Not long after I posted the previous entry, I visited Doryman’s site and was distressed to discover that in a storm last Saturday, BELLE STARR, his 23’ Stonehorse, broke her mooring and was driven ashore. After an impressively professional and daring salvage, she was towed from the beach, but was so badly damaged she sank. Raised from 35’/10.6 meters of water on Sunday, she was towed to a boatyard and lifted onto her trailer.
‘Down but not out’ is the heading Doryman gives to his post. Despite her extensive damage, Michael, who is a professional builder and restorer of wood vessels, tells me he expects BELLE STARR to be repaired by next spring. BELLE STARR is fortunate to have an owner with the skills to do this, though I very much regret that he is going to have to.
I wish Michael and BELLE STARR many more years of joy together.
