ABANDONED SCHOONER MYSTERY..NO CREW, A HALF-EATEN MEAL AND PILES OF CLOTHES(Mediterranean)

Mirror ^ | 24 Aug 2006 | Nick Pisa

[Marius3188]

A £300,000 schooner has been found floating empty in the Mediterranean - echoing the fate of the Marie Celeste over 130 years ago.

The 66ft twin-masted vessel had no name and no other identification markings.

On board there was a half-eaten meal, maps of the Med, piles of clothes and a punctured dinghy.

The boat was found drifting off the Sardinian resort of Punta Volpe.

Strong currents were pushing it towards rocks and coastguards boarded the vessel just in time and towed it to the port of Olbia.

Officials found a plaque with the name Bel Amica but said that initial checks with shipping registers had found no yacht with that name.

A spokesman said: "It gave the impression of being abandoned very quickly. It could be piracy, we just don't know."

The original Marie Celeste, which was on a voyage from New York to Italy, was found empty and drifting off the coast of Portugal in 1872.

[Salamander]

*If* I don't get distracted by something else, I intend to watch it tonight.

[Hatteras]

"Coastguards spotted a double-mast 22-meter sailing ship cruising around near the Porto Rotondo resort but not giving any signs of life."

Must be kin to those evil American SUVs...

[Salamander]

Just as long as you weren't off hunting up that infernal "BADGER BADGER BADGER" video, I don't mind.....;D

[Salamander]

OMG!

It's The Flying Dutchman!

[pickrell]

"...A £300,000 schooner has been found floating empty in the Mediterranean-"

It was mine! Mine! Where can I go to claim it? I was eating and listening to the radio, when I heard that Cindy Sheehan was having surgery.

I am 'A Positive', so I went topside to take the dingy into shore. Couldn't get the motor started, so I shot it...., and...took the...other dingy, and went to donate a pint of bile. I knew she'd be running low.

[Hazcat]

Mookbarked for later

[Ready4Freddy]

I've sailed offshore almost all my life - Atlantic, Pacific, Med, & Southern Ocean, as well as the Great Lakes. SlowBoat's comment that pirates are usually better armed than anything less than a CG Cutter is true. It's become increasingly difficult to even carry weapons on a yacht that intends to enter foreign ports - well-hidden gun lockers can help, but the weaponry doesn't do you any good offshore unless you have it at the ready at all times.

I've turned down several recent chances to sail the South China Sea because of piracy that has become all to common in that area especially. Fortunately got to sail that area in my bullet-proof younger days.

[ketelone]

Aaarrrr!! A pirates life we'll lead!

[albee]

"I have a punctured dinghy. Now I have to use a catheter."

You are baaaaaaad.....but funny!

LOL

[nomorelurker]

No it's mine, I just seem to misplace more and more things these days. Soon as I get it back I'll treat you to a cruise. How about you loan me the money for airfare to Sardinia.

[Red Badger]

I hate that thing. Many people don't realize that my name has nothing to do with BADGERS.........

[ThomasThomas]

These stories always seem to happen during dinner!

While there might be some pirates around Santa Barbara their home base of plundering the state is Sacramento.

[OldFriend]

Sadly lawlessness has taken over the seas much as it has on land. Cruise ships are being fired upon, many boats now travel in a caravan ( I know that's not the right word) for safety and have rifles on board. Right off our own coasts.

[SlowBoat407]

I hate that thing. Many people don't realize that my name has nothing to do with BADGERS.........

Courage, RB.

[SlowBoat407]

Sadly lawlessness has taken over the seas much as it has on land.

It is indeed a sad day when an old woman can't go out without some ruffians shouting ni! at her.

[all4one]

Since that article was on Pravda...I checked some additional sites in Italy...and the following are what are probably pictures of the ACTUAL abandoned schooner.

Link to Italian Article

[mewzilla]

September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

[All Hope Abandon, Ye Who Enter Here]

[AnAmericanMother]

That's not your standard Med cruiser!

It looks like a reproduction of a 16th c. galleon - probably English as the forecastle is pretty much a design signature. The rigging is typical of the period too.

I bet somebody was making a film and used "Oh Hell" knots to tie this one to the moorings . . .

[AnAmericanMother]

Well, sheesh, that's more like it.

A galleon's hardly a schooner anyhow, now is it?

Anything could have happened, from piracy to an accident . . . wonder if they found it with the sails furled and covered like that.

[all4one]

See post #76...when posting things from Pravda....I always double check to see if there is additional info. Otherwise...my thought was a rip in time...Bermuda triangle type occurance..LOL