And Then There Was One

By Laura Mulrooney

On Wednesday, December 2, Gulfport Marina Harbormaster Denis Frain organized a stranded sailboat recovery with TowBoatU.S.

Two boats remained of the six stranded on Gulfport Beach after Tropical Storm Eta on November 11.

The owner of “Tocade” surrendered the boat to the city, giving them go ahead for salvage and removal operations.

With three 550 horsepower boats, TowBoatU.S. removed one of the two stranded sailboats. The salvage team wiggled the sailboat back and forth

After two hours, the TowBoat US crew was able to wiggle a stranded sailboat off Gulfport Beach back into the water.

Laura Mulrooney

for almost two hours, eventually sliding it off the beach and back into the water.

“It was just a matter of time,” Captain Clayton Tieman, of TowBoatU.S., said. “We knew we were going to get it, it just took some time.”

Although operations to recover the large red steel-hull

boat began immediately after recovery of the “Tocade,” the crew was unable to remove the vessel. The size and weight of the boat proved challenging.

According to Gulfport’s Cultural Facilities Supervisor Justin Shea, the city will likely work with the county to get a barge in to winch the red boat off of the beach.

TowBoatU.S.'s Clayton Thomas readjusts the tow straps to allow crew members on the water to swing the boat's hull around and bring the boat parallel to the shoreline. This move allowed the crew to wiggle the boat back and forth along the sand, eventually pulling it into the water.

Laura Mulrooney