S/V Tyche Beached in Heavy Seas
During the late night hours of Wednesday, October 22nd a Formosa 51' named Tyche parted her anchor rode in heavy seas south of the Hillsboro Inlet and landed on Pompano Beach shortly thereafter. TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale was contracted to salvage the vessel and Larry Acheson, the President of the company began putting a salvage plan together shortly after dawn on Thursday morning. Within 24 hours Acheson had received approval from state and local government officials to extract the boat from the beach opting to use a land based crane and trailer due to the vessels position and prevailing sea conditions.
The plan started by removing approximately 200 gallons of fuel from the boat. Once the lightering process was complete the team went to work building a 100 yard temporary road from the pavement to a site adjacent to the casualty. After the road was constructed a 165 ton crane was mobilized; a crew from Nance and Underwood was hired to expertly remove the masts prior to commencing the first lift. Straps were positioned under the vessel appropriately and great care was taken to insure that no further damage was caused during the salvage process. "Our salvage team is trained to preserve the value of the casualty" stated Acheson "With the 20-25 Knot Northeast wind and heavy seas we concluded the safest way to recover the vessel was to remove her by land instead of by sea." Makeshift sand cradles and berms were dug in the sand using an excavator and a bobcat to support the weight of the boat as it was lifted and repositioned several times as it was moved up the beach until it was nearly alongside the beach access road. The final pick was made with the crane to place the casualty on the bed of a large trailer. Once the vessel was secure on the trailer it was transported to Merritt Boatworks and launched using their travel lift. Please take a moment to view the photo gallery highlighting each step of the salvage process.
Once the vessel was afloat, the bilges were inspected and the vessel was safely returned to her owners. TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale towed the vessel to a service facility in Dania Beach where the repairs are being completed. TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale has completed thousands of salvages since the company was founded 1989. They can be contacted at 954-783-7821 for more information.
