Schooner Mast kills one

[Adopo]

How sad is this? I have been on these, and the mask are huge, like getting crushed by a falling tree. Someone failed in their inspections I would think? Crazy tragic as it would be the last thing you would expect.

https://gcaptain.com/one-dead-three-injured-after-schooner-mast-collapse-off-rockland-maine/

 

[Benthic2]

There must be some information missing. A mast that big, with full sails up is not going to fall fast or quiet. I can't understand how you couldn't avoid being hit by a loud, slow moving object. (I have the same lack of understanding of how pedestrians get hit by trains......)

 

[Max1]

How sad is this? I have been on these, and the mask are huge, like getting crushed by a falling tree. Someone failed in their inspections I would think? Crazy tragic as it would be the last thing you would expect.

Well, that sucks. RIP to the deceased and speedy recovery to the injured.

 

[Blissboat]

I can't understand how you couldn't avoid being hit by a loud, slow moving object.

Yes, but . . . a lot of heavy rigging came down suddenly. Amid the surprise and noisy commotion, a passenger who was a novice couldn't be expected to be alert to danger or to have known instinctively which way to jump to get out of the way.

 

[Cold Duck]

Next month we cruise in Tahiti on a BIG sailing cruise Ship. Mostly for show but if one of those masts goes down there will be a lot of damage. I will watch them LOL.

 

[kthoennes]

We've been on those too, mostly the Heritage which is a 1980's re-creation as I recall but the Grace Bailey is 1882 I see. We've been on that one during a Camden Windjammer festival, but just toured it, we never went out on it. Wonder if it was the original mast. I had the same thought, there's such a forest of rigging to those masts and booms I can't see it falling over sideways like a tree in a forest. Here's another TV news report that shows another view of the mast broken off pretty high.

https://www.wmtw.com/article/investigation-schooner-incident-grace-bailey-mecklenburg/45549997#

Those masts and even the booms and gaffs by themselves are just huge. Incredibly big and heavy. It's a beautiful boat, so sad to hear that news.

https://www.sailgracebailey.com/

 

[Adopo]

https://www.newscentermaine.com/art...-mast/97-99885a71-e15c-485e-9035-adf6a431894c

The vessel was under new ownership this season, according to a spokesperson. It underwent an annual inspection on May 31 and was in compliance with all regulatory requirements, the Coast Guard said.

The mast failure in routine sailing conditions suggests the mast must’ve been weakened, probably by water intrusion and rot, said Jim Sharp, a former schooner owner who runs the Sail, Power and Steam Museum in Rockland.

 

[kthoennes]

I'm surprised it broke so high up, I initially assumed it would have broken around deck level or the step if the problem was water intrusion.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Remember, the mast doesn't have to fall on you. As any Jack Aubrey fan can tell you, being klopped by a ten pound block falling from the main top can give you a nasty subdue all hematoma.

 

[KnotYet]

Having been dismasted on a sloop, a lower shroud failed causing the mast to kink
at the spreader area and come down in two pieces. It all happened very suddenly.
Probably a fairly common failure mode.

The Grace Bailey's mast that broke was stabilized at the top and secured at the
deck so the bending forces would also be greatest somewhere in between, and in
the aftermath photo it appears to have snapped about a quarter of the way down.

 

[Slo-Mocean]

Lost a mast in some nasty weather at night in the Gulf on a 56 foot ketch I captained, busted right at the spreaders after losing the back stay .

The top half was swinging around in the 15 foot waves at deck level like a gauntlet . No way was I going on deck to try to secure that mass while rolling rail to rail .

Waves layed down after the front passed at dawn and I was able to drop 300 feet of anchor and chain to drag and get the bow into the waves , even than wresting to secure the top half and try to secure the rigging was a fight .

Note to self. Never go to Sea in a sailboat without heavy duty Rigging cutters

Back on OP. Broke up top right where the upper rigging and that huge gaff are secured. Like dropping a telephone pole and didn’t have much to slow it down as the whole head of the mast came down with it.

RIP.

 

[Capt Dan]

I owned and operated the schooner Lewis R French for 18 years in the 80s, 90s and into the Ots. The Lewis R was built in 1871 and rebuilt completely in 1973-1976. As you can imagine these are different and difficult vessels to maintain, far different than trawlers. For example we are talking about oak frames 6 by 12 inches and inner and outer planking of 2 inch or better. Most of the vessels in the Maine Windjammer fleet are Captain owned, as was ours, and a great deal of pride is taken in the upkeep and condition of the vessels.

#1, Yes the gear is big and what happened, happened in an eyeblink. To say people could have gotten out of the way shows that you know nothing about what you are talking about.
#2, this is I believe the first time in 80 years of passenger carrying windjammers in Maine that anyone has been seriously injured or killed on a cruise. In a lot of circles this would be considered an exemplary safety record.
#3, No the masts were not original. The mast were replaced new West Coast Douglas Fir sometime I think in the 90s not long after the Bailey was very completely rebuilt to the tune of I would estimate 75% new wood.
#4, Could there have been water intrusion and rot? Yes absolutely. This is the same with any large timber, water intrusion and rot is a constant nemesis. Might it be hard to see/detect? absolutely.
I have no first hand knowledge of the conditions of this mast, the boat is under new ownership this past year. Accidents unfortunately do happen, sad as it is.

 

[AlaskaProf]

I owned and operated the schooner Lewis R French for 18 years in the 80s, 90s and into the Ots.

OMFG!, Cap'n Dan!

My wife and I sailed with you in the Lewis R. French in October 1997!

Unlikely that you would remember, but I asked you how Jack Aubrey's crew went about "striking topgallant masts", etc. As it was the last cruise of the season, when we returned to Camden, you sent me aloft to knock out the fid and guide the maintopmast to the deck. One of the most memorable experiences of my nautical life.

Thanks,
Bill Butler
p.s. "Most ha'fway theah." has been a standing phrase in my family ever since.

 

[Capt Dan]

OMFG!, Cap'n Dan!

My wife and I sailed with you in the Lewis R. French in October 1997!

Unlikely that you would remember, but I asked you how Jack Aubrey's crew went about "striking topgallant masts", etc. As it was the last cruise of the season, when we returned to Camden, you sent me aloft to knock out the fid and guide the maintopmast to the deck. One of the most memorable experiences of my nautical life.

Thanks,
Bill Butler
p.s. "Most ha'fway theah." has been a standing phrase in my family ever since.

Hi Bill!

We are now actually Halfway there, on America's Great Loop, started in Lake Worth, now Between Milwaukee and Chicago, soon to start down the river system, loving every minute of our trip.
Good to hear from you
Dan