HARPSWELL, Maine — The Bearcat II, a 55-ton fishing vessel out of Toronto, broke free from its mooring Sunday night at the height of Tropical Storm Irene and tore through Mackerel Cove, damaging five lobster boats before becoming embedded in the sand.
As high tide came and went near noon Monday, captain Scott Allen of Harpswell worked alongside other local lobstermen to free the vessel before acknowledging that the bright blue hull of the catamaran-style fishing vessel was stuck in the sand too deep to float on that tide.
“There’s a trap wound right up in it,” said diver Donnie Freeman of Bowdoinham, emerging from the 65-degree water to warm up before heading back in for another attempt at removing ropes entangled in the Bearcat II’s two propellers.
The Bearcat II is owned by Collin Bennett of Toronto, Maine Marine Patrol Officer Scott Couture said Monday. For several summers, it has anchored at the mouth of Mackerel Cove.
As the waves and wind bore down on Mackerel Cove near 11:30 p.m. Sunday, George Coffin was one of about 40 people checking on his lobster boat when he saw the Bearcat II break loose and head toward shore, “bouncing off of boats, one after another after another,” he said. “It was at the height of the tide and the wind just started to really blow.”
It only took 15 minutes for the Bearcat II to tear through the harbor and into the shore, Couture said. With such a large boat, he said, “When the wind hits it, it’s like a sailboat.”
Allen saw the Bearcat II break free from its mooring and managed to get aboard, “but when he put it in gear, the halter [lines] fetched up in [the wheels],” Couture said.
The wind and waves carried the Bearcat II up the west side of the harbor, striking a number of boats, including Coffin’s.
Those on hand, including Coffin’s 14-year-old son, Colin, stopped to help corral the large vessel and minimize damage.
Just before noon Monday, both Coffins joined approximately 50 other people watching Allen try to float the Bearcat II.
“It’s certainly sitting up straighter than it was, but I don’t see them getting it off on this tide,” George Coffin said. “It might end up being a crane getting it off.”
As high tide neared, Allen’s son Josh tied his lobster boat, the Sandra Leigh, up to the Bearcat II and put it in gear, trying to pull the heavy vessel out of the sand — until the heavy rope snapped, falling harmlessly into the ocean.
Then Scott Wyman joined the effort, tying up his boat, Brandon’s Wish. As black smoke puffed from all three engines, however, the operators realized the engines simply weren’t powerful enough for the job.
Clad in his diving gear, Freeman, who had arrived at 9:30 a.m., headed into the water one more time in an attempt to free the propellers, only to emerge, reporting that when the lobster boats tried to haul the Bearcat II out, “it sucked up another mooring line, and now the tide’s turned.”
Allen’s father, Bruce, said he would return to the ship at low tide to “see what’s wrapped up” in the propellers.
With the tide ebbing, the work crew took a break to wait for the next high tide.
Early Tuesday — high tide hit at 12:01 a.m., and was “a good foot higher” than the noon tide, according to Couture — the Bearcat II floated off the sand under its own power.
At low tide on Monday, Allen and others excavated under the propellers, Couture said, so that at high tide, “when they put it under gear, it was able to back out on it’s own. There was no damage, and no fuel leaks. They’re on the dock at Bailey Island Lobster. They’re in good shape.”
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