A group of men work at freeing the beached sailboat Ivy Rose. Photo Karen Clapp

Days of work free sailboat from beach
BY KAREN CLAPP

On the evening of September 4, the sail boat Ivy Rose broke her anchor chain and washed-up on the beach next to the river estuary. Over the next few days, several attempts were made to right her. Numerous people lent a hand to help the boats owner with special thanks going to Captain Jim and the crew from the Pelican Eyes boat, Mario Rocha, Gabrielle Moralles, Christian “Pulpo”, and numerous others who worked hard in their attempts. By high-tide the next morning, the Ivy Rose was filled with sand and water and was impossible to tow back to sea, and by noon the owners were salvaging as much as they could .

But, they didn’t give up. After two more days of work, pumping water out of the hull, one of the fishing boats joined in and finally towed the Ivy Rose off the beach. Excellent work everyone!

The Ivy Rose sailed down from from Seattle, Washington to SJdS in 1997.