Adventures of a Tribe

Saving Crystal Blue

Posted on August 15, 2018 Updated on August 15, 2018

Usually if I stand outside our bedroom and call to the creatures first thing in the early morning, they will slowly emerge from their rooms as they wipe their eyes and yawn, and finally find their focus and reply, ‘yes, Mom?’ This particular morning was different…I had just woken to a phone call from the elders in our church, saying that a member of our church was having a rough morning and needed our help. His 30ft Island Packet sailboat had broken free from her anchor in a storm in the night, and had washed up on rocks and he was trying to get her off. Since our family had already endured a shipwreck, they thought perhaps we could be of assistance. I told him we’d head out in the next 10 minutes, then woke Danny up and explained the situation to him. When I stepped out into the hallway and called to the creatures, telling them we needed to help our friends in a shipwreck situation, Mycah, Aidan and Emma were instantly up, alert and naming off items they would grab to take with and help.

The hour drive over was an interesting one for all of us, as we chatted about possible ideas and a suggestions for the plan of attack, though we wouldn’t know exactly what we were dealing with till we saw her. We all commented on what we had felt the morning after our shipwreck, as we were driven to the closest point where our sailboat was. We felt anxious, and just wanted to get busy to keep our emotions at bay. We had learned so much from our experience and more than anything, just wanted to be a comfort and a help.

As soon as we reached the site, we chatted with Bill, the owner, to find out what his plan was and told him to put us to work. Many rocks were off to her port side, and some of them had already penetrated her hull, so tying lines and pulling her away from that was our first priority.

Aidan and Mycah swam the anchor out through crashing waves and secured it among some rocks, while Danny, the elders and Bill worked on securing other lines. Before long we had quite the spiderweb stretching across the beach and into the trees, pulling Crystal Blue to starboard. As we all worked, options were discussed on how to patch the holes and cracks in her hull so she could be floated and towed to a marina for haul out.

After a brief lunch of gas station sandwiches and potato chips, we set out to collect supplies to begin temporary repairs. Our plan was to purchase sheets of plywood, screws and expanding foam, and attempt to make her water tight, then once low tied hit, we’d work hard and fast and get her patched. In the mean time, Bill called a group of guys called Sea Gypsies, who said they could tow her off the beach.

I took a minute to have a chat with Crystal Blue. I told her to hang in there, that we cared about her and were going to try save her. She looked so sad and out of place, like a beached whale, and it made me tear up. We may not have been able to save Tanda Malaika, but we were going to do all we could to help Bill save Crystal Blue!
Bill had only owned her for about 18 months at this point, purchasing her in the US where she had been on a fresh water lake her whole life. My heart ached for Bill, and I gave him a big Belinda hug and tried reassuring him that everything was going to be okay.

The creatures scraped off any barnacles that would keep the board from laying flat against the hull.

Pieces of board were cut, a German friend named Popeye lay on his back with a drill and drilled screws through the boards at the base and into the hull, and foam was squirted into cracks and holes and between boards and hull.

We worked hard until about 9pm, and with little cuts here and there and sand and salt covering our bodies, the kids and I made our way to Bills house with his girlfriend, Toy, where we would rest for a couple of hours. Danny and Bill stayed at the boat so that they’d be there once high tide hit around midnight, to see if any water was going to leak in anywhere.

As the tide rose, Bill and Danny found that the boat rapidly filled with water, as if all our hard work had been done for nothing. Obviously there were cracks and holes on her port side between boat and sand that we hadn’t been able to see. As water rushed in, so did sand, which is the only thing worse that excessive amounts of water in a boat. We drove back, picked Danny up as Bill rode his scooter home, and we agreed to meet up in the morning once again.

The following morning, Crystal Blue had shifted to her starboard side, which gave us a good view of the large crack we had missed. It was so disheartening, and we wondered if there was any chance at all that she could be floated off, or if she would just sink. The Sea Gypsies told Bill that they had a tug boat that could pull her off, but that they would fill her with floats and barrels first so she wouldn’t sink.

We hopped on board, retightened lines that were connected to trees and rearranged some. Aidan did his stealthy ninja rock climbing stunts, carrying lines up higher on the rocks and tying her tighter from better angles.

We helped Bill as much as we could, removing all cushions and personal belongings off the boat, but knew at this point we were at the mercy of the Sea Gypsies schedule. We once again left her there on the beach after another hard day of work and feeling so bad for Bill. We would reconvene once again the following day when all the barrels arrived. Inside sand and sea water were having a jolly time.

The following morning Danny received a phone call from Bill, where he explained that he did not have the means to have Crystal Blue towed off the beach, placed on the hard in a marina, and repaired, and offered her to us for $1. We called the kids into our room for a family discussion, during which, Jude called from Alaska, so we told her about it too. She was very eager for us to take Bill up on his offer. We discussed the amount of hard work it would be, knowing that the creatures also had school to work on. We’d definitely have the hull professionally repaired, but could recover cushions and sand, fix and restain all the wood work ourselves. We didn’t know if the engine would run after being under sand and salt water for this long, and would have to replace all the batteries and electrical. We looked up what Island Packets the same age as Crystal Blue sell for, and after some family discussion, decided that it would a fun adventure to embark on as a family. We’d learn a lot and have a boat to explore the surrounding islands and beyond, with.

The following morning the Sea Gypsies had already arrived and were running thick ropes along her hulls for towing. They had dug below her to run ropes under her as well. It was clear that the keel would need to be repaired and we found the ballast from her keel on the beach – weighing a few thousand pounds.

Large green barrels were placed on the beach – ready to fill her interior. Her deck, standing rigging and mast were holding up well through all the chaos, but the longer she sat there, the more her hull was getting beaten up.

The Sea Gypsies worked hard, Crystal Blue hung in there,

she was soon busting at the seams with 33 barrels, and as ready as she could be to be towed!

We once again worked side by side with Bill, but this time – he was there helping us rather than us helping him. Life is so interesting…so many twists and turns. So many opportunities. One day you don’t own a boat and the next day you do – even if it is a project boat!

My sciatic pain showed it’s ugly face again, and Mycah’s back started acting up too. Toy was so sweet to give Mycah a good back rub during some down time.

We drove around Phuket, trying to find a marina that had lifts or a trailer of some sort to haul Crystal Blue out, and after some homework, found that M9 Marina in the Chalong area of Phuket, was our best bet. We missed watching her being hauled off the beach, but watched from a distance as she lay low in the water – held up by 33 barrels, being towed for an hour over to M9. It was a relief to see that she hadn’t just disappeared below the waves, and every minute was a minute closer to her being on land where we could begin working on her.

As she neared shore, storm clouds gathered and the wind picked up speed. Surely Mother Nature could cut this poor boat some slack and just be calm! Once she was close to shore, a long boat took her ropes and the tug boat went on its way, and the Sea Gypsies grabbed hold of the main line and began pulling her in. The more they pulled the harder the wind blew, sending a branch flying into one of the gypsies.

Danny had quite the crowd of kids around him, watching the screen as her followed along with the drone. He bent down low so they could all see clearly, and they loved it.

As the rain picked up, Toy took cover with some munchkins under a nearby dinghy.

By the time the gypsies had battled the storm and positioned Crystal Blue where she needed to be, the tide had dropped low enough to make it impossible to haul her out, so the poor thing had to sit and wait for the next high tide.

Later Danny sat at a table with the haul out guys, discussing the best plan of attack, and they told us that they simply might not be able to haul her out. Everyone knows that I call Danny my McGuiver Guy, and once again he didn’t fail us – he drew a diagram showing the haul out crew how to set up rollers to roll her from the water and onto the trailer, and they stared at his diagram shaking their heads…but tried it anyway, and it worked! After removing all 33 barrels, and with the tractor deep into the water, they were able to roll her onto the trailer and pull her safely onto land!

It was such a huge relief to see her on the trailer.

Our sweet girl had made it and now she was ready for some serious TLC.

So it is…Crystal Blue’s adventure begins with our family. I think we are all in for quite a treat!