TOTAL LOSS — A COLLECTION OF 45 FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF YACHT LOSS AT SEA
| Author(s) | Jack Coote, Paul Gelder |
| Publisher | Sheridan House |
| Date | 1998 |
| Pages | 320 |
| Format | |
| Size | 55 Mb |
| D O W N L O A D | |
As Jack Coote mentioned in the preface to the first edition of this book sixteen years ago, it is not a pessimistic work. Its purpose is not to discourage anyone from setting out on a well-equipped yacht after thorough preparation. Nor should it be seen as a morbid or voyeuristic account. When a sailor loses a yacht, regardless of the reason, it is like losing a partner in great adventures. Frank Mulville described in the chapter Girl Stella’s Going: “A boat has a soul, a personality, eccentricities of behavior that are endearing.
It becomes part of a person, coloring their entire life with a romance unfamiliar to those who don’t understand a lifestyle connected with boats. The older a boat gets, the stronger its aura... People look at boats with admiration and say, “She’s been to the South Seas,” or “She’s just returned from the North Cape,” and the boat’s reputation surpasses that of its owner. “A boat is always there—you never stop worrying about her, whether you are aboard or ashore.
She might be laid up for winter in a safe harbor or hauled out in a yard... Wherever you are, part of your consciousness always remains with her. Men lie awake worrying about their bank accounts, their wives, their mistresses—actual or potential; but sailors worry about boats”. Mulville felt that losing Girl Stella was a “dead weight of responsibility”—a burden that could never be fully lifted. Similarly, Mike Richey experienced “no going back” after losing Fester. As he watched her fade into the distance—still looking as trim and beautiful as ever—he realized how deeply he loved her. “Men personify their boats like no other artifacts,” he reflected. “I felt I had failed her, that I should have stayed with the boat...
That was one of the saddest moments of my life,” he recalled. Bill Tilman expressed that the loss of Mischief meant more than losing a yacht. “It felt like I had betrayed and abandoned a friend who was stricken,” he said. “I shall never forget her.” Bob Roberts faced a scene that nearly broke his heart: seeing Thelma, the brave 27-foot vessel that had carried him safely through 7,000 miles of both calm and storm in the Pacific, pounding on rocks along a lonely shoreline. Coral had sliced through her anchor chain as if with a file.
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