This month we were contacted by a crew member of the square metre yacht Caress III. His story he told us is well worth sharing and I think the photo is a story in itself when you look at it closely.
The day of the squall a number of yachts ran aground, (it wasn't only us) .
We had a small radio and heard that a 50 knot southerly had hit Sydney and we reckoned
that we had about 30 minutes before it hit us.However caught unawares it hit almost immediately and with the spinnaker full Caress leaned over and having no decking she began to fill with water.
We couldn't release the spinnaker as the sheets were jammed in the wooden jury cleats, so as she went down we all jumped off. I was floating in the water when a large cruiser ran me down, luckily I caught hold of the dinghy they were towing and pulled myself to the back of the cruiser to climb aboard for a nice therapeutic rum.
While not onboard, Les Steel owned and built Caress. His son was the only one on board who could not swim. He hung on to the tip of the mast until he was rescued by an old couple in a small runabout.
Les who was(shaking his head) made the remark "I made the bloody mast 2ft too long"
This is a photo of the lifting of Caress the morning after her sinking. I'm standing in the rear of the outboard while Barry steel is on the tug boat standing in a white shirt.
The first thing the divers did was to bring up our Esky and happily drink the beer.
Gil Race...
Benchmark hits the water!!!
Looking fantastic..!
Always a great moment watching the launching of yacht.
The topsides came up a treat..
Now that's a photo...! nice work.
Another yacht saved and a fine achievement.
Wings progress continues...
2 new rope organizers are designed, manufactured and fitted.
Custom removable seats are fitted and the new seat covers are made with Velcro straps.
The internal seats are wide with a deep set sole for headroom with overnight trips taken into consideration. More finishing touches yet to come below decks.
Lastly her window frames and windows are finished and this completes external work with a repaint of the hull a consideration for the future.
Her fist trip was a magic day out on Christmas Day for a short sail and BBQ onboard in a nice secluded bay.
