Aldebaran Sinks

[Nick Salvador]

Wtf?

I feel badly for the owner of Aldebaran, hell he lost his boat. But, was it insured at all? Is it going to be left to decompose behind Brooks Island (a wildlife/bird sanctuary) until the park service, I.e. you and I pay to have it ultimately salvaged and broken up? It appears to be sinking into the mudflats over here.

[El Capitan]

I too wondered about the insurance issue. Brooks Island is a bird sanctuary is it not? It might make a nice artificial reef,
but can you legally drag a vessel over there and deposit it knowing you may never have the funds to remove it?

[Buzz Light Beer]

PDS might be setting themselves up for an environmental lawsuit with that maneuver.

[Oronoco]

From the owner of Aldebaran:

To all of our Go Fund Me and Facebook friends: Our Schooner Aldebaran is sitting in a mud pocket in back of Brooks Island, held by two buoyed anchors, fore and aft, and we are prepaed to sign the pink over to anyone who will take responsibility for her restoration. She is floating.

The boat can be pumped out in two hours using two of the three pumps and maintained afloat with just one pump and can be towed at that point. We will not officially abandon Aldebaran until pressed by the Coast Guard. Thus we hope to give time for a potential new owner to step forward.

You donors and others who have followed us on these sites have our great appreciation. We have put up a good fight and your donations have helped a lot. But we cannot go any further with her repair.

[BobJ]

Aldebaran is back in her old slip near Easom's at Brickyard Cove. She is floating low in the water but the deck/topsides looked better than I expected.

[Oronoco]

Sept 2013 issue of Latitude 38, letters section, covered Aldebaran. Not good press either. Allegedly, Owner was on the record saying he didn't believe in insurance. There was a beef with a dock in Vallejo, without insurance he was unable to pick up passengers there. Claims are that he intimidated junior sailors, with Karmic results.

[Prince of Whales]

From L-38 Sept 2013 pg 58

Readers — As unpleasant as the following might be, we
feel a responsibility to report it. George Hale — and he says
some other members of the Vallejo YC — feel that the sinking
of Aldebaran was a matter of karma. He says that the year
before, Brown had deliberately and recklessly sailed through
beginning sailing fl eets — with many children sailing — in
Vallejo, shouting lots of F.U.s as he went.
Hale, who has been a mariner for decades, says he suspects
the alleged behavior was some form of retaliation from the year
before when the Vallejo YC would not let Aldebaran pick up
passengers from their docks until Brown could produce proof
of insurance. Hale says Brown told him he not only didn't have
insurance, he didn't believe in it.
In a response to an inquiry from Latitude, Brown, who has
taken well over 1,000 people sailing for free from organizations
such as Make-a-Wish, Boy Scouts, Adventure Clubs, Rotary
foreign exchange students, high school outings, church groups,
friends, and pirate reenactment groups, says he hasn't had
liability insurance. But, he says, nobody has ever gotten hurt
or fallen overboard.
As for the contretemps with Hale at VYC, Brown says that
he and Aldebaran's crew yelled epithets as pirates would, but
neither he nor his crew dropped F-bombs.

[Oronoco]

Ouch, Latitude 38 got him again in the October 2013 issue -letters

[Oronoco]

Aldebaran was reportedly sold and has now reappeared in Sausalito. It's on a side tie near some rails so it might be hauled out by new owners. It sounds like an expensive job, especially for a ferro-cement hull.

[Buzz Light Beer]

At least there has been positive movement in her recovery. A shame to see her having become an artificial reef.

[Oronoco]

Time will tell, the buyer may discover that there's nothing more expensive than a cheap boat.

[The Flash]

I noticed it, and it's gushing water and above waterline fouling was missing from it's old spot this weekend.