ROYALISTE IS UNDERWATER

[Iron Bess]

ALL ARE SAFE....

This is a message as posted by Poison Qill from Tales of the Seven seas...

Everyone,

Bob just called me. ALL ABOARD ARE SAFE, but the Royaliste, with Gary, Kathy, Bob and one other crew member were going down one of the narrow channels and their depth changed from 14' to 4' very suddenly. Even with the depth finder, they were not able to avoid hitting the bottom and ran aground despite everyone's best efforts.

Royaliste is underwater at this moment. Vessel assist rescued everyone including both parrots and the dog, but the ship is submerged to her scuppers at this time. (that means submerged to the openings in the deck rails that allow water to flow off the deck)

The tide will not come in until 5am EST tomorrow morning, so she all all the equipment aboard will have to remain submerged until at least that time.

Please do not call Bob's cell phone at this time. It is being used for emergency contact only. As I understand it, the other phones are submerged.

I will post updates here as soon as I have any word.

_________________

[Red Maria]

Bess

Even Gary's & Kathy's cel phone are submerged? This is terrible.

[Dorian Lasseter]

Damnation....

Well, whomever happens to contact them, tell Gary & Co. that all of us at the Pub and then some are wishing them the best of luck with the Royaliste.

I've had the pleasure of visiting Gary and the Royaliste a handful of years ago. A grande Vessel she be...

Please keep all of us updated...

[Silkie McDonough]

Aye, all I have to offer is moral support and that they can have copious amounts of!

Hope all remains "well".

[William Brand]

My most profound sympathy for them and the ship. I hope she can be rescued very soon.

[Capt. Sterling]

Thank God all the folks are all well, but what terrible news about the ship. Hoping all works out for the very best.

[Sjöröveren]

Thank God they are all safe! We had the pleasure of being aboard the Royaliste last summer when they were in Green Bay. Kathy saw us standing in a very long line, and whisked us aboard for a private tour. Finer folks you will never meet! Our hopes and prayers go out to them and for a successful floating of the ship.

[Ransom]

My prayers go out to them. Will hope the ship can be saved with a minimum of damage.

[LongTom]

Here's hopin' they can get her floated and on her way again, good as new. Thank God everyone is safe.

[Red-Handed Jill]

Here's the latest info from Poison Quill of TO7S:

I just spoke on the phone to both Bob and Kathy, so I have a little more information on what happened.

They were pulling into Little River South Carolina and were within sight of where they were to dock for the night. The chart said that the depth of the water at low tide was 10' and the Royaliste only draws 6'-6", so there should have been plenty of room to spare. There was only 4' and they went aground.

The tide was going out and all aboard did their best to balance her upright as the water receded. They called to someone in the harbor to come help and when he came over and set his foot aboard, she went over on her side from that slight change in weight.

Then the tide began to come back in and it completely swamped her. She is submerged and laying on her side in the water. There is no hole in her hull.

The reality of this looks very grim. It will take a marine salvage crane and a crew of divers to upright her. Her entire electrical system will have to be replaced and the engines completely repaired or replaced and gas tanks flushed. Royaliste may or may not have to be de-masted to be righted. Bob and I are in agreement that he will stay with Gary and Kathy as long as he is needed.

The contents of the boat are all submerged of course, they had only a few moments to get anything from below before the tide came back in. Think of the damage to the homes flooded by Hurricane Katrina and I think you'll have a pretty good idea of what Gary and Kathy are faced with.

I have asked Kathy to provide a Paypal link for those of us who would like to make a donation to Privateer Inc (their non-profit foundation that supports the ship). Please wait until morning, Kathy is going to double check that everything is set up properly at Paypal. I will post a link as soon as possible.

[Red Cat Jenny]

Thanking God they are all safe. Must have been both frightening and terribly dissapointing. I have been following their travels and hope the best for all and speedy recovery of the beautiful Royaliste.

[Bully MacGraw]

Capt. Gary has done what none of us would or could do. He took his personel fortune and purchased a reproduction vessel. Now that the vessel is underwater, the problems are coming. If he is in salt water, the diesel engine is ruined along with the wiring.

The cost of repairing the vessel can easly be $100,000!

God bless Capt. Gary, the hands and the good ship Royaliste. I am proud to have served on board!

If every member of this forum could send just $10 I think we could help this true pyrate and this fyne ship!

Ed McGrath

[Desert Pyrate]

Aye to that.

Royaliste will *really, really* need everyone's help. Ed is entirely right about the problems of being submerged. Nothing boat-related is cheap.

She's taught me some of the most important lessons in my life... literally changed it.

Most tall ships are not pirate friendly; Royaliste has built her image around them. She is truly the pirate ambassador to the maritime world.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, and if/when a paypal link becomes available, *please* consider using it. Every single dollar will help.

Eric

sailor, S/V Royaliste.

[Ace of Harbor Bay]

As a former crew member...

It is incredibly difficult to imagine our fine ship lying under water.

And the amount of damage and loss that has most probably occured.

I'm hoping that things like the deck guns are not at the bottom of the river now and that much may be salvagable.

But I am also very happy to know that everyone was safe including the feathered and furry ones.

I hope that everyone that can, does pitch in as it will be much needed.

[LongTom]

Just waitin' for that PayPal link...

[JohnnyTarr]

Any ideas as to how we can help? I would hate to see it left, never to sail again.

[Charity]

I'm sorry to hear that.

I'm glad everyone is safe, my thoughts go out to them.

Best wishes to them.

[TalesOfTheSevenSeas]

Thanks everyone for posting your best hopes for Royaliste and her crew. They haven't confirmed that the PayPal link is ready yet, but I'll let you know as soon as it is posted and will keep the news updated

HERE

as it comes in.

[Rumba Rue]

This is terrible news. This day is also one of great sorrow for myself and Boats as we learned of a dear pirate friend who died last night.

I can only hope for the best for the Royalist.

[HarborMaster]

Speechless ...and ,Horrified.

[Red-Handed Jill]

I think they will really appreciate any help folks here are willing to give them. I talked with Claire (Poison Quill) earlier today and apparently it doesn't look any better during the day. They were already operating on a shoestring (following your dream doesn't always lead to the big bucks...) so this is going to need more resources than they have right now. It's their home that is underwater...

[Coastie04]

I hope the boat's alright and is able to be refloated soon. I'm just waiting on that paypal link. As for words of encouragement, I'll add this picture of the Irving Johnson aground. When I saw this, along with other pictures that looked far worse, I thought there was no realistic way that she'd survive. If my memory serves me correct, she was battered by the waves for three days before she was refloated. However, she's sailing again today. I hope Royaliste is another one of those survival stories.

Coastie

[William Brand]

http://www.pbase.com/brode2/irving_johnson

I should like very much to see pictures of the Royalist where she lays at present, with the expectation that we can look back on the same pictures a few weeks from now with a sigh of relief.

When the Pelican sank awhile back I was heartsick.

Are there Pub members in that area who can provide a place to sleep and meals for the temporary castaways?

[Iron Bess]

Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 4:15 pm Post subject:

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I just got off the phone with Bob. As he describes the situation to me, Royaliste is in an area with only about 20' on each side. Getting a crane in there apparently isn't possible. The good news is that she is not a navigational hazard to other boats. She was very close to the dock when she grounded.

The plan is to get a local tug boat of some sort to try to pull her free and upright her. At this time, she is fully over on her starboard side. The bottom she's sitting on is at least 2' of sediment, which although it's soft, she's also settling deeper into it. They are not sure what is under the sediment. They are hoping it's reasonably soft.

All clothes and personal items were ruined. They picked up a few things so that they could brush their teeth and change clothes today. But quite literally, the crew got off with just the clothes on their backs. Hotel bills will also be adding up very quickly. Even the smallest of donations in a situation like this will be helpful and very deeply appreciated.

Tomorrow, Bob will take Kathy and Samantha (the other crewman) to go pick up Gary's truck so that they can get tools to shore in the hope of working on her. So I may not have a lot to report tomorrow, but I will post any news.

I made one error in the previous posts/emailings, the depth went from 14' to 4', not 40' to 4'. I misunderstood him over the cell phone.

They've had their hands full of course and haven't been able to check on the PayPal link, but that will come soon. So please check back for that

Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:18 pm Post subject:

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Here's some news for everyone at last:

Gary has located a local person with a tug or some type of boat that is helping him. What he's done is to back up to Royaliste's starboard side and let his prop wash (the turbulent water that is churned up by his boat's propellers) stir up the sediment under Royaliste. It is essentially digging her submerged side out of the muck. Tomorrow they are going to try to tug her out and up right her. If all goes well, they will try to pump her out and get her to a very near-by boat yard where she can be hauled out and begin repairs.

So send your good karma, prayers, wishes, hopes, good vibes to Royaliste and her crew!

_________________

[Red Cat Jenny]

Bess, this is such good news. My hearts been breaking for all of them. It must be no worse than your home being hit by a tornado or flood. Still standing by for the paypal link. I assume they may need clothes? Will there be an address folks can send goods to if needed? If so what?

Jenny