Pirate ship runs aground in bad weather
The Jolly Roger (file photo)
(CNS): One of Grand Cayman’s popular tourist attractions, The Jolly Roger, was a victim of Monday’s stormy weather when it ran aground in the George Town Harbour after breaking from its moorings. The Port Authority of the Cayman Islands confirmed that they sought the assistance of West Indian Marine yesterday to secure and remove the vessel, as they were unable to contact the owner during the bad weather. WIM began tugging the pirate boat free but the owners were contacted later and were able to join the rescue effort. The boat had ended up on a sand bank off shore from the Burger King on the Harbour Front.
No one was on board at the time and no reefs were damaged.
Category: Local News
Rumor has it that it was deliberately cut from the mooring. Sorry but there is more to this than is released.
Sorry to add insult to injury, but this is exactly what happens when business owners in the tourism/diving/private yachting/boating industries in Cayman do not hire people experienced with Cayman waters and Cayman weather seasons. How many tourist and dive boats have ended up on the ironshore or drifted out to sea, because the captain/staff member was not familiar with indicators that bad weather is blowing in? I can name 10 dive/tourism operators who have lost boats in the past 20 years because they didn’t move their boat to safe harbor in time BEFORE bad weather rolled in. I’m not beating the “hire a local drum” (though it wouldn’t be a bad idea for these business owners to do so), but at the very least, hire someone who has worked these waters for several years and knows what they are doing!
Do you 11.21 am know who owns the S/V Jolly Roger? Check the facts. It might just be a very knowledgeable and experienced Caymanian!
Anonymous 11:21am , I completely agree with you , that is the problem why those boats drag the moorings and wash up on shore . When you don’t have responsible crew /Captain you can depend on, those kind of things do happen .
Some years ago I had my 35ft sail boat anchored off the old Holiday inn , and a northwester started to blow in about 2:0am , and I didn’t even try to get help , when I got to the beach the waves were so big I couldn’t launch my little boat , so then the only how I could get to the boat was to swim and I did and saved my boat from washing up on the beach .
Maybe check the weather report next time so you don’t have to get wet.
Anonymous 3:18pm , What do you do when the weatherman tells you that winds will be from the northeast , and the boat is anchored on the western part of the Island ? Are you suppose to be better than the weatherman ?
Winds coming from the northeast and being anchored on the west side has nothing to do with bad weather. As Hurricane Ivan approached, the winds were coming from the northeast, but I don’t think you see any vessel sailing in the middle of the storm just because they are on the western side of the island. Besides, the island has flat and has very little terrain to cause any drastic wind changes. Bottom line, if thunderstorms were forecasted with rough seas, proper preparations need to take place when handling a vessel especially a commercial vessel as large as the Jolly Roger.
3:18 pm , the responsible part about this , my boat was safe and didn’t get no/cause no damage , but the pirate ship was wrecked and caused damages .
Yeah, that Cayman water and weather sure is mysterious, nothing like it anywhere. Can’t disagree that it’s negligence, however.
I agree, considering anyone who boats in the area knows there is no sand ban in that area. So they ran a ground on coral.
Maybe they need to have proper docking facilities before they grant licenses for larger vessels?
We don’t need no steenking license…
Where is there a “sand bank” that shallow around there, and not a coral reef?
It’s coral reef. There is no sand bank there… fake news.
Isn’t The Mooring on by the Port Authority like all Moorings
Pity it didnt become a dive site out there, since we need more things to do.
Pity it didn’t take the Trolley Roger with it.
I used to work on a slightly larger three-masted tourist boat in the Red Sea. When we had bad weather warnings it was crewed up and put out on a storm mooring. If things did kick off we were on board to take control. It was the same with all the boats there, they were taken off the docks or out of the marina and put somewhere safe with a crew to look after them.
Costs money
I wonder if the port authority or DOE are investigating to see if any reef was damaged and the owners will be charged like Paul Allen’s Yatch?
CNS, can you follow up and let us know please.
Thanks
Look like you are not a diver…I dive these area many times and there is no reef…just plain hard sea floor with no life.
The seafloor there is ancient coral reefs, now limestone hard bottom; which still supports a variety of ocean life including reef building corals, recreationally and commercially important crustaceans (lobsters & conchs), algae (food source for herbivorous fishes), and solution holes with recreationally and commercially important juvenile/intermediate stage fishes. Therefore, areas like this hard bottom habitat or pavement zone, are still crucial to the coral reef ecosystem as a whole.
You dive many times where there is no sea life? Must be boring dives. What are you diving there for?
So sea fans aren’t coral, you are telling us there is no sea life there at at? Hmm. Sea life everywhere bobo, still should be investigated.
Interesting; you must have completely swam past and missed “Cheeseburger Reef”.
There is an Environmental Impact Statement being conducted by the DoE.
maybe they should double their prices again…..
How on earth do you own a boat of that value (of ANY value) and NOT stay on top of the weather??????
LOL
This isn’t the first time that thing has been in danger during weather.
How do you not do routine checks and maintenance on your moorings? Too many “qualified captains” on this island!
There is a “qualified captain” on board, but unfamiliar with the vessel and Cayman waters
Is that like too many “qualified politicians”?