Lend a Hand, Will You?

We’ve never watched or participated in the group re-launching of a vessel from the beach. But tomorrow we will get our chance, as the family that owns the 36-ft sloop Pollen is throwing a party to attract folks to help lift their approximately seven-ton boat out of the sand pit, down the beach, and into the blue Caribbean. Once they get the rig back up, they plan on sailing the gutted boat across the Atlantic to La Rochelle — “where we won’t ever be in danger of hurricanes again.”

Using man and woman power to launch boats is nothing new in the Caribbean. That’s how Bob Dylan’s 63-ft traditional schooner Water Pearl was launched in Bequia. It’s how DRandy West’s 60-ft cat Shadowfax was re-launched after Hurricane Luis. And there have been many more instances.

Have you ever helped launch a boat from the beach? If so, we’d love to hear about it. Email us here.