived to show me the engine running smoothly for a few minutes.
Thanks for the Freeman advice, now Humdinger's nearly back on the water, I'll make a start on the other half of the fleet
Thought I'd best do one at a time, or I'd just end up with two boats that don't work!Has been discussed in a few boating forums. The 'bought it off ebay' angle has obviously got the media interested, but a few people who know the area say they are far from the first people to end up on those rocks, and they won't be the last.
It seems that to someone not familiar with the approach, there's a potentially confusing cardinal marker one side of the rocks - it is apparently quite easy to mistake this for a north marker, when actually it's a south (or the other way round, I can't remember) and sail the wrong side of it. The rocks themselves are only marked by yellow posts, and at night, at hight water, it's not surprising they missed them (or rather, didn't miss them...)
It seems that to someone not familiar with the approach, there's a potentially confusing cardinal marker one side of the rocks - it is apparently quite easy to mistake this for a north marker, when actually it's a south (or the other way round, I can't remember) and sail the wrong side of it. The rocks themselves are only marked by yellow posts, and at night, at hight water, it's not surprising they missed them (or rather, didn't miss them...)
Gibo993 said:
How can a Cardinal marker be confusing?? They are by design not to be, arrows pointing down is a South Cardinal and danger lies to the North...or does it lie to the South... Dad.......Dad!!! s
t. ... --- ...
I'm only going by the discussion on YBW. I've never sailed in there, so I've no idea of the setup. Some sailors who have done so expressed the notion that it could be confusing.t. ... --- ...
wetny said:
Makes you wonder what they were planning to do. They most probably wanted to get it back to the south coast. Probably turned out for the best.
Apparently they were just moving from one marina to another - I don't think they had any nefarious intent. They were only doing it at night due to tidal constraints.Back in the 1970’s I did some work for Riva. Talking to one of their guys he told me of a delivery he had done to Bahrain.
He takes the client out in his new Superamerica. He points to the tachometers and tells the client not to exceed a certain RPM whilst running in. He shows him the echo sounder and demonstrates the shallow water alarm. He shows him the chart and points out a nearby sandbank, advising him to go around, never across.
The client thanks him and he steps off onto the jetty leaving the client aboard. Immediately he hears the sound of the engines being given full throttle. He watches as it goes out straight across the sandbar. Well, half way across the sandbar where it suddenly stops with a load crunch.
He gets somebody to run him out in a small speedboat. He goes below and finds the boat full of water. He guy has hit the sand at full tilt and pushed the P brackets and tips of the props through the bottom.
The client calmly informs him it was the will of Allah and orders a new Superamerica.
He takes the client out in his new Superamerica. He points to the tachometers and tells the client not to exceed a certain RPM whilst running in. He shows him the echo sounder and demonstrates the shallow water alarm. He shows him the chart and points out a nearby sandbank, advising him to go around, never across.
The client thanks him and he steps off onto the jetty leaving the client aboard. Immediately he hears the sound of the engines being given full throttle. He watches as it goes out straight across the sandbar. Well, half way across the sandbar where it suddenly stops with a load crunch.
He gets somebody to run him out in a small speedboat. He goes below and finds the boat full of water. He guy has hit the sand at full tilt and pushed the P brackets and tips of the props through the bottom.
The client calmly informs him it was the will of Allah and orders a new Superamerica.
Uncle Fester said:
Back in the 1970’s I did some work for Riva. Talking to one of their guys he told me of a delivery he had done to Bahrain.
He takes the client out in his new Superamerica. He points to the tachometers and tells the client not to exceed a certain RPM whilst running in. He shows him the echo sounder and demonstrates the shallow water alarm. He shows him the chart and points out a nearby sandbank, advising him to go around, never across.
The client thanks him and he steps off onto the jetty leaving the client aboard. Immediately he hears the sound of the engines being given full throttle. He watches as it goes out straight across the sandbar. Well, half way across the sandbar where it suddenly stops with a load crunch.
He gets somebody to run him out in a small speedboat. He goes below and finds the boat full of water. He guy has hit the sand at full tilt and pushed the P brackets and tips of the props through the bottom.
The client calmly informs him it was the will of Allah and orders a new Superamerica.
Ironic boat name alert.He takes the client out in his new Superamerica. He points to the tachometers and tells the client not to exceed a certain RPM whilst running in. He shows him the echo sounder and demonstrates the shallow water alarm. He shows him the chart and points out a nearby sandbank, advising him to go around, never across.
The client thanks him and he steps off onto the jetty leaving the client aboard. Immediately he hears the sound of the engines being given full throttle. He watches as it goes out straight across the sandbar. Well, half way across the sandbar where it suddenly stops with a load crunch.
He gets somebody to run him out in a small speedboat. He goes below and finds the boat full of water. He guy has hit the sand at full tilt and pushed the P brackets and tips of the props through the bottom.
The client calmly informs him it was the will of Allah and orders a new Superamerica.
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