41’ Pursuit Suffers Steering Failure,
Lands on the Beach in Delray Beach, Florida

On the afternoon of October 23rd 2016, a passing boater watched as a 41’ Pursuit lost steering and had to set an anchor to await assistance. That Good Samaritan made a call to the Coast Guard on his VHF radio to alert them of the vessel in distress. Sometime in the next 15 minutes and prior to two TowBoatU.S. boats from Broward County arriving on scene, the vessel’s anchor line parted leaving the vessel adrift and heading toward the beach to the west. When Captain’s Jordan Walker and Jon Hernandez of TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale arrived on scene, the boat was already aground in the surf zone with waves as big as 4 feet crashing on her port side. The salvage crew quickly devised a plan to anchor one of the tow boats and swim a line into the beach. The boat chosen to provide the pulling power was a more powerful twin diesel 31’ tug. Within 25 minutes of the initial call, Captain Jordan was standing on the beach and ready to rig the vessel in preparation for extracting it from her stranded position. After receiving approval from the owner to proceed, Walker checked the bilge spaces for signs of flooding and after finding no flooding and no other visible damage, the towing hawser was rigged and ready. Walker asked the owner and his guests to stay on the beach during the operation to ensure their safety. He then boarded the stranded boat and directed Hernandez where the deepest water was located to the east of the casualty. Hernandez positioned his Towboat to the east-southeast and applied gentle strain. After applying heavier strain on the tow line in increments of 100 RPM’s, the twin diesel tug got the bow to begin turning to the east some 15 minutes later. The vessel was removed from the beach and the crew confirmed that the damage was minimal. Another successful salvage operation performed by the crew at TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale!

An interesting aspect of this job was the weather pattern that quickly formed after the vessel was removed from the beach. Easterly winds picked up to about 25 knots by late afternoon and the seas continued to build. If this vessel remained on the beach throughout a complete tide cycle given the building sea state, she would have filled with water and sand. The addition of water and sand inside the vessel would have compounded the damage and increased the cost of repairs considerably. TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale takes pride in providing professional service...Promptly! This promptitude likely saved the owner and/or his insurance provider tens of thousands of dollars. Always confirm that your hull insurance policy is up to date before heading offshore and don’t hesitate to call a towing and salvage professional when you get in a tight spot!