Sailboat beached in Pascagoula on new owner's first trip out
TAMMY LEYTHAM/SUN HERALDA sailboat ran aground some time last week and sits on the rocks in front of 1109 Beach Blvd., Pascagoula.
PASCAGOULA -- The owner of a 25-foot Columbia, beached on
the rocks along Pascagoula's front beach Monday, said he ran aground on
his first time sailing it more than a week ago and had to leave it.
The boat has been languishing in the surf, wave action constantly pushing it against the rip-rap that lines the Pascagoula beach at the water's edge. Jay Jackson of Gulfport told the Sun Herald he found the 1972 sailboat on Craig's List and bought it for under $2,000 about two months ago. It had been moored in the middle of Pascagoula's Inner Harbor for years by its previous owner, and had been for sale for a long time, according to residents in the area.
Jackson said he took the sails off, changed out some equipment, got a motor and went for a sail with his wife in the water south of Pascagoula, weekend before last. He said he has experience sailing and also has taken courses.
Jackson said he had a good run, about 1 1/2 hours and they were heading back toward the Inner Harbor, sailing along the Pascagoula beach front, when the wind started pushing them in. He said he was having trouble tacking.
Before he could get back to The Point and the entrance to the Inner Harbor, the boat "hit a bump and then bottomed out," he said.
He anchored the boat, and he and his wife, Jennifer, took a dinghy in.
Since then, it appears to have broken anchor or dragged its anchor until it finally beached on the rip-rap.
Lin Jacobson, who lives in the Inner Harbor area, said he noticed the boat out front last week, anchored a distance from the shore.
"It was anchored one day, and about two days later, it was on the beach," Jacobson said.
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Marine Resources said the agency has been unable to find or contact Jackson.
The boat is registered with the state Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to Charles Brooks of Gautier. But the registration, which is supposed to be renewed every three years, had expired in 2007, state officials said.
Contacted in Huntsville, Ala., Brooks told the Sun Herald that he sold the boat to Jackson.
On Monday the boat was on the rocks near where Pascagoula Street meets Beach Boulevard.
Off the rocks
Jackson said he checked it on Sunday and found it has a hole in the hull. He said he believes it can be patched, the water pumped out and the boat hauled to a nearby boat yard for repairs.
He said he has talked with a marine salvage operator and received an estimate of $2,500 to have it pulled off the beach via the water. But he's hoping to find a less expensive way to get it done, he said.
"Either way, I can't leave it on the beach," he said Monday. "I'm working it day-by-day, a way to get it out."
He was wondering if it could just be brought onto shore and removed that way.
Jackson said he would like to thank the person who went on board and "put the motor in the cockpit" for safekeeping.
Breaking loose
Before Jackson owned it, the same boat is believed to have broken loose from its mooring last winter and floated free in the Inner Harbor for three weeks. Residents said, that at that time, they were concerned it might damage a pier or boats in their slips. But it came to rest on nearby land known as "the old Ingalls property" and did no damage.
Pascagoula's Bo Cole, who oversees the Inner Harbor as part of his job, said he was aware of a boat breaking loose last winter, but was gone last week when the Columbia beached out front and could not confirm that it was the same boat.
The name of the boat is Gulf Trio.
Cole said the city does not keep a record of who owns the boats that are moored in the middle of the harbor, because the moorings are privately owned, unlike the slips that the city rents.
The Inner Harbor is along the southern end of Pascagoula Street, several blocks from the Mississippi Sound.
Melissa Scallan, spokeswoman for the DMR, said the agency first responded late last week to a call from someone reporting a boat in distress.
The U.S. Coast Guard in Mobile also checked it out over the weekend and found there was no one in distress and that the boat was at least partially on land.
Scallan said the DMR ran the registration numbers and was going on that information in trying to locate the owner. It was a Gautier address with no one home, and a phone that had been disconnected.
She said a boat has to be sunken for 30 days for the agency to consider it officially derelict.
Ideas welcome
Jackson said he hopes to have it out of the predicament sooner than that and if anyone has any ideas on how he can get it off the beach, contact him at pologenius21@hotmail.com
The boat has been languishing in the surf, wave action constantly pushing it against the rip-rap that lines the Pascagoula beach at the water's edge. Jay Jackson of Gulfport told the Sun Herald he found the 1972 sailboat on Craig's List and bought it for under $2,000 about two months ago. It had been moored in the middle of Pascagoula's Inner Harbor for years by its previous owner, and had been for sale for a long time, according to residents in the area.
Jackson said he took the sails off, changed out some equipment, got a motor and went for a sail with his wife in the water south of Pascagoula, weekend before last. He said he has experience sailing and also has taken courses.
Jackson said he had a good run, about 1 1/2 hours and they were heading back toward the Inner Harbor, sailing along the Pascagoula beach front, when the wind started pushing them in. He said he was having trouble tacking.
Before he could get back to The Point and the entrance to the Inner Harbor, the boat "hit a bump and then bottomed out," he said.
He anchored the boat, and he and his wife, Jennifer, took a dinghy in.
Since then, it appears to have broken anchor or dragged its anchor until it finally beached on the rip-rap.
Lin Jacobson, who lives in the Inner Harbor area, said he noticed the boat out front last week, anchored a distance from the shore.
"It was anchored one day, and about two days later, it was on the beach," Jacobson said.
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Marine Resources said the agency has been unable to find or contact Jackson.
The boat is registered with the state Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to Charles Brooks of Gautier. But the registration, which is supposed to be renewed every three years, had expired in 2007, state officials said.
Contacted in Huntsville, Ala., Brooks told the Sun Herald that he sold the boat to Jackson.
On Monday the boat was on the rocks near where Pascagoula Street meets Beach Boulevard.
Off the rocks
Jackson said he checked it on Sunday and found it has a hole in the hull. He said he believes it can be patched, the water pumped out and the boat hauled to a nearby boat yard for repairs.
He said he has talked with a marine salvage operator and received an estimate of $2,500 to have it pulled off the beach via the water. But he's hoping to find a less expensive way to get it done, he said.
"Either way, I can't leave it on the beach," he said Monday. "I'm working it day-by-day, a way to get it out."
He was wondering if it could just be brought onto shore and removed that way.
Jackson said he would like to thank the person who went on board and "put the motor in the cockpit" for safekeeping.
Breaking loose
Before Jackson owned it, the same boat is believed to have broken loose from its mooring last winter and floated free in the Inner Harbor for three weeks. Residents said, that at that time, they were concerned it might damage a pier or boats in their slips. But it came to rest on nearby land known as "the old Ingalls property" and did no damage.
Pascagoula's Bo Cole, who oversees the Inner Harbor as part of his job, said he was aware of a boat breaking loose last winter, but was gone last week when the Columbia beached out front and could not confirm that it was the same boat.
The name of the boat is Gulf Trio.
Cole said the city does not keep a record of who owns the boats that are moored in the middle of the harbor, because the moorings are privately owned, unlike the slips that the city rents.
The Inner Harbor is along the southern end of Pascagoula Street, several blocks from the Mississippi Sound.
Melissa Scallan, spokeswoman for the DMR, said the agency first responded late last week to a call from someone reporting a boat in distress.
The U.S. Coast Guard in Mobile also checked it out over the weekend and found there was no one in distress and that the boat was at least partially on land.
Scallan said the DMR ran the registration numbers and was going on that information in trying to locate the owner. It was a Gautier address with no one home, and a phone that had been disconnected.
She said a boat has to be sunken for 30 days for the agency to consider it officially derelict.
Ideas welcome
Jackson said he hopes to have it out of the predicament sooner than that and if anyone has any ideas on how he can get it off the beach, contact him at pologenius21@hotmail.com
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