Tall ship's grounding caused 'just a little ding' -- so it's off to Victoria festival today
An elated Sound Experience Executive Director Catherine Collins embraces Seattle-based U.S. Coast Guard inspector Steve Carlson on Tuesday after he informed her the Adventuress was shipshape for sailing today. The tall ship went aground in the San Juan Islands the day before, forcing the evacuation of 27 passengers and crew aboard. -- Photo by Jeff Chew/Peninsula Daily News
By Jeff Chew, Peninsula Daily News
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"Just a little ding," Steve Carlson told an elated Catherine Collins, executive director of Sound Experience, who embraced him for clearing the vessel so it could sail on to the Victoria and Tacoma tall ship festivals.
Young members of the crew who had waited quietly throughout the inspection burst out in a cheer.
Sound Experience is the nonprofit organization that owns and operates the 95-year-old educational and environmental gaff-rigged schooner based in Port Townsend.
Cleared of any major damage, the Adventuress was expected to set sail by noon today, tides allowing, for Victoria for the tall ships festival scheduled from Thursday through Sunday.
"We're thrilled to be back on schedule," said Collins, joking that the haul-out, inspection and haul-in was "the quickest turn-around in maritime history."
4-inch gash
A gash of about 4 inches in the bow end of the schooner's wooden keel was all that Carlson uncovered during a nearly hour-long inspection at the Port of Port Townsend Boat Haven, where Port officials made special arrangements to haul the Adventuress out.
After running aground about noon Monday in Wasp Passage near Shaw Island, the Adventuress returned to Port Townsend Bay about 1 p.m. Tuesday, and was moored there until its 4 p.m. haul-out.
None of the 133-foot vessel's 12 crew members or 15 passengers was hurt when the Adventuress ran aground hard on a flat rock and listed about 20 percent.
Passengers included youngsters from around the region, and rescue vessels included two Washington state ferries.
On Tuesday, about 100 onlookers watched the port's 300-ton MarineLift haul out the Adventuress, and stayed on to view the inspection.
"It's a nice ending to a very long 24 hours," Collins said.
Adventuress Capt. Mary Beth Armstrong held back tears at times during the inspection, especially when well-wishers comforted her.
Collins declined comment on specific questions about the grounding, saying neither she nor others in the crew could discuss the incident until the Coast Guard investigation was concluded, possibly in two to three months.
Collins said Armstrong will continue as Adventuress skipper throughout the investigation.
Armstrong has worked for Sound Experience for two years. Before that, she worked aboard the educational schooner Martha, also based in Port Townsend.
Carlson also inspected the vessel's top mast where lines were tied on Monday so that rescue tugs could rock and pull the vessel off the rocks.
Carlson's Tuesday inspection followed Coast Guard diver inspections on Monday.
Collins said that individual crew and staff members each made statements about the grounding incident to her.
"I will review all statements, and show them to the Coast Guard," she said.
Ship 'is family'
Collins said that she was grateful to the Port of Port Townsend and Larry Crockett, port executive director, who arranged for the emergency haul-out Tuesday.
"It's family," Crockett said of the Adventuress.
"We always take care of family."
Port employees worked overtime Tuesday to haul the vessel out, with no charge to Sound Experience.
The Adventuress was evacuated as a precautionary measure Monday when the vessel went aground.
Some of the crew returned to help during the vessel's tow to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, and spent the night there before sailing home Tuesday morning.
The Adventuress was sailing the San Juan Islands, and was to continue touring the islands on Tuesday before heading off Wednesday to Victoria, but those plans were literally grounded.
Washington state ferries, the Sealth and the Evergreen State, both were diverted from their San Juan Islands routes to assist, and both launched rescue boats to the grounded vessel.
With the help of the Coast Guard, the 27 people on the ship were taken aboard the Sealth. The Evergreen State, which was headed for Orcas Island, had a full load of passengers and vehicles.
Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles launched an MH-65C Dolphin helicopter crew, and a rescue boat crew from Coast Guard Station Bellingham also helped in the rescue.
The Coast Guard reported no pollution.
The Adventuress had run aground in the 1960s in the San Juan Islands, and came out of that experience without a scratch. It did not take on water then, and there was no pollution.
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Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: June 24. 2008 9:00PM