Sunday 20 May 2012

Abandoned Vessel?

A bit more about the washed up boat on Friday...

After a windy night, the upturned hull of a boat was discovered at South Beach Studland.  There didn't appear to be persons on board and none had been reported as missing, but we still requested Swanage ILB to assist.

The boat was actually sitting upside down on its superstructure and couldn't be moved so we requested the National Trust tractor to tow it onto the beach where it revealed itself to be the remains of a day boat, approx 25 feet in length.  On closer investigation, the engine had been removed, all instruments were missing from the console and the stainless steel deck fittings had been removed.  Most telling, the any trace of a name or other identification had been erased.

So, it appears that the boat had reached the end of its useful life, the owner had taken what he wanted and cast the boat out to sea hoping to never see it again.  And when it reappeared, two Coastguard rescue officers attended, three lifeboat crew, two NT personnel and of course the operation was being monitored by MRCC Portland who had a much larger search on the go at the same time.

But I don't suppose whoever cast the boat out to sea will be worried about that.

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