Restoration

"Catain Nat" cares about his Mary Rose

There was one more - final one - incredible incident in the exciting history of Mary Rose. It all happened in Bristol, Rhode Island in 2010, and strained the already fragile nerves of Geri, Mary Rose's dedicated caretaker. The yachts mooring snaps in a heavy squall and Mary Rose starts drifting into open waters, bare a skipper and guiding hand. As if Capt. Nat kept his protecting spell over her, Mary Rose swiftly makes an elegant pirouette and starts drifting towards the shore. Between menacing rocks and reefs she points towards the only sandy beach and gets stuck in the mud bed. Her bowsprit pointing towards the historic building in which Nathanael Greene Herreshoff lived and worked, designed and built Mary Rose. Because of the low tide setting the salvage became impossible until early evening many friends and enthusiasts keep a wake and pray that she will not be smashed against the rocks. Like a wonder, Mary Rose towers proudly over the rising tide until the salvage tug was able to slide her off towards safe waters. No damage done, Mary Rose is ready for further adventures.

The worst incident happened to Mary Rose in the fall of 2011 between New York and the Bermudas when gales of 80 kts (150 km/h) lasted 26 hours. The delivery turns from the Caribbean to Maine and back became an increasing risk, as the insurance industry required the yachts to do the passage late november from north to south. Storms and waves as high as a house challenged even experienced crews. Waves of 20 ft were dwarfed when two freak waves smashed unto the deck of Mary Rose, destroying the spreaders and radar random, tearing apart a deck box and dodgers, inundating the saloon and navigation station. An analysis measured these two breakers at more that 50 ft of hight. Geri decided to leave Mary Rose the following years in Antigua, a known and relative safe Hurricane hole. A wise decision as hurricane SANDY caused chaos in 2012 along the East Coast, the traditional sailing areas of Mary Rose.