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Local News | LoveBug yacht towed out of West River after…

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Local News | LoveBug yacht towed out of West River after overturning in July, partially sinking

Salvage vessels from Donjon Marine Co., the New Jersey-based firm that worked to raise the yacht over the last two weeks, departed from the West River with the LoveBug in tow shortly before sunrise Saturday morning, according to VesselFinder, a marine traffic site.

The fleet which included two tugs, crane barges and the yacht, passed under the Bay Bridge just after 8:30 a.m.

The LoveBug is being towed alongside the Farrell 256, a 200-foot crane barge, for safety, as the yacht is a “dead ship,” or a vessel without power, said Steven Newes, senior vice president of Donjon.

On Monday, Newes said the salvage team planned to tow the yacht north through the bay and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to the mouth of the Maurice River in New Jersey. Departure was expected to happen Tuesday , with delivery to a smaller vessel for transport to a shipyard along the river originally slated for Wednesday evening.

Why the salvage team’s voyage was delayed is unclear.

The vessels’ departure marks the end of several weeks of work to raise and free the submerged LoveBug from the muddy bottom of the West River. The LoveBug had settled into the mud “quite a bit,” Newes said, complicating efforts to place slings underneath the yacht to lift it.

Mud was also found inside the yacht once it was lifted, Newes said, which needed to be removed to patch the yacht and “render it safely afloat” for towing.

Until salvage crews pulled the LoveBug from the water, the yacht had remained aground in the same location between Beverly Beach and Shady Side for almost four weeks. Though the yacht was originally resting on its starboard, or right, side, it rolled some before salvage began.

The Italian-built yacht was sailing south on the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis on July 27 when it began to tip over. The Coast Guard received a Mayday call at 12:36 p.m., but by the time crews arrived, the five people on board had been rescued by a good Samaritan and a nearby towboat. Paramedics tended to two of the passengers, according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, but both declined to be treated.

The LoveBug, which cost between $110,000 and $125,000 to charter for a week, was not operating as a charter when it overturned, said Hunter Dortenzo, a Natural Resources Police spokesperson.

Though VesselFinder, a marine traffic site, indicated the LoveBug is owned by Bees Honey LLC, a limited liability company based in the Marshall Islands, Federal Communications Commission records show otherwise.

The yacht’s shipboard radio station license is registered to Jabulani Charter Florida, a Florida-based limited liability company with a Rockville mailing address. The licensee should be the vessel owner, according to an FCC spokesperson. Efforts to reach the person listed as the licensee were unsuccessful.

The Natural Resources Police and the National Transportation Safety Board are conducting separate investigations into what happened to the yacht.

One tugboat tows, and another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, south of the the Bay Bridge. south of the Bay Bridge. Kent Island is visible in the background. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Natalie Jones/Staff photo)

One tugboat tows, not pictured, and another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, south of the the Bay Bridge. south of the Bay Bridge. Kent Island is visible in the background. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Natalie Jones/Staff photo)

One tugboat tows, and another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, as goes under the Bay Bridge. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff photo)

One tugboat tows, not pictured, and another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, as it approaches the Bay Bridge. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff photo)

One tugboat tows, not pictured, and another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, as goes under the Bay Bridge. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff photo)

Aug. 31, 2024: One tugboat tows, another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, past Sandy Point State Park. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff photo)

One tugboat tows, another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, past Sandy Point State Park. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff photo)

One tugbo tows, another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, past Sandy Point State Park. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff photo)

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The schoolboy and the Thames Barge

Norfolk schoolboy Ash Faire-Ring has taken what would be for many the project of a lifetime – aged just 17.

He has been given the ⅓ – sized, 1922 Thames sailing barge yacht Growler by Gus Curtis and family of King’s Boatyard in Pin Mill, Suffolk (January issue).

Growler was built by an unknown builder on Conyer Creek on Faversham’s Swale and was always a yacht; she has never traded under sail. She’s been under a stop/start restoration programme for the last 25 years, but now Ash plans to finish the job, then use the vessel in the growing sail cargo movement.

At 32ft (9.8m) long with a 9ft 6in (2.9m) beam and a draught of just 2ft (0.6m), Growler is small for a Thames barge type, but this is a big project: the work needed includes replacing the chine on one side (effectively a garboard on this sort of vessel), a new transom and about a quarter of the planking. No doubt more work will reveal itself as the process continues, not to mention a new rig, engine, systems and interior. He also plans to reinstate the tiller steering that the boat had originally, before being converted to wheel-steering in the 1960s.

“I’ve been passionate about traditional sailing vessels my whole life and have been sailing here since I was born,” says Ash, whose first memory, at the age of two or three, was seeing the sailing barge Gino moored on his local creek. At the age of 11, Ash built a 10ft (3.1m) Ian Oughtred clinker ply sailing dinghy called Griffin with his father.

He is making good progress on Growler , despite having limited funds and needing to sit his A-levels before getting down to the job in earnest. In the last three months, he has raised the funds to have the boat moved from Suffolk to land near his house, where he has levelled the footings (using railway sleepers donated by Charlie Ward Traditional Boats) and built a tent over his project. Ash plans to step up his work schedules once his exams are over.

“I’ve been hugely inspired by the Tally Ho project,” he said, referring to English boatbuilder Leo Goolden’s ongoing rebuild of the Albert Strange yacht in the USA (January issue). Like Leo, Ash is serialising the project in videos on YouTube. Search for ‘sailing barge Growler ‘. He aims to have Growler back on the water and sailing by 2020. “My plan is to sail cargo around Europe, with a crew of young people who will learn how to sail a traditional vessel. I finish school in June, will keep going until she is launched and then look at university.”

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Name Growler

Previous names

• 1922 - 2018 Growler

Construction

GROWLER was built as a third-sized version of the legendary racing Thames barge SARA. Little is known of her history. We know that she spent the Second World War laid up at the Benfleet yacht club, and that she was then refitted.

In the 1970s she was restored to her original rig. Sometime after that she fell into disrepair, was rescued, and then taken to a barn in Dedham, Suffolk.

For the last 25 years she has been undergoing restoration, with new frames and chines installed. In August 2018 she was taken on by a private owner, who undertook a major restoration project, with GROWLER being relaunched in summer 2023.  

Designed by the architect T H Hughes and built at Ipswich.

Spent war laid up at Benfleet Yacht Club

Restored to original sloop rig

Transferred to Norfolk for completion of restoration

A Sustainability Grant of £800 towards the cost of the engine was made from the Strategic Development Fund of National Historic Ships UK

Classic Boat: The schoolboy and the Thames barge,  March 2019 Classic Boat: Project Growler - Winner of the 2019 Jotun restoration competition, August 2019 Classic Boat: New kid on the block, February 2020

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• Status: Active Barge Yachts
• Port of Registry: Leigh
• Builder: White
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• Date Built: 1922
• Owner: Ashmole Faire-Ring
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In Conversation With Sir Robin Knox-Johnston Part 1

Words & video emily harris.

Legendary British yachtsman, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, relives his epic solo circumnavigation as competitor in the 1968–1969 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race . Talking exclusively to Classic Yacht TV, Sir Robin recalls what it took to become the first person to sail solo, non-stop round-the-world , and he comments on the 2018 Golden Globe Race that’s been devised to celebrate 50 years since his great feat.

The video features Sir Robin recalling Southern Ocean waves and the seamanship skills he relied on to survive the conditions faced during his voyage.

©Robin Knox–Johnston Archive / PPL

©Classic Yacht TV

This exclusive is released as 2018 Golden Globe Race competitor Susie Goodall , campaigning a 36-foot Rustler Yacht 'DHL STARLIGHT', is rescued by a 40,000 tonne cargo ship some 2,000 nautical miles west of Cape Horn in the Southern Ocean.

On the 5th December at 1100 UTC, Susie Goodall activated her EPIRB, prompting another international coast guard rescue mission for the 2018 Golden Globe Race. In big seas and 60 knots of wind, a wave powered-up astern causing Susie Goodall’s boat DHL STARLIGHT to pitchpole, resulting in the total loss of the rig.  This dismasting marks the fifth competitor in the 2018 Golden Globe Race to retire as a consequence and reminds us of the harsh conditions needed to be endured in order to “get round”, as Sir Robin Knox-Johnston says in the video.

Classic Yacht TV’s candid interview with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, below, is part one of a five-part series featuring the British solo circumnavigator giving valuable answers to questions on single-handed seamanship in small boats. He identifies with the Southern Ocean's brutal conditions and how he dealt with them. The video gives sailors and spectators a unique insight into boat handling from the first man to solo circumnavigate the planet non-stop, 50 years ago during the 1968-69 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race.

Titled 'In Conversation With Sir Robin Knox-Johnston', Part 1 begins by asking Sir Robin "Can you describe rounding Cape Horn in 1968?".

WATCH VIDEO BELOW

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© Classic Yacht TV. Directed & edited by Emily Harris.

Camera noel probyn. sound mix craig bilham., thanks to sir robin knox-johnston & clipper round the world race..

Talking from within the Clipper Round the World Race HQ in Gosport, the video offers an insight into Sir Robin’s attitude towards ocean sailing.

While answering "What are your memories of the Southern Ocean in 1968–69?” Sir Robin reveals his practical technique that, he says, made it possible for him to endure the Southern Ocean in his 32ft wooden boat, SUHAILI.

"Did you clip on in the 1968–69 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race?" – It had to be asked! Sir Robin's answer? Well, it may just save you, even if you have a harness on.

ABOVE: film stills from Classic Yacht TV’s excluSive interview

Another practical answer sheds light on him tuning SUHAILI's rigging ahead of setting off in 1968, and this is where you'll see a moment of his frustration at those employing arrogance at sea.

The legendary British sailor – now 79 years old – goes on to talk about how he coped learning on the job and the vital factor of knowing your boat .  Before the end of Part 1, Sir Robin's great determination and focused mentality stands out as he reminisces spending 312 days at sea. 

2018 Golden Globe Race dismastings:

Are Wiig – dismasted on 28th August 2018.

Abhilash Tomy – 360º spin and dismasting Day 82.

Gregor McGuckin – Dismasted day 82 and jury rig sailed to Abhilash Tomy.

Loic Lepage – Dismasted 600 SW of Perth, Australia.

Susie Goodall – Dismasted 5th December 2018

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Thames barge ‘Growler’, March 2019

• East Coast of England

We’ve been following the progress of young boatbuilder, Ash Faire-Ring, based in Norfolk, England as he restores the Thames barge, ‘Growler’ with the aim of transporting cargo under sail.

‘Growler’ was built in 1922 by White & Co. at Conyer Creek on the River Swale. This yard was famed for building the fastest barge ever built, ‘Sara’. At 34′ long, ‘Growler’ is reputed to be a third-sized version of her. We think she has always been a yacht but are not sure, so would welcome any more information about her. She was moored at the Benfleet Yacht Club during the Second World War and then refitted as a Bermudan yawl. She was converted to a standing gaff rig in 1967. We believe she last sailed in the early 1980s and has been stored in a barn since 1991. It’s going to be an amazing moment when she sails again!

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The Musings of a Hopeless Wanderer

Engaging in the eternal search for the meaning of life...or a good time.

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Monday, September 3, 2018

Tackling moscow by train and boat.

Our first full day in Moscow started fairly late since we were still catching up on sleep.  Around 1, we finally were able to get our act together and get out the door. 

We stopped by a cafe to get some breakfast and headed over to the Red Square.  Since the festival is going on, we had to go through metal detectors.  Once we cleared security, we reached the State Historical Museum which provided an entrance to the Red Square.

We walked the length of the Red Square, passing by the Kazan cathedral.

Under normal conditions, the Red Square is a large walking area with the State Historical Museum on one end and St. Basil's on the other end.  On the sides is the Kremlin wall on one side and then the GUM shopping mall and the Kazan cathedral on the other side.  Presently, the walking area has been considerably narrowed and the fesitval grounds occupying a large space between the Kremlin and the mall.

We even asked a stranger to take our picture!

After walking around the Red Square, we had to leave to meet up with our Metro Tour.  

Moscow has famously pretty metro stations so metro tours are quite popular.  We booked a relatively inexpensive tour through a tour group which met outside of the Red Square.

On our way, we passed by the Kremlin gardens and the tomb to the unknown soldier and the eternal flame.

We soon met up with our group which, fortunately, was only 5 people.  Our guide told us that we were going to visit 8 stations during the 1.5 hour tour.  

Honestly, a lot of the stations blended in to me so I won't be able to give you a detailed description of all of them.  However, I did learn that there are 222 metro stations and the trains come every 2-3 minutes reliably.  For that reason, Moscow > DC. 

One of the first metro stations we visited had bronze statues all over of various depictions.  Many of the statues had superstitions tied to them.  For example, for a statue of the dog, it's held that if you rub the nose of the dog, you'll have good luck.  Consequently, most of the statue is tarnished - except for the nose.  I joked to Tomas that they probably rotate the "good luck" portion of the statue to ensure the entire statue gets polished.

However, I do remember some of the stations.

Novoslobodskaya is a station adorned with stained glass on the walls.

There was also Belarusskaya, which paid tribute to Belarus.

Another station which name I cannot remember but had pretty mosaics in the ceilings.

My favorite station was Komsomolskaya.  It's the busiest station and a hub for other connecting trains.  It was built during Statlin times and he wanted the station to embody beauty to set a good first impression to Russia.

I'd seen pictures of it beforehand since it's the most famous but it's so much more impressive in person.

Look at these ceilings!

Overall it was a very interesting tour.  Not sure of any other city which could offer a metro tour.  DC certainly can't...

After the tour, we headed back of the hotel to rest for a bit.  We had purchased tickets to a tour hour boat down the Moscow river.  The tickets were good for any time on any day and the boats left every 20min.  We decided to knock the tour out that day and headed over to the pier.  

We arrived at the pier and saw a boat by the company we had purchased from boarding.  We approached and they shook their head and said it wasn't the right boat. 

So we waited for another boat.

Another boat came along by the same company we had purchased from so weapproached them.  Again - we were told it wasn't the right boat and the boat we were looking for was coming.  

A third boat came along which was NOT by the company we had purchased from.  By this point, it had been longer than 20min waiting and I was starting to suspect that the correct boat was actually one of the ones which turned us away.   We approached the 3rd boat to ask if they knew which boat we should be on.  However, when we approached,  they waved us aboard without scanning our tickets.

So, we boarded the 3rd boat....which was definitely not ours.

We settled into an upper deck, open air table to take in the views.

We passed by pretty buildings.

The somewhat impressive cathedral of Christ the Savior.

This random statue.

After about hour on the cruise, Tomas remarked that it had been about an hour so we should be turning around soon.  I reminded him that we actually had no idea how long this cruise was or where we would be dropped off.  Since we were on the wrong boat.

Fortunately, it did turn around and took us back to the pier.  

For dinner, we decided to go to this burger place, Black Star Burger, which our guide told us about.  Tomas really liked his - I thought mine was OK.  It was a decent size patty with a mountain of Cole slaw on top.  We've realized that apparently Russians dislike getting their hands dirty while eating so some restaurants will give out gloves to use.  This particular restaurant gave out black gloves.

Tomas modeling our dinner.

Since little mum has been asking about pictures which show my feet, I assume she wanted to see my new shoes.  I recently bought Allbirds which are suppose to be super comfortable walking shoes which you wear without socks and can be washed.  I didn't wear them too extensively beforehand, so that was probably my first error.  I also didn't bring another pair of good walking shoes,  which was likely my second error.  The Allbirds were great the first two days without socks.  Midway through the third day, my right foot was quite unhappy. Left foot was a trooper. So, now I have a bandaid on the heel of my right foot and wear socks.  

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The barge haulers: Why did Russians drag ships upstream?

Ilya Repin. Barge haulers on the Volga

You’ve probably seen the famous 19th century painting, Barge Haulers on the Volga , by Russian artist, Ilya Repin. Why do you think they’re doing this? Why do these exhausted men work like slaves pulling a ship upstream? Why don’t these poor lads just use paddles or sails? Let's find out.

Who were the barge haulers?

Known in Russian as burlaki , their main job was to drag sailing ships against the flow of the river. Usually, they pulled flat-bottomed cargo boats that were 30-50 meters long. This hard work was seasonal – in fall and spring .

Photo of barge haulers on the Volga, 1900s

Sometimes a fair wind helped the burlaki to move ships quickly, but usually the work was grueling and people signed up for it only because they desperately needed money. While this work seemed exploitative, it was not slavery. The burlaki were paid, and they even had unions, known as artels , in order to work more efficiently.

To make their job less stressful, the burlaki raised their spirits by singing, and Dubinushka was their favorite song, later becoming popular with the revolutionary working class .

The burlaki’s service was in great demand from the 16th to the 20th century, and there are even photos dating from the early 1900s of women dragging ships. The profession, however, became obsolete with the appearance of steam vessels, and the Soviet government officially banned the burlaki in 1929.

What was the burlaki’s most important river?

The Volga River gave the burlaki the most amount of work . The town of Rybinsk on the Volga was unofficially called 'capital of the burlaki .' As a large commercial and logistics center, Rybinsk attracted a large number of workers – not only burlaki , but also ship loaders, porters, wagon coachmen and many others.

Female barge haulers, 1900s

Burlaki in art

When Ilya Repin first saw the burlaki that image of them toiling was seared into his mind; the contrast of human suffering and the surrounding natural beauty. He made dozens of sketches in order to find the right way to best depict the burlaki , and before completing the famous painting he even made another, Haulers cross wade , (1872), which is now in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Barge Haulers on the Volga is the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

Critics praised the painting and compared its power to the novels of writer Nikolai Gogol – realistic and showing the unknown, dark side of the life of common folk, without any embellishment. Another prominent Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky, also appreciated the painting in his collection of writings, Writer’s Diary , calling it a triumph of truth in art .

Vasily Vereshchagin. Burlaki

Some contemporary historians, however, say that Repin incorrectly depicted the boat dragging in order to create a more dramatic image. In fact, people dragging a boat going upstream along a river bank was an extreme situation for burlaki . Most of the work was done without leaving the boat.

First, several people in a small boat paddled upstream with an anchor tied to a rope and threw it in the water as far as possible. Then, the burlaki   pulled this rope tied to a big revolving barrel in the center of the deck, moving the ship in the desired direction. Obviously, they used sails when the wind blew in the same direction as the ship.

Repin was not the only artist to immortalize the burlaki , and there are other excellent paintings depicting this topic. For example, Burlaki by Vasily Vereshchagin was made in 1866, six years earlier than Repin’s masterpiece. A year before Repin, however, another artist, Alexey Savrosov, painted his Volga under Yurievets, which also depicts such hard labor. 

Take our quiz: Would you be able to recognize the harsh social commentary in these 19th century Russian paintings ?

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