Two years after the Bounty
THE BOUNTY was a frequent visitor to the Boothbay Harbor’s waterfront. Wednesday, Oct. 29 marks the two-year anniversary of the ship’s sinking during Hurricane Sandy. File photo
THE BOUNTY was a frequent visitor to the Boothbay Harbor’s waterfront. Wednesday, Oct. 29 marks the two-year anniversary of the ship’s sinking during Hurricane Sandy. File photo
Wednesday, Oct. 29 will mark the two-year anniversary of the Bounty’s sinking during a hurricane.
On Monday, Oct. 29, 2012 the tall ship radioed to the Coast Guard to announce the crew was abandoning ship, before the boat went down during Hurricane Sandy.
The Bounty was a frequent visitor to Boothbay Harbor. Shortly before the ship’s final voyage it was docked at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard, where it featured prominently in the backdrop of the harbor.
Of the ship’s 16 crew members, 14 made it safely off the ship. Claudene Christian, who was descended from Fletcher Christian of the original HMS Bounty, drowned during the rescue efforts, and the ship’s captain, Robin Walbridge, was never recovered.
The ship sank 123 miles from Hatteras, North Carolina, when 40-mile-per-hour winds and and 18-foot swells battered the boat. The ship experienced some mechanical break-downs. In the Coast Guard’s findings, the final cause of the Bounty’s sinking was human error, on the part of Walbridge. The ensuing investigation focused on why the ship had set sail during a hurricane.
The full report of the Bounty’s sinking can be located on the National Transportation Safety Board’s website.
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