Yesterday, the Fishing Vessel Turn the Page tragically hit a rock in Eggemoggin Reach and opened a gash on her bow below the waterline. Her captain, who suffered a head injury in the incident, barely made it to lower water in Naskeag Harbor and the help of fishermen here.
Turn the Page, out of Sedgewick (Benjamin River), Maine, was beached here in low tide. However, the boat then was swamped by the incoming tide, as you can see here. The captain reportedly was taken to the hospital for observation while local resources and fishermen continued with her recovery.
With the help of local fishermen from the Fishing Vessel Blue Sky, a series of lines from the A.H. Marine Company boom truck were hooked to Turn the Page to bring her in farther – long lines to reach her and more sturdy ones as she was pulled closer to the beach and had to be dragged over the bottom.
She was pulled high enough up on the beach to where she could be trucked away. Last night or this morning, she reportedly was craned onto a large trailer and taken to a shipyard.
The loss of a vessel this way, even if not permanent, is heartbreaking for her owner, our fishing community, and those who respect what they do.
(Brooklin, Maine; thanks to expert photographer Werner Gantz for the heads-up and reporting on this event.)