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Go to the Bermuda news section for snippets of new from BermudaCatamaran crew survives horrifying experience
The captain of a crew attempting to deliver a $1 million catamaran to America described his experience moored off St. David's during Hurricane Florence as the worst of his sailing career.
Steve Dewhurst woke on Monday morning to find the 44-foot Lagoon craft Lauren being dragged 150 metres backwards while hauling her anchor at the height of the storm, which saw Bermuda experience winds of up to 111 mph.
The terrifying experience off Smith's Island in St. George's Harbour repeated itself five times, leaving the catamaran 500 metres away from its original position and dangerously close to running aground.
"The last 48 hours have been the worst I have ever had in 150,000 miles at sea over the last eight years," said Mr. Dewhurst yesterday. The ordeal was the latest in a number of miseries to befall Mr. Dewhurst, 41, his first mate Ellie Young, 35, and crew member Peter Marsh, 42, who all hail from London.
"We've had a hell of a trip," said the captain, who delivers vessels for Reliance Yacht Management, based in Hampshire, UK. He explained the catamaran set off off from Les Sables d'Olonne in France on August 5 bound for Fort Lauderdale where she is due to be delivered to a company named CatCo.
After stopping at the Azores, the crew found themselves just 100 miles from Hurricane Debbie at the beginning of September. This pushed their course upwards toward Bermuda at which point one of their two engines blew. They arrived in Bermuda on September 2 to pick up spare parts and were advised by the Yacht Reporting Centre that with Florence on the way, they could not stay at the dock and should moor between Dolly's Bay and Smith's Island.
Then the weather closed in at the weekend. "It started from the east-southeast building to 20, then 30, then 40, then 50 knots - then my wind indicator could not go any faster," said Mr. Dewhurst. "It just got up and up. At 7.15 a.m on Monday I was asleep while my crew were on watch. I woke up when I felt the catamaran lift up and found we had dragged 150 metres of anchor on a chain back up the channel. We were picked up and thrown backwards, and over the next four hours we were blown backwards five times. "We were blown 500 metres between 8 a.m and midday on Monday. My first thought when I woke up was 'what the hell am I doing out here?'" Mr. Dewhurst said that when the catamaran ended up just 20 metres off Smith's Island the crew was on the brink of calling Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre (formerly Harbour Radio) for assistance. "One more gust and we would have been on the island, but in the end we came through unscathed," he said.
The trip is Mr. Marsh's first ever time at sea. "I'm very weary," he said after reaching the safety of St. George's yesterday. "Apart from everything, the boat was being blown around in circles, so I'm feeling quite dizzy from that. Steve did an amazing job keeping the catamaran unscathed."
Mr. Dewhurst said: "We've come up to the quay and bought a bottle of Gosling's rum and some coke and I'm drinking it, waiting for the airport to open. The part we need should come in tomorrow and then we plan to leave on Friday to run away from Tropical Storm Gordon." Dr. Lou McNally, a forecaster at Bermuda Weather Service, said data recorded at St. David's, near where Lauren was moored, saw a 111 mph gust at the height of Florence. Commissioner's Point in Dockyard had a peak of 109 mph. Asked if this was slower than the wind conditions experienced during Hurricane Fabian in September 2003, Dr. McNally said: "Not by much. This ranks right up there with it." He explained that although the organisation then named Harbour Radio had recorded 150 mph during Fabian, this was by equipment 25 storeys up and the speed at ground level would not reach that.