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Thursday, April 28, 2011

Clarification!!!

Our yacht was NOT  damaged while being loaded onto the transport ship!

We have heard from 3 people that they had heard that our yacht was damaged while being loaded onto the transport ship in Male.  This is bullshit!  This is just yet another case of the wild rumor mill of cruisers.  It is not true -- as is so often the case when cruisers tell one another "facts" that they have heard repeated by others.

I know where this rumor started.  It started when one or two members of the Blue Water Rally yachts that are in Salalah still awaiting transport via Dockwise emailed well-intentioned comments to some of their friends.  Gosh, those folks really have my sympathies!  They are in such an awful situation there and I hope their transport ship arrives soon.

We had emailed photos of BeBe being loaded aboard the transport ship in Male to a friend who owns a boat exactly like ours.  Seeing photos of how the Amel yachts can be lifted from the deck level lifting points rather than by the usual straps beneath the hull would help our friend decide whether he wanted to go this route when his yacht is (hopefully soon) loaded onto the Dockwise ship; or if he wanted to deal with the very difficult job of removing the triadic stay and use the usual straps beneath the hull.

Included in these photos were images of a few scratches BeBe received when the lifting cables began to swing while being removed when the ship started to roll.  Remember, we were loaded on the transport ship while it was at anchor in a rolly atoll, not tied to a wharf.  These few scratches from the swinging lifting cables could hardly be considered damage to our yacht.  These are minor scratches in the gel coat and will be buffed out during our haul-out next week.  It is not at all a big deal and we are not concerned about it in the least.

The lifting cables were well greased.  As they swung across the deck on BeBe the cables left grease marks.  We scrubbed these off before we got off BeBe after she was loaded.  We did not want the grease to dissolve all over the deck in the intense heat going up portions of the Red Sea.  We wanted the decks clean to begin this voyage.  Again, this was not damage; it was just a mess to clean up.  Not a big deal at all.

Yet emails have been sent to cruisers in other countries stating that our yacht was damaged during loading.  These rumors have gone full circle and now cruisers here in Marmaris are telling us that they have heard about our yacht sustaining damage while being loaded in Male.  NOT TRUE!!!   Emails also have circulated that other yachts were damaged during loading.  No one, not one person whose yacht was loaded on the same transport ship with BeBe, has mentioned receiving any damage to their yacht during loading.  These are just more rumors!  To our knowledge, not one single boat sustained damage during the loading process.

The BBC EVEREST will arrive in Marmaris sometime tonight.  In fact, it is possible that she is already docked at the Customs Wharf as I type this.  All owners or captains of yachts aboard this transport ship have been requested to meet on the ship with the agent tomorrow morning (Friday 29 April 2011) at 0900 to receive the off-loading schedule.  

This means we should be back aboard S/V BeBe within a day or two!!!  They hope to off-load at least 5 yachts tomorrow and the rest over the weekend.  I doubt BeBe will be one of the first 5 yachts to be off-loaded, so we probably will not splash until Saturday or even Sunday morning.

We fully expect the off-loading to be as non-eventful as the loading.  We would be very shocked to sustain any damage to BeBe or any of the other yachts during this process.

Added 4/29/2011:
Had a request for photos of this alleged "damage" to BeBe when loaded on the transport ship.  Here they are.  You be the judge.

cable grease on winch cover
cable grease on turnbuckle cover
cable grease on gelcoat
cable scratches on gelcoat
cable scrapes on spinnaker pole
cable grease on lower lifeline
cable scratches on gelcoat
cable scratches on gelcoat

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