Given the magnitude of the carnage left in the wake of hurricane “Sandy”. The loss of the “Bounty” will likely not get much ink. For those of us who go to sea, we are left shaking our heads in disbelief. The facts are not all in and so far the story is that the skipper left New London, Ct in route toSt. Petersburg, Florida intending to make enough easting to get around “Sandy” . He would have had to leave the Azores to starboard to leave enough room in a boat like the “Bounty.” we can only wonder what was he thinking.
I cannot say with certainty, but I would guess this boat leaked at the dock and that was fine as long as the pumps were running, which in turn depended on the engine running. She was built as a prop for one movie in 1962. She was never built for a long life. I know that Fall River, Ma heritage festival committee who owned her after Ted Turner finally could no longer keep up with the repairs and sold her.
Seamanship translates roughly into common sense. We all have an idea of what it is. Perhaps that’s the problem. What we know is always framed by what we know, not what we don’t know.
A boat like this probably worked all the time, by that I mean any loading, from the rig or simply rolling in a seaway would cause the boat to twist and the planking to move.
As I said “What was he thinking?”