My Second Morgan Invasion

 

15-17 Apr 2005

 

By Bob Horan

 

            The experience started on Thursday, the 14th about 5:30, when I cranked up my antique 1972 Ford F250 4X4 and pulled up the street on my way to the 20th Annual Morgan Invasion.  It was smooth going until I heard a loud bang while passing a semi tractor trailer 10 miles north of Cordele, GA.  I could see no lost tread from the semi, so I decided I should pull over to check my rig.  By the time I had gotten stopped, I knew it was my rig.   Left rear tire on the truck shredded.   Back on the road with the wimpy spare and headed to Wal-Mart for two new back tires, but their garage was closed and would not mount them.   20 miles down the road, I finally found a service station that would mount them for me.  By 9:30 PM, I was on the road again.  I had gotten 70 miles in 4 hours.   It was time to get serious about driving.  At 1:30AM, I stopped and rested near Ocala until about 7:00AM and then pressed on to arrive at the War Veterans Memorial Park boat ramp in St. Pete at about 10:00.  

 

            Raising the mast and launching was smooth and I took my time getting everything ready for arriving at the Treasure Island Tennis & Yacht Club.   Arriving at the Club, I was one of the first 24s to arrive.  The evening was a mixture of good food and meeting sailors I had met last year plus the new faces of new Morgan Yacht owners.  My daughter Linda arrived about 9:00Am on Saturday, and by then I had also recruited another couple from St. Augustine, FL. to be crew also.  We would be a crew of four.  Tom and Leslee also own a Morgan 24 and were happy to be able to sail on Linda Jean to gain the experience on a boat like theirs.    With introductions completed, and race instructions in hand we pushed off from the dock following the fleet.

 

            The sea looked peaceful when we raised the sails and we soon decided we needed the 150% Jib up to sail well in the 8-10 kt. wind.    When we arrived at the starting line to find we had up too much sail, with the wind blowing about 20.   After changing sail and tacking back to the starting line we saw a Morgan 38, Tease, that had the top of their mast broken off.   Nobody injured and no hull damage.   The start for us followed shortly with us being on the wrong end of the starting line.   We finally started 3-4 minutes late.  The wind was blowing strong and we had our hands full.  The rail was in the water a lot and we trailed behind the rest of the Morgan 24s.  As we approached the last leg the waves were building up a lot and rounding the mark was a challenge.   Now we were in some pretty bumpy seas and we could see one of the boats behind us was having trouble tacking on the mark, and the other Morgan 38 had lost a man overboard.   They retrieved the man and came back in the race.    

 

            We were on a port tack when we heard and felt the crack.  I thought we might have broken a centerboard.   Linda called back that the chain plate had pulled up on the port side.  I pushed the tiller and Leslee let up on the jib.   I let off on the main and told Tom and Linda to pull down the sails.   I cranked up the motor and forced Linda Jean into the wind so they could get the sails down.   We would be in serious trouble if the mast came down.  With the sails down, I went inside to look at the damage.  Not good.  The chain plate fasteners had ripped apart the bulkhead and was being held from pulling thru the deck because the chain plate bolts were 1 ½ inches long and could not fit thru the ½ inch slot in the deck.   Back on deck I tied the outer shroud to the jib track using some small line.  We motored in thru the 4-6 ft seas hoping we could get into some calmer water before the mast pulled the chain plate and the jib track up.   I called the Race Committee boat on the VHF Radio to tell them we were withdrawing from the race. 

 

            After we motored thru John’s pass we all relaxed a bit, as we broke out the snacks and drinks, since we had been too busy out there to do much of that.   Back at the dock we surveyed the damage a little closer to find that the starboard chain plate was also starting to show signs of fatigue.  Linda Jean would need some serious repair or replacement of the main bulkhead.  The good part of this is that the mast did not fall, no one was injured, and the cost of repair will be relativity low, but would take months to fix.

 

            We had dinner and then the awards ceremony started.   We knew we would not get any trophies for the race but wanted to see who did them in the 4 classes.   During the awards, Linda Jean received the under 30,  “Most Pristine and Innovative Morgan Yacht Award.  Pristine Classic”.   So we did go home with something.  Many asked if I would return next year, and my reply was “ I will return to skipper one of my Morgan 24s next year for the 21st Annual Morgan Invasion”. 

 

            The return trip home was uneventful.  Arriving home at 8:10 PM on Sunday evening after leaving the War Veterans Memorial Park at Noon.