strakeryrius
Well-Known Member
Ouch!!!! (Don\'t look if you are squeamish!)
Those who have visited the Mercury Meet Forum will have seen my photo album from the weekend, and know that on the way home we struck an unmarked submerged object about 1 NM South of Hengistbury Head. Initially thought it was a lobster pot, as we ended up with some nylon warp wrapped around the starboard props.
Now that she is out of the water it seems that it must have been something much more substantial than that. Apologies in advance for the quality of these pics - they were taken by the marine engineer's camera phone. You don't want to look too closely anyway - you will see from the damage that we nearly ended up at the bottom of the briny. The starboard leg was mostly being held on by the rubbers of the bellows by the time she came out of the water.
This is what happens when you hit something very large and hard in a Targa 34 at 28 knots! We still don't know what it was that we hit as it never broke the surface at all, even when we were bobbing about trying to free the warp from the props.
As you will gather the required parts list alone is about the value of a small car, and its going to be a couple of weeks at least before we can get back in the water again.
Two bright spots in all of this nightmare:
Tony and his guys at Boatylicious have been immense in getting this sorted out - I really can't recommend them highly enough.
Steve and the claims department at Towergate Mardon have bent over backwards to expedite things - they also deserve my specific thanks in sorting it all out for me.
Those who have visited the Mercury Meet Forum will have seen my photo album from the weekend, and know that on the way home we struck an unmarked submerged object about 1 NM South of Hengistbury Head. Initially thought it was a lobster pot, as we ended up with some nylon warp wrapped around the starboard props.
Now that she is out of the water it seems that it must have been something much more substantial than that. Apologies in advance for the quality of these pics - they were taken by the marine engineer's camera phone. You don't want to look too closely anyway - you will see from the damage that we nearly ended up at the bottom of the briny. The starboard leg was mostly being held on by the rubbers of the bellows by the time she came out of the water.
This is what happens when you hit something very large and hard in a Targa 34 at 28 knots! We still don't know what it was that we hit as it never broke the surface at all, even when we were bobbing about trying to free the warp from the props.
As you will gather the required parts list alone is about the value of a small car, and its going to be a couple of weeks at least before we can get back in the water again.
Two bright spots in all of this nightmare:
Tony and his guys at Boatylicious have been immense in getting this sorted out - I really can't recommend them highly enough.
Steve and the claims department at Towergate Mardon have bent over backwards to expedite things - they also deserve my specific thanks in sorting it all out for me.
