E-mail this page to a friendVermontborg Grounds
The new hull Vermontborg, which could work at least part of the year on the Great Lakes, broke free January 3, 2003 and stranded while under tow in the English Channel. The hull was being towed from the builder’s yard in Romania to the Netherlands for fit out when it broke free in high winds and drifted onto La Capelle Reef off the Island of Guernsey, U.K. It was pulled free after numerous attempts January 19.
Below are images of the stranded hull by
Richard Lord
(Copyright
R.L.Lord2003)
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 Tugs wait offshore Saturday (Jan. 18) afternoon. |
 Holes patched. |
 Rudder and propeller have been trimmed. |
 Another view. |
 Close up. |
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 High & dry at low tide |
 Wide view. |
 Crowds marvel at the site. |
 Close up of bow. |
 Damage. |
 Another view. |
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 Tugs Boxer and Anglian Prince. |
 Boxer is a Belgian tug. Both tugs have been used together to try and remove Vermontborg from La Capelle Reef, Guernsey. |
 Tides comes in. |
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 Pale areas of granite reef are damaged by Vermontborg |
 Full view. |
 On La Capelle Reef. |
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 Seaward side view. |
 Propeller& rudder damage |
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One of the blades of the variable pitch
propeller has suffered damage.
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Salvagers tried to remove
the Vermontborg off the reef Friday, January 17 but were unsuccessful. According to the tide
tables high water (8.2 meters) at St. Peter Port on Guernsey's east
coast will be at 0539 (am) on Friday morning and again at 1807.
Subsequent tides get larger. They have already tried to pull the Vermontborg off the reef on an 8.1 meter tide without success. Of course, atmospheric conditions alter the level of the tide. A low pressure system overhead would be ideal to raise the tide level further and waves would provide added lift. The Vermontborg stranded on La Capelle Reef an hour and a half before the top of a 9.2 meter tide. It was successfully pulled off the reef late on January 19. |
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