The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #147806 Message #3429853
Posted By: Charley Noble
02-Nov-12 - 09:21 AM
Thread Name: BS: Tall Ship Bounty Abandoned in Storm!
Subject: RE: BS: Tall Ship Bounty Abandoned in Storm!
The Captain's original plan to skirt this hurricane along its east side may have been confounded by its immense size (announced well in advance). The Bounty left from New London, CT, on Friday, October27. In order to skirt around the storm, which rotated counterclockwise with hurricane winds extending out almost 200 miles from its center, it would have had to plow into the wind for hundreds of miles before turning south. At some point Saturday evening the Captain elected to try to reverse course and sail between the advancing hurricane and the Cape Hatteras Shore. And there the ship was pinned and sunk.
I am still dumbfounded that the Captain elected to risk his ship and crew in this (interject adjective of your choice) manner.
This statement posted last Saturday on the Bounty's Facebook page will continue to haunt the owner and his staff:
Riding the Storm Out...Day 2. ... Rest assured that the Bounty is safe and in very capable hands. Bounty's current voyage is a calculated decision ... NOT AT ALL ... irresponsible or with a lack of foresight as some have suggested. The fact of the matter is ... A SHIP IS SAFER AT SEA THAN IN PORT!