A12-Wednesday, April 2, 1980 - North Shore News ;

Death

ofa dream

FROM PAGE A2

In the aft cabin apd in the
forecastle the bilges could be
checked by lifting up a floor
hatch. The crew did that and
found them dry. But the
cargo hold was another
matter. Access was possible
through deck hatches, which

were securely strapped |

down, and through
watertight doors, which
were low down in the hull. It
was impractical to open the
watertight doors in the
bulkheads, for if the cargo
hold was indeed full of water
it would flood the other area
through the opened door.
The Leavitt apparently
lacked a sounding tube,
which the old-timers built
into the hold for inspection
and pumping. An alternate
method of pumping was
provided but the main pump,
with all its capacity, could
not be used because the
donkey engine couldn't be
started. The two hand
pumps, located near the
mast on the after deck,

.could handie 30 gallons a

mihute each, The crew had
been using these to pump the
hold periodit¢ally since they

left-Quincy.. The vessel hada

slow leak from the very
beginning. No one seems to
know exactly how much
pumping was done.
Everyone who was on board
has a different tale of the
pumping.

On. the morning of
December 27 the weather
began to get worse. The

‘barometer was falling and a

storm warning was broadcast
on the radio. The seas were
rising and the wind speed
increasing. A “May Day’

signal was sent just before |

noon. Rescue authorities of
the Air National Guard
located the Leavitt with two
helicopters in the late af-
terncon and dropped two
frogmen. They reported
later that the crew appeared
to be very calm and no one
was physically injured.

The frogmen inflated life
rafts and got the crew into
them. They were later
hoisted into the helicopters
and a few hours later were
safely ashore. The only thing
they had taken with them
was the movie maker's film.

It was not known whether
or not the John F. Leavitt
sank. When abandoned she
had a large amount of wood
in her cargo, and there is
some speculation that she is
still afloat though
waterlogged. Ackerman has
talked about mounting a
mission to find her again and
rescue her. But his first
adventure into the return of
commercial sail certainly
seems to have created more
questions than it has an-
swered.

“IT hesitate to judge
without more information,”
says Jeffrey Morse, boat
builder, “but 1 am angry to
think that something as
beautiful as that is probably
gone. That we were making
something of value for
people to see was the
compensanion for all of us
who worked on it”

Much of the material for
this story was originally
printed in WoodenBoat
Magazine, in articles by Jane
Day and Peter H_ Spectre
(no relaton) Our thanks to
them

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