The HMS Bounty replica ship, recently in for repairs at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard, has sunk offshore of North Carolina caught in the fierce seas generated by Hurricane Sandy, according to the US Coast Guard (USCG).
Two crew members are reported missing and 14 were rescued by helicopter, according to the USCG. For a dramatic video of the rescue, there is a link at the end of this article.
The USCG is not yet releasing any names, but many of the crew members were familiar to Lincoln County locals.
Vincent Frazzetta of Damariscotta was taking photos of the ship coming into the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard when he made the acquaintance of Claudene Christian, one of the crew members. They struck up a conversation about Alaska, where Frazetta was a former resident and Christian presently resided when not at sea. He described her as friendly and intelligent.
The crew members were also welcome guests at Boothbay Harbor establishments including McSeagull’s where bartender Shane Therrien remembers them fondly. “They were very personable and very nice folks,” Therrien said. “All in all they were good ocean folks… It’s a pretty somber scene here at McSeagull’s right now.”
USCG officials say that they are still actively searching for the missing crew members, and that while conditions are rough, the water is relatively warm; increasing chances for survival. Both of the missing persons (and the rescued crew members) had time to don survival suits and personal flotation devices.
The last reported location for the Bounty was on October 28 at 6:08 p.m. at position N 34°22′ W 074°15′, according to the Universal Licensing System maintained by the Federal Communications Commission, which is able to track vessels by their radio call sign. The position of her sinking was approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, North Carolina, according to the USCG.
She departed Boothbay Harbor on October 20, according to tallship.org, the website for the Bounty. She stopped for a day in New London, Connecticut and was sailing to St. Petersburg, Florida when she went down.
The Lincoln County News website will continue to follow the progress of this event, with constant coverage beginning Monday, extending into the night-time hours, and continuing on Tuesday. Any additional information will be posted here as soon as it becomes available. Anyone with information on the storm is encouraged to contact Greg Latimer directly at 207-380-9912 or greglatimer@yahoo.com.
