Legacy on the Hard

Norseman · 09-11-2007, 09:08 PM

Okay Capt. Tom, looking forward to the latest info on Legacy.

This case should be a text-book accident where everybody could learn a lot of what went wrong including naval designers, anchor manufactors, owners, captains, etc., etc.

My primary job is flying airlplanes, not driving boats.

In my business we have a few accidents that pops up again and again in every training class because they are so easy to avoid and therefore so much to learn:

The first one that pops up in my head is the Air Florida B-737 in Washington DC: Bad weather, iced up, not enough power on the engines due to iced up EPR probes on the engines, captain failed to realize all the snow-balling factors untill it was too late. Then they hit that bridge.
Step by step, that one was pretty **** avoidable without even playing Monday Morning Quarterback: Snow on the wings made for less light.
Snow on the runway made for more drag. Ice on the primary power-probes made for less power. Poor procedures in the cockpit made for poor quality control..Etc.

Plenty other high-profile accidents we can all learn from: AA in Little Rock, ValueJet over the Everglades, SwissAir in Halifax, etc, etc.

Legacy on the hard should be a good lesson for all of us.
(not rolling my eyes or pointing fingers, just learing and remembering)

CaptTom · 09-11-2007, 09:27 PM

Norseman,
I also feel that there are many lessons learned that can help other captains in some of their decision making, and perhaps avoid another situation like this, or worse.
I was fortunate to hook up with one of the Legacy crew and leave my contact information for the owner. Hopefully when this thing is over (at least the recovery part, I'm not thinking of any litigation as that may go on for years), then Mr Halmos would afford me a little time for som einsights. Would also like to hook up with some of the crew that were on board, but heard that Capt Ed has left the scene and gone back to his family.
Through my day job I'm a disaster planner, and have done numerous post mortem analysis reports, lesson learned, change requests, etc, including risk analysis. And this situation is just (not trying to minimize it) another disaster that we can all learn something from.
Thanks for your comments.
Tom

PS Here is another shot as we approached. The stillness of the bay and heat of the tropical sun gave a mirror-like image. Almost seemed like we were approaching a ghost ship.

CaptTom · 09-13-2007, 08:40 PM

We have our story out, so I can post a few more pictures. You can see The Triton website for the details now (megayachtnews.com), or wait for the print version to be in the October issue (which will also have updates and latest efforts).
Cut/paste this link for story: the-triton.com/megayachtnews/index.php?news=1951

The following are various photos from around the vessel. Bow shot shows rigging. Notice how shallow the water is, maybe two feet. The exterior damage looks like it can be fixed.

Thanks again conchwood for your help.

CaptTom · 09-13-2007, 08:45 PM

More shots.

CaptTom · 09-13-2007, 08:56 PM

You will see that the work boat that will be doing the pulling is situated about a mile away, with cable running back to Legacy.
The houseboats are where the crew/owner have been residing for most of the time. Be warned that you most likely will not be welcome of you cruise up to the houseboats. And whatever you do don't even think about going on Legacy. Private property and no trespassing signs are posted and that boat is being watched.
Let's see it get out of there, the flats restored and Legacy once again cruising.
I have much more respect for the situation now that I have seen it first hand, but can't imagine what someone thinks when they see their yacht sitting helpless for all this time. Perhaps one day I will write a lessons learned piece for us all to take something away from this situation.

brandonw · 09-13-2007, 09:20 PM

Very nice CaptTom!!!

CaptTom · 09-13-2007, 11:43 PM

Thanks Brandon. Been chasing this story for a while, and figured better get out there to get at least the photos.
Conchwood just told me they moved it about 100 feet today, need to spend a little time dredging more for the next pull. At least she is moving.

conchwood · 09-19-2007, 06:53 PM

I went out yesterday and they were pumping sand. she is sitting on a old dead reef which is about 8ft down covered with 8ft of sand, so they have pumped the inital sand around where she sat and turned her, then pumped a narrow "channel" forward towards deeper water and pulled [dragged] her ahead into that one. now working on next forward stretch and putting that sand in hole she left behind. should be pulling again in next couple days.Captian of salvage boat has suddenly become very quiet on info though.

CaptTom · 09-19-2007, 09:42 PM

Here's a recent photo courtesy of conchwood with the dredge at the bow clearing a channel. Realize that this is a tidal area, so the depth of dredging and time of pull have to be controlled. Either way, this is more progress than Legacy has seen in almost two years, so it's a step in the right direction.

CaptTom · 10-07-2007, 09:31 PM

Update -
Fellow member conchwood was able to get out to Legacy last week after about a week and a half of snotty weather all across South Florida.
They look to still be making progress extracting Legacy, albeit slower than originally anticipated. Conchwood mentioned the day he was out there, there was a flurry of activity with various folks running between Legacy and the houseboat fleet.
There also was an AP story out last week on Legacy, pretty much regergitating old news. Conchwood and I will do our best to keep everyone informed as to the status. The photos shows additional booms on site, that can either mean they are going to step up operations or are having a problem of controlling the sand.
Stay tuned...

sailusvi · 10-08-2007, 07:41 PM

thanks for the update

asailsman · 10-11-2007, 12:11 PM

Conchwood and Capt Tom, thanks for the great pics and updates. Can you enlighten us as to how far they move Legacy at a time, and how far she has to go to refloat? Details are interesting.

CaptTom · 10-11-2007, 11:13 PM

I've heard that the yacht is moving about 10 feet/day. Conchwood recently mentioned that they may want to dredge more before the next pull.
The yacht was originally pushed in almost a mile onto the flats. And there is a cable, or series of cables connected, that reach along the original path of entry back to a work boat out in deeper water.
Here's a few shots.
We'll pass more along as we get it. But since we have posted here at YachtForums and did the story at The Triton, several others news organizations have done follow-up stories, but mostly restating old news and no photos from going on site. So perhaps CNN and AP follow YachtForums also?

Norseman · 10-12-2007, 12:55 AM

Great Capt. Tom.

Thanks for the updates and best of luck to all involved.

wes69hunt · 10-17-2007, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lurker

I am curious to know what might have happened if he docked the boat. What happened to the other boats at that marina where he refused to dock?

at the hilton dock in key west, where he allegedly refused to pay $3.oo a foot for docking, ,,,,,,the boats floated up. the boats floated down. such was the case for most of the livaboards in key west. i am land locked in key west. my house doesn't float. i had 2 feet of ocean in my house. boats floated up---boats floated down.