Rescue of the Bounty: Disaster and Survival in Superstorm Sandy by Michael J. Tougias, Douglas A. Campbell Page A
Authors: Michael J. Tougias, Douglas A. Campbell
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difference would usually have concerned Bailey. “His résumé was what made me accept his candidacy. He was a little old for a tall ship. You imagine the mates will be only marginally older than deckhands, who are eighteen,” Bailey explained. “I had previously had the experience of finding that deckhands of age twenty-five or thirty had a hard time interacting with mates younger than them.” But he found Walbridge not only fit but “he was also personable, a very agreeable kind of guy.”
Walbridge held a hundred-ton master’s license when he arrived aboard Rose . He wanted to get some time on bigger ships to upgrade his license, Bailey said. The captain of less complex schooners, Walbridge happily began his life on a square-rigger as an able-bodied seaman, just a regular crew member. “Within a few months, he moved up through the ranks. I think we may have bumped him up to first mate in ’94 when I was gone,” said Bailey.
Walbridge quickly demonstrated that he had immense aptitude as a sailor and equally immense aptitude for anything mechanical. “We came to rely on him for his opinions about mechanical issues. The second year, we put a piston rod through the side of an engine, and he got it fixed in forty-eight hours,” Bailey said.
In the summer of 1994, Bailey got to know something about Bounty . He had taken leave from his helm—and promoted Walbridge to first mate—and was asked to run Bounty for short trips here and there. In the fall of that year, Bounty —owned by an offshoot of the Fall River, Massachusetts, Chamber of Commerce—needed someone to skipper the ship to St. Petersburg. Bailey assembled a crew and took Bounty as far as Wilmington, North Carolina, where it was to stay for a few weeks.
“While it was laid up in Wilmington, they asked me if I knew someone who could be the ship keeper while it was there,” Bailey said. “I knew Robin was available. I called him and he came down and familiarized himself with the ship.” Then Walbridge became Bounty ’s caretaker. The job was lent some adventure when, during the night, someone cast off Bounty ’s dock lines, and Walbridge, alone on board, managed to get his drifting charge back alongside the dock.
Rose had been Robin Walbridge’s only schooling in tall ships before he took over Bounty in Wilmington. There were differences. Rose was fourteen feet taller than Bounty , with a bit greater tonnage. But the biggest difference was the type of hull. Rose was a replica of a frigate, a naval gunship. As a ship designed to haul coal, Bounty was round and strong, and Captain Bligh’s mentor, Captain Cook, had chosen the collier over the frigate because it lacked the frigate’s array of gunports, openings through which heavy seas could wash over the vessel.
Bailey often joked that Rose was like a horse, Bounty like a cow. But when the chance came in 1995 to become master of the bovine Bounty , Robin Walbridge committed himself to a long-term relationship.
CHAPTER TWELVE
AN AGING ACTOR
Riding the Storm Out . . . Day 2
I’m sure that Bounty’s crew would be overwhelmed by all the prayers and best wishes that have been given. Rest assured that the Bounty is safe and in very capable hands.
Bounty’s current voyage is a calculated decision . . . NOT AT ALL . . . irresponsible or with a lack of foresight as some have suggested. . . . The fact of the matter is . . . A SHIP IS SAFER AT SEA THAN IN PORT!
In the next few posts I will try to quell some fears and help to explain some of the dynamics that are in Bounty’s favor.
— Bounty Facebook entry, 11:30 a.m., Saturday, October 27, 2012
Bounty had crossed the Gulf Stream sometime before Robin Walbridge ordered the course change Saturday morning. She was sailing in warmer water southeast of the stream, even as she headed southwest, back toward the East Coast. During the afternoon, she was making a speed of seven knots on the GPS that was mounted in the Nav Shack. That was
Walbridge held a hundred-ton master’s license when he arrived aboard Rose . He wanted to get some time on bigger ships to upgrade his license, Bailey said. The captain of less complex schooners, Walbridge happily began his life on a square-rigger as an able-bodied seaman, just a regular crew member. “Within a few months, he moved up through the ranks. I think we may have bumped him up to first mate in ’94 when I was gone,” said Bailey.
Walbridge quickly demonstrated that he had immense aptitude as a sailor and equally immense aptitude for anything mechanical. “We came to rely on him for his opinions about mechanical issues. The second year, we put a piston rod through the side of an engine, and he got it fixed in forty-eight hours,” Bailey said.
In the summer of 1994, Bailey got to know something about Bounty . He had taken leave from his helm—and promoted Walbridge to first mate—and was asked to run Bounty for short trips here and there. In the fall of that year, Bounty —owned by an offshoot of the Fall River, Massachusetts, Chamber of Commerce—needed someone to skipper the ship to St. Petersburg. Bailey assembled a crew and took Bounty as far as Wilmington, North Carolina, where it was to stay for a few weeks.
“While it was laid up in Wilmington, they asked me if I knew someone who could be the ship keeper while it was there,” Bailey said. “I knew Robin was available. I called him and he came down and familiarized himself with the ship.” Then Walbridge became Bounty ’s caretaker. The job was lent some adventure when, during the night, someone cast off Bounty ’s dock lines, and Walbridge, alone on board, managed to get his drifting charge back alongside the dock.
Rose had been Robin Walbridge’s only schooling in tall ships before he took over Bounty in Wilmington. There were differences. Rose was fourteen feet taller than Bounty , with a bit greater tonnage. But the biggest difference was the type of hull. Rose was a replica of a frigate, a naval gunship. As a ship designed to haul coal, Bounty was round and strong, and Captain Bligh’s mentor, Captain Cook, had chosen the collier over the frigate because it lacked the frigate’s array of gunports, openings through which heavy seas could wash over the vessel.
Bailey often joked that Rose was like a horse, Bounty like a cow. But when the chance came in 1995 to become master of the bovine Bounty , Robin Walbridge committed himself to a long-term relationship.
CHAPTER TWELVE
AN AGING ACTOR
Riding the Storm Out . . . Day 2
I’m sure that Bounty’s crew would be overwhelmed by all the prayers and best wishes that have been given. Rest assured that the Bounty is safe and in very capable hands.
Bounty’s current voyage is a calculated decision . . . NOT AT ALL . . . irresponsible or with a lack of foresight as some have suggested. . . . The fact of the matter is . . . A SHIP IS SAFER AT SEA THAN IN PORT!
In the next few posts I will try to quell some fears and help to explain some of the dynamics that are in Bounty’s favor.
— Bounty Facebook entry, 11:30 a.m., Saturday, October 27, 2012
Bounty had crossed the Gulf Stream sometime before Robin Walbridge ordered the course change Saturday morning. She was sailing in warmer water southeast of the stream, even as she headed southwest, back toward the East Coast. During the afternoon, she was making a speed of seven knots on the GPS that was mounted in the Nav Shack. That was
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