Hijinx in Hawaii

Scrappy New Year

Oof, that’s hard to watch. The sailboat that’s been stranded on JAX beach, and became sort of a local tourist attraction, was scrapped this week by the Florida FWC. Back in October, Aquilone washed ashore after coming off her anchor. Her owner, Luke Rehberg, made a valiant effort to refloat her on the first king tide, with the locals pitching in, and the local Hilton even offering him a room and a shower. Sadly, he wasn’t able to come up with the funds to refloat her, and she was scrapped on Tuesday. The FWC also issued a warrant for his arrest for unpaid fines.

Speaking of scrap…

Hijinx in Hawaii

The world’s last surviving sailing tanker is set to be removed from her resting place in Honolulu harbor. The non-profit (Friends of Falls of Clyde) that owns and looks after the historic ship has for years been in a battle with the state over her preservation. Falls of Clyde was built in 1878, and made commercial voyages under the British flag until being purchased by an American company and registered in Hawaii. (There was a brief stint in Seattle, where she was first rescued from demolition out of a fishing fleet, but her history is too long and colorful to fully print here). She was refitted for wet cargo, and for decades transported molasses from Hawaii to California, and Kerosine on the return trip.

Here’s where it gets bureaucratic, depending on how you look at it. The state wants the harbor space, and made an end run around FFOC to get rid of her. First, she was delisted from the Hawaii Register of Historic Places for being an environmental risk, outlined in a 346 page long report. Then, in a last minute vote at the end of the year, a proposal to have her relocated was overturned, and she is now set to be removed by August. The method of removal and disposal is up to the contractor that gets selected. And who gets to select the contactor? You guessed it, the state.

Race Updates

ARKEA Ultim Challenge: The six “Giants of the Seas” competing in the single handed, non-stop, round the world race kicks off January 7th at 1:30pm. Each solo skipper has crew ashore assisting them, so we expect updates and pictures aplenty.

10th Annual RORC Transat: Also kicking off on the 7th is the 2,995 nm race from the Canary Islands to Grenada. The current multi-hull record time is 05 days 05 hrs 46 mins 26 secs set in 2023 on the Maserati Multi70.

Rolex Sydney Hobart: Alive is the overall winner of the 78th annual Sydney Hobart Race, her second win in five years. It’s been a busy year for Alive, which also claimed overall honours at Hamilton Island Race Week, the Brisbane to Hamilton Island Race and Bruny Island Race, as well as line honours in the King of the Derwent Regatta.

Sailing Snippets

HMS Endeavour Identified? Recent evidence suggests that an unidentified shipwreck may be Captain Cook’s ship, the HMS Endeavour. There has been disagreement between Rhode Island (where she was found), British, and Australian researchers over whether or not the wreck is in fact the HMS Endeavour, as the Australians previously claimed. The latest evidence ties the pump-shaft and bow to her original design; check out the article here.

Be-woe Deck: Brexit: A 65’ wood sailboat valued at £2.5 million, was accidentally set ablaze on New Years Eve by some merchant mariners setting off some celebratory ship flares in the marina. Luckily, the fire was put out by firefighters before it spread beyond the deck. Unluckily, because of Brexit, the boat wasn’t fully insured. Check out that story and pics here.

Bosun’s Bookshelf: Check out this video of a 60’ wooden sailboat that sank in the Chesapeake being refloated by TowBoatUSA. After being brought to shore, she was salvaged for parts by Anchors & Oars, a small marine salvage shop in Maryland. Among the finds: a bosuns chair that could be reused as a hanging shelf. Now that’s a cool idea…