Could everyone write one simple essay about something that once happened in Saltaire…that they saw or were a part of…and put it on one big website? Somebody should collect a lot of stories before we all forget. Otherwise it is like a line in “On The Beach” : The history of the war that now would never be written.” -(JO'H)

Friday, April 29, 2011

LE PAPILLON: HOLMES WAS RIGHT

pic by Frank Markus. click image to enlarge
"The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea."





FRIDAY APRIL 29, FRANK MARKUS REPORTS:

My pictures can be found here: Frank's Pics.
The boat is now in front of the old Kismet firehouse on the Burma Road outside Kismet.
As you will see in the pictures, they brought a big bulldozer and an excavator (the steam shovel-like vehicle.) The owner made a deal with the people who removed the boat, giving them money -- and the boat. So he was not in Saltaire to see the boat dragged away.
After the boat was gone, I spoke to one of the people who removed the boat. He told me that the bulldozer had been too aggressive in pushing the boat out of the sand which resulted in serious hull damage. Although he will try to sell the boat, it seems unlikely now. I don't know that the decision has been taken, but it seems more likely than not that the boat will be cut up in Kismet and then trucked off in pieces.

Don't forget to keep an eye on the comments (or leave one). Look what you could be missing!
Anonymous BEAVER said...

Harry Baker told me a week or two ago that moving the boat with a bulldozer would work - no question that the 'dozer could move it - the only problem was that there would be the likelihood that they'd damage the hull during the process. Guess that Harry has been proved right.

April 29, 2011 8:34 PM

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Blogger Derf said...

Thanks for those great photos Frank. As I was looking at them I thought, " does not look like a great idea to pull the dozer up along side and try to push but they probably know what they are doing" ... maybe not.

April 29, 2011 9:45 PM

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for the news, and for that amazing sequence of photos! Much appreciated by those watching this sad situation from afar.

April 30, 2011 6:53 AM

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OpenID tugster said...

frank . . . glad you were there to document this. great pics.

April 30, 2011 7:08 AM

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8 comments:

BEAVER said...

Harry Baker told me a week or two ago that moving the boat with a bulldozer would work - no question that the 'dozer could move it - the only problem was that there would be the likelihood that they'd damage the hull during the process. Guess that Harry has been proved right.

Derf said...

Thanks for those great photos Frank. As I was looking at them I thought, " does not look like a great idea to pull the dozer up along side and try to push but they probably know what they are doing" ... maybe not.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the news, and for that amazing sequence of photos! Much appreciated by those watching this sad situation from afar.

Anonymous said...

frank . . . glad you were there to document this. great pics.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the up-date

D

Anonymous said...

The Yacht is home now! In the process of a rebuild.

Vinny Sahi

Anonymous said...

A little of the history of Le Pappillon. She was built in or near Baltimore and sailed half way round the world without an engine. Tom Lemm put one in while in Sydney and called it 'Matilda'. They continued on up Aust Coast, round to Darwin, Xmas Is, Cocos, Mauritius, Sth Africa, St Helena, Caribbean, 1986. She sailed as the smallest 'foreign going' US Ship. Time aboard counted towards CG sea time.
Cheers,
the former Aussie 2nd Mate.
Because of that boat, I went ahead and got my Master 4 in Square rig, so what a sad day it was to learn of her loss.
Can any one tell me what was the end result???

Patria William said...

The bulldozer will easily pull this boat, but the risk of damaging the boat in the process is indeed high. It's unfortunate that the chance of selling it was lost because of the damage. This had me thinking, was there human error in the operation? I know bulldozers are powerful, but skilled workers handle operations with utmost care. Oh well, I guess the owner's only concern was to drag the boat away.