Shipwreck

March 4, 2009

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I took my boat out for the first time at Lido di Ostia.

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I wanted to see how the mast and sail would work.

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It was an extremely windy day. Perfect for sailing, I thought.

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My father and Giovanni came to help with the launch. We were smiling as I prepared to get underway.

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I pushed the boat away from shore,

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but the wind caught the boat and took me out of the protected cove where I had planned on testing the sail.

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Out past the jetty, the waves were big and I was unable to row against the wind.

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I struggled to put down the rudder so that I could control the direction of the boat, but it was ripped out of my hands.

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The wind pushed the mast down into an extreme pitch,

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and I fell out into the water.

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The boat had capsized.

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The water was cold, and I clung to the side of the boat, trying to see if there was some way I could set her right again.

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I tried to unhook the mast,

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but my life preserver became tangled in the mast stays.

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As the sail filled with water, the boat began to turn completely upside down.

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I unhooked my life preserver and swam clear of the boat.

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The wind seemed to push the boat out to sea, and I was heartbroken watching her drift away.

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It was difficult to swim in my clothes. The waves were breaking over my head.

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I could see my dad standing on the jetty. I tried to hold up a thumbs up sign to tell him that I was alright.

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Eventually I reached the shore,

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and climbed up onto the rocks.

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We could still see the boat out in the surf and we watched it float for a while.

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The Italian Coast Guard was watching from the water.

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The officers on shore made us come away from the jetty.

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When my dad saw the boat capsize, he had asked someone on shore call the Coast Guard. Here they were; too late to help, but now they needed to fill out their reports.

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Giovanni gave them a detailed description of the shipwreck.

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The next day I came down to the beach with Matt Hural, Mathew Montieth, and Jeff Williams.

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We found the boat washed up about a mile from where I capsized.

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The waves were huge, breaking over the jetties, and the wind was so strong that it was difficult to breathe.

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We pried the boat out of the sand,

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and rolled it up the beach. It was heavy – wet and filled with sand.

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I couldn’t believe that it had lasted through the night, hitting up against the rocks.

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It was basically in one piece but large sections were smashed in, as though it had been chewed.

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What will I do with such a wreck?

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