Yacht salvaged at North Haven sustains irreparable damage during storm while moored at marina
Wild weather has claimed a yacht which was stranded at North Haven for a month, smashing it into a mooring and causing irreparable damage.
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Hopes to save a stranded yacht salvaged from a metropolitan beach have been dashed by wild weather which smashed it into a pontoon, causing serious damage to its bow.
Father and son Claude and Samuel Evans have given up their dream to take the 70-year-old wooden boat to Port Pirie, where they hoped to restore it.
Instead, the novice sailors have been ordered to move it from a boat ramp at the North Haven marina, where it has taken on water and is sitting on the bottom.
Claude and Samuel — who attracted a statewide following as they spent a month trying to get the yacht off the beach at North Haven — are now trying to work out their next move.
The most likely option is to drain the flooded hull, patch various holes and tow it out to sea where it will be sunk as an artificial reef.
The duo were planning to put the dilapidated vessel onto a boat trailer but securing transport was a day too late, with rough weather on Wednesday night having the final word.
In a Facebook page dedicated to the fight to save the boat, Mr Evans’ daughter, Victoria Evan, said her father and brother were devastated.
They had suffered mishap after mishap as they tried to save the boat, from inclement weather to equipment failure.
“Early today we got good news we had found a boat trailer to pick up the boat,” she said.
“Unfortunately it was a day too late as during last night’s storm the boat sustained severe damage that unfortunately cannot be repaired.
“We are all completely devastated and saddened by these events.
“Thank you everyone who helped and gave us encouragement.
“We tried our best but unfortunately it was not to be.”
The stricken yacht now has become a hazard to other boat users at the North Haven marina, with the Department for Infrastructure and Transport ordering its removal.
Numerous people spent hours trying to help Claude and Samuel drag the yacht into the water after it became marooned during a storm in July.
The pair were trying to sail it to Port Wakefield when they lost their dinghy off Port Parham, forcing Ms Evans to call police to rescue them.
The boat was towed to North Haven where it snapped its mooring while Claude and Samuel were retrieving their dinghy from Normanville, 80km south of Adelaide.
It eventually was dragged into the water at the North Haven beach where it was towed by the MFS fire boat Gallantry last Friday to the nearby North Haven marina.
A former owner of the yacht, Bob Finnie, said it was tragic all their efforts had proven to be in vain.
Mr Finnie, 75, of Largs North, said the yacht — previously called Dolphin — had cost him $5000 in the 1980s, before he spent $23,000 on refurbishments.
“I had it for five years and then it ended up at North Arm, where it sat for 20 odd years and rotted away,” he said.
“It makes me cry to see what has happened to her.
“It was a really beautiful boat built in New Zealand and originally called Aratika.”
Mr Finnie said he admired Claude, 55, and Samuel, 27, for all their efforts in trying to save the boat but, in the end, fate was against them.
“It’s been a comedy of errors,” he said.
Mr Finnie said he went to North Haven several times to check on the progress of the amateur salvage operation.
“They are lovely blokes they really are but they are bloody lucky to be alive, we could have had a couple of drownings,” he said.
Mr Finnie said he believed the anchor ropes on the boat were the same as the ones he had in the 1980s while the sails were also rotten when he sold it in 1990.
“If they had tried to put the sails up, they would have just shredded,” he said.
Mr Finnie said he was still trying to comprehend how Claude and Samuel thought they were going to make it to Port Wakefield.
“They told me they had been in boats but I reckon the only boats they have ever played with were in the bath tub,” he said.