Voices In The Rain 5.24

"It was a dreary down town day..."

"Your go!"  As I reached to draw a card I heard "voices".  This wouldn't have been bad except we were at anchor and we were the only boat in the anchorage.  All alone.  Then within seconds the voices got closer and more intense.  As I lay down my cards and looked toward the open forward hatch I could see people.  Before I could get out WTF, BANG!

Were we drifting?  That would not be logical with two anchors and a 35 foot I-beam as a third anchor. Did we crash into BBGC's dock?  Had the lines failed?  Had the chain failed? All of this and more rushed through my head as I was stumbling from the impact trying to make the companion way.  As I pulled my self up the opening I turned to see 3 people at the bow of Gemini Dreams!  A moment later I realized they were standing on a 44 foot catamaran!  Okay where is the dock?  Same place! Where is the shore?  Same place!  Where is the float on the mooring?  Same place! Okay it is not us!  So WTF?

Post collision

Wait a minute I know this boat!  It came into BBGC yesterday and took forever to make the slip.  The captain unable to maneuver it in.  By this time I was on the bow and could see the bow railing was bent up against the roller furling.  There was some other damage but it was blowing around 20+ knots and a few rain drops were falling.  I asked that they call us on Ch 16.  Well actually the first question was " why are you leaving now?"  Why did they leave in the middle of the storm?  I never got a response on Ch 16 so I radioed BBGC and asked for suggestions.  They responded with the Police station is directly behind you.

Look hard and you can see a second ring

In the midst of the blowing rain I rowed over the the yacht club and was trying to figure out the name of the 44 footer.  That was when the BBGC radioed Sundance.  I brought a radio with me.  Seems that as they struggled to maneuver the boat in the channel they decided to anchor.  This is when life really got bad for them.  BBGC informed them they were in a power line zone and suggested they move.  While trying to do so they continued to loose the battle against the wind and current.   This is where I met Mike, the captain of m/v Twilight, a 90+ footer tied to the end of the dock.  He informed me he and a couple of his crew had seen the whole thing.  "The catamaran went out of the slip and turned straight for your boat".  Now with an eye witness I took the advice of BBGC and went to the police station.  Once the report was filed and I was returning I heard The Fisher King on the radio with the Catamaran.  They finally made contact just to say they will make contact later.  Later ended up being almost 4 hours after the crash.

 Fore rail pressed against roller furl

another view, the red line goes to a 10# Fortress that stopped the 44 foot cat in it's tracks.

Later after walking to the straw market in the rain, sitting in the blowing mist to get internet, all to estimate repair cost.  (the internet connection to Bimini Bay was not working in the bad weather and I only hoped the connection would work when I got the the market)   We waited for a while as the rain became too heavy to keep the computer out or walk back.   When we got a break in the rain we made it back to the dinghy and decided to row over the the catamaran.  The storm was passing and the water was getting calm.

Once there we met the embarrassed, highly stressed and currently depressed crew.  It seems the BBGC evicted them for a standing reservation and they had to leave.  Too bad that person never showed up and their slip sat empty all night!  They were currently on ground with one pontoon about 1.5 feet above the other one hoping the next high tide would lift them back off.  I talked with the Captain as the Fisher King talked with the crew.  Once we settled on a compensation amount we wished them the best of luck and offered to help if we could.  We dropped by the police station and closed the report on the way back to the boat.

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