I should have added that this happened Early hours of Monday, 5/12. As fellow sailors here on the Chesapeake know, the weather has been real bad this past week (with the exception of Tuesday and Wednesday and most of today) and more heavy rains are expected tomorrow (Friday). Also, I sail out of West River, and would add that it is a small river that is more of a tidal estuary than a true river. It is only a few miles long and there is very little protected waters unless one navigates the narrow channel into Galesville. Rhodes River (North side off West River) offers better protection but also has a narrow channel approach. I am surprised if they were seeking refuge they didn't head into South River with harness Creek's well known Hurricane Hole. I have to wonder what they were doing out that nasty night and if they were returning from a race they didn't pull into other, more protected shelters earlier (Solomon's or perhaps Norfolk Navy Base) or wait for the Severn and the comfort of the Academy. I would guess a 49-foot ocean racing boat has considerable draft (7'-9' maybe) and West River is a shallow pool for that kind of boat in bad weather.
Joe McCary Aeolus II, West River, MD [EMAIL PROTECTED] (forwarded from another email list) Excerpt from a weather roundup, ultimately from the Balt. Sun: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/bal-te.md.storm13may13,0,661200.sto ry ...... Elsewhere, the Coast Guard responded early yesterday when 14 Naval Academy midshipmen aboard the 49-foot sailing vessel Marmaluke radioed shortly after midnight that their boat had been dismasted in bad weather on the West River. Coast Guardsmen aboard a 41-foot boat took the Mids off the disabled vessel and transported them to shore by 2 a.m. One minor injury was reported during the transfer, said Petty Officer John Edwards of Coast Guard sector Baltimore. Joe McCary Aeolus II, West River, MD [EMAIL PROTECTED]
