Triad Salvage

By Tom Cox 7/25/2021

Subsequent to the capsize of Triad on Friday,7/16/21 off the Isles of Shoals, I engaged the services of salvager Parker Poole, owner and operator of Determination Marine of Yarmouth, Maine. His contract to recover the vessel and deliver it to Greene Marine in Yarmouth, Maine on or before the next day; included a professional dive team and a spotter aircraft. On Tuesday, July 20, 3 days after the capsize my crew mate Matt and I joined Parker and first mate Jim aboard Determination, a 35’ lobster boat outfitted for recovery work, at Union Wharf in Portland, Maine at 0530. The Coast Guard had confirmed a sighting of the vessel by their cutter at 0937 the day before– she had drifted only 3 miles from her previously reported position.

We steamed for 5 hours to a point 7 miles east of the Isles of Shoals where we found Triad upside down with the dive team already tied off on the rudder and an amphibious airplane circling overhead. The divers did an underwater scan of the mast to ensure it was free of any entanglements with fishing gear.They removed all floating gear attached to the hulls, opened inspection ports on the deck (now underwater) of the near ama (float) and rigged a pair of bridles, one fore and one aft on the far side ama, leading the bridle over all three hulls to a tow line hitched to Determination. It took 3 attempts under full power to right the vessel: the first time the towline snapped at the bowline knot – the second tow with a stronger line could not right her—the third time the dive boat hitched onto the bow of Determination and together under full power in tandem she slowly rolled over and upright, water streaming from the sails and firehosing out the halyard exits of the mast. The mainsail was shredded, the jib wrapped around the forestay and the boom hanging in a tangle of running rigging from the port shroud and spreader. Matt and I jumped aboard from the dive boat to secure gear. We furled and lashed the jib, and secured the boom which Parker had cut out of the entangle rigging while the crew pumped out the boat with a portable 3” pump. The whole operation took 2 hours, and we were underway by 1230.

Matt and I stayed aboard during the 71/2 hour tow. We pumped the residual water out of the bilges, collected and sorted gear, and cleaned up some of the mess. It was remarkable that most of the gear aboard Triad at the time of capsize was still aboard – including my Samsung S20 cell phone still in perfect condition after 3 ½ days of immersion in salt water! The chart kit paper map book did not fare as well, shredding into thousands of tiny pieces stuck everywhere – the overhead, bulkheads, tables – every nook and cranny. Around 3 pm Parker called us up on the handheld VHF he had provided and said Jim was grilling up some chicken, steak tips and Brussels sprouts – would we like any? And How! They shortened up the tow line and handed us a steaming plateful of chow – a very nice touch.

We weathered a brief thunderstorm and squall at 1600 with gusts to 50 knots (measured by a passing sailboat ) –similar to the one that capsized us 4 days earlier- and made Cape Elizabeth about 1830. The conditions were perfect when we arrived – the tide was nearly full and still flooding as Parker steamed up Casco Bay. He shifted us to a side tow before entering the Cousins River and delivered us to the dock at Greene Marine in Yarmouth where Joan Greene awaited to take our lines at 0800. Mission accomplished!

Kudos to Parker and Jim and his entire team of divers and pilot at Determination Marine; they are a professional outfit and a truly one stop shop for marine salvage.

Aftermath:
Triad is whole apart from shredded sails, salty electronics and minor damage to the toe rail. Much of the running rigging had to be cut away. I went up on a bosun's chair to sort out the remaining tangle, and dropped the main. Charlie at Greene Marine overhauled the Yamaha ouboard and it runs well. The batteries are holding 12.64 volts, a good charge and solar panels power up full at 19.6 volts. Solar regulators are shot and no electronics operating—fresh water baths for all. We removed all the gear from Triad and immersed it in fresh water—a surprising amount of stuff had accumulated over 5 years of cruising the Bahamas. Alan Bingham, my other stalwart crew during the capsize, drove up from Somerville, MA with our friend, Mark, and helped remove the mainsail, clear out all remaining equipment, and pump out the boat after we hosed the interior with fresh water. Triad is a very strong platform and the rig and mast were not compromised. Just to be sure, the mast is being pulled and all rigging will be carefully inspected. Triad lives to sail another day, as does her skipper.