|
Sail-World.com : Sad demise of grand old lady Vale de Moura
Sad demise of grand old lady Vale de Moura
|
|
|
'Vale de Moura'
.
|
The picture below tells the sad story, but according to the Batemans Bay Post, it took a Batemans Bay firefighter on a morning walk to notice that the lovely old timber yacht Vale De Moura had sunk, leaving only the two masts of its schooner rig showing above the water.
 | Vale de Moura as she is now - .. . |
The immediate concern of Batemans Bay residents was the possibility of leaked contaminants such as fuel, but the yacht is a sad loss, and Sail-World hopes it can be salvaged. The Vale De Moura is the last survivor of a fleet of traditional, sail-powered fishing vessels that worked commercially on and around the west coast of Portugal, and has a proud history.
The 56-year-old, 72ft schooner Vale de Moura had circumnavigated the world twice in earlier days, but was impounded by Australian customs officials when it sailed into Mooloolaba in 1994. This was because they didn't believe the Austrian skipper, who maintained he had sailed it from Europe single-handedly.
A previous owner, Peter Walsh, told the Sunshine Coast Daily that the officials were convinced that he had killed his crew. So the yacht, with such a glorious past, was impounded by Australian authorities for three years, and then sold to a Perth businessman, who thought he could restore it.
But little happened, and it became a stationery fixture at Mooloolaba wharf. Its next adventures were to start when two holiday-makers from Batemans Bay saw it. 'We thought it would be wonderful to restore,' said one of the holiday-makers, Krystina Mackintosh.
So Krystina's husband John Mackintosh spoke with friends Tony Sutton, Peter Walsh and Bob Beresford and they negotiated the purchase of the yacht from the Perth businessman.
In 2005, the four new owners arrived in Mooloolaba, cleaned up the boat and sailed it to Batemans Bay, where it has been ever since.
Let's hope the modern-day buccaneers will be able to salvage the so sweetly lined Vale De Moura (Valley of the Moors) successfully.
by Sail-World Cruising round-up
Click on the FB Like link to post this story to your FB wall
http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=93933
8:59 PM Wed 15 Feb 2012 GMT
Click here for printer friendly version
Click here to send us feedback or comments about this story.
|
|
|
Our Advertisers are committed to our sport, please support them!
This site and its contents are © Copyright TetraMedia Pty. Ltd and/or the original author, photographer etc. All Rights Reserved.
Photographs are copyright by law. If you wish to use or buy a photograph you must contact the photographer directly (there is a hyperlink in most cases to their website, or do a Google search.) with your request.
Please do not contact
Sail-World.com
as we cannot give permission for use of other photographer’s images.
Only if the photographer named on the image is Sail-world.com, Powerboat-world.com, Marinebusiness-world.com or NZBoating-World.com.
Contact us
.
Ph: +61 2 8006 1873
or complete our
feedback form
Contact us
.
View our Privacy Policy.
[ Go Home]
[ Banner Advertising Specification]
[Bot Archive ]
Customised news feeds -Marine Industry companies, Clubs and Associations have their own customised version of our news feed on their website.
Look_here_to_see_examples
|
CLD
| | |
_USA_05-13[2][4].gif)
