Saturday I couldn't wait to get to the boat, the conditions were to be perfect. I arrived and looked out and couldn't tell if my boat was there. I saw a boat similar to mine, but this one had no flags, and had a blue jib where mine had a white jib. I assumed that was mine and took the quarter mile ride in the dinghy. When I got close I could finally see the back of the boat and the name Lil Provo. That was my boat. I pulled along the port side with the dinghy and unloaded by supplies for the day. After getting everything ready and the main sail up, I dropped the mooring line and went out to the channel to head for open water. It was pretty breezy and I was moving at a good rate with just the main sail up. When I got to open water I was already healing over and decided to try to open the strange blue jib. As soon as I began to open it, Lil Provo healed heavily, so I retracted the jib and sailed with just the main. It was a great day and at time I was going almost 5 knots with just the main sail. While I was out, I tried trolling a large spearing lure behind the boat and did get two good strikes, but no takers. It was pretty rough at times with waves actually rolling by.
I finally called it a day and headed back to the mooring. I sailed all the way to the mooring field where I dropped the sail and went to motor. The whole day, I was trying to figure out why I had a blue jib on the front. I thought, they did take the boat out Monday to fix the spreaded and I did talk to the boat yard about new sails, maybe they put one on for me to try? I really didn't know, but after attaching to my mooring ball, I loaded the dinghy with things that had to go ashore, raised the motor, and untied the dinghy from the boat. I normally take a drive around the boat when I leave. When I got to the starboard side, I was in shock. The run rail was ripped off, the side was scratched up, lots of blue paint marks, it looked like it had been through a war. I was very upset to say the least. I picked up the video camera and documented the side damage and headed to the ramp.
I can't explain how upset I felt. When you are proud of something and someone or something messes it up, it hurts. I got the dinghy put away and everything stowed back in my truck. I sat in the parking lot of the boat yard and called the boat yard office. John answered. I asked him what happened and he explaind that they put the boat back in the water Wednesday morning and Wednesday night we had a severe thunder storm come through. Lil Provo's fron jib opened and she dragged the mooring 50 feet until she hit another boat. He said the jib was shot and he put a loaner on there so I could sail. He went on to tell me that he was going to call, but a good friend had passed and he had that on his mind. I asked if the guys made sure they took a couple wraps on the jib when they put it back up and he said he didn't know. He said he looks bad, but she is still seaworthy. (Gee Thanks)
I contacted the insurance company and will visit the boat yard on Monday to see what more they have to say.
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