1972 - 1984 | Beached

NOTE: Some of this is identical to what is written on Wikipedia, as both were written by the author of this website, stardust5980 (aka celesteshipping5980). 

NOTE TWO: Huge thanks to Kenneth Kennedy and Kerry Kennedy for providing Kenneth's book 'ALL AT SEA' which provides almost all of the information on this page.

Beached

- Dunoon was put behind the ship on March 25th, 1978, for yet another long journey to Milford Haven, The departure fell at midday, with a westerly breeze complimenting the sunny environment. They had soon cleared Innellan and had decided to make overnight stops, essentially hurrying from each anchorage to the next. Stopping at night enabled them to avoid fatigue. Their first anchorage would be at Lamlash, which was a bay on Arran sheltered by Holy Island. The two engines were driving the ship at about 7 knots, and by 5 o'clock the ship dropped anchor south of Lamlash village, marking the end of the first leg of the voyage without any mishaps. They had a meal and listened to the forecast, which was not ideal. The wind had already been increasing as they continued to Lamlash, and it was going to continue. Before heading to bed they topped up the fuel tank and checked for leaks.[1]

Come 7 o'clock the next morning, they put the bay behind them, heading for Loch Ryan, constantly hugging the Arran coast. Despite the heavy wind from the west, they were determined it would be an easy run. As they cleared the southern end of Arran they were met by heavy cross-seas that made the ship roll. At this point, Ailsa Crag was right ahead. Soon the ship shuddered abruptly as a large piece of timber passed the ship, colliding with the hull. Within seconds the lights in the engine room went out, and after a quick dive into the engine room, torch in hand, Kenneth saw water rushing into the room through the ship's bottom close to the generator. The generator was still running but the flywheel was throwing water around everywhere. The water was already a foot deep and destroying twenty tons of sand which had been kept for ballast. The dinghies stored in the hold had already started to float. Kenneth turned off the generator as fast as he could and soon made for the wheelhouse. De Wadden was sinking.[1]

There was only one thing they could do: make a dash for the Ayrshire Coast, which was about six miles away. As Alec turned the ship towards the shore, Kenneth opened both throttles to maximum, then he ran back down into the hold in the hope of doing something which would at least lessen the leak. The water had already risen quite a bit, and because of this, the hole had disappeared below the incoming water, making any chance of repair impossible. Debris and the planks that served as the floor of the hold were now floating around in the water, which would soon reach the engines in a little over half an hour.[1]

The ship was filling up fast, but Alec remained optimistic. Kenneth did not feel the same, thinking they might not make the beach. Etive noticed that the situation was dire and hid below the ship's wheel. Kenneth took the wheel from Alec and told him to see if he could get the raft up onto the aft deck. He managed to haul it up as if it had no weight at all, the adrenaline truly getting to him. Kenneth hastily scanned the shore to find a good place to beach, a strip of sand appearing dead ahead. Despite the facade of a safe beach, there were likely rocks below the surface. Kenneth made another trip to the hold with the idea of going a few miles up to Girvan, a much safer coastline, but there was no time. The water was much deeper now and starting to spill into the engine room. Both pumps were fighting a losing battle. The ship was carrying a third of her deadweight tonnage in water alone. They had to go for the strip of sand that was dead ahead, or the whole ship would slip under the waves. The ship had a severe list to port and was staggering, but continued to push forward at top speed. The tide being so far in meant that any rocks were hidden from view, so they would have to rely on charts. About two ship lengths from shore they struck the first rock, the bilge keel riding it forcing her to heel over, but the ship's speed dragged them off before the ship could capsize.[1]

Back on an even keel the ship forced itself forward. grinding and bumping against submerged rocks as her hull came to rest on shore, the bow fifty yards from it. They had made it. It was not their desired location, but Lendalfoot was more ideal than the bottom of the sea. Both engines were still running which held the ship in place. Kenneth left them running for another ten minutes until the tide fell enough so that the ship couldn't be moved from shore. Fortunately, the water level inside the ship began to fall as she settled, but they would have to wait until low tide to see the full scope of the damage. Crowds had begun to gather on the beach to see the spectacle of a ship wrecked on their shore. The police and the coastguard soon arrived, including Girvan lifeboat which was unable to reach them due to the rocky shore. Kenneth and Alec were in a daze, standing on the bow wondering what their next move should be. A priority of Kenneth's was getting a message out to his wife so the family would know what had transpired. The surf was so loud that no one on shore could hear them, and vice versa. Kenneth resorted to using a message in a bottle which he threw at the feet of a police officer.[1]

Soon the coastguard were deploying a breeches buoy to get them all off the ship, however, Kenneth knew they were in no danger and they didn't want to leave the ship anyway. He threw a ladder over the bow to indicate they required no assistance. Activity stopped after this show, so they retired to cook large portions of bacon and egg. After an hour the bow was now on completely dry land, so they headed onto shore and met some sightseers and a local reporter. Kenneth went to one of the nearby houses and asked if he could call his wife, and luckily the homeowner, Bill, made him very welcome. Bill was to play a significant part in the refloating of the ship. Kenneth said that the BBC would have to be informed there was no chance of them getting to Milford Haven for filming.[1]

References

1.  Kennedy, Kenneth M. (1985). All At Sea. Retrieved 2023-12-16.