Christina 1953 ChrisCraft 52' pilothouse motor-yacht

I was just reminiscing a lifetime of memories aboard my 52' Pilothouse Motor-yacht; Christina. I saved and restored her to her well deserved majesty, a labor of love, blood, sweat and untold hours of very hard work... but she was in herself a truly worthy reward, she was my baby.

Unfortunately and tragically she was lost to the Pacific when the USCG attempted to move her off of an undisclosed Federal anchorage at around 2am one fateful night in the summer of 2006. They accidentally up ended her due to young and inexperienced members of the USCG who were not thinking adequately while attempting to handle a 22 ton yacht. They had set her adrift and by the time I got there she had washed ashore. I arrived to find my beloved power-yacht with her transom wedged in the sand and 20' of bow sticking up out of the surf with the waves crashing against it. Sadly she was un-salvageable, not covered by insurance for such and it was a complete and total loss to me.

I had anchored her offshore for the weekend because she was going into a new slip the following Monday morning, but I had to vacate my old slip that Friday. Late that Saturday night I got a call from the USCG saying that the location she was anchored in was on the edge of an undisclosed federal anchorage and they needed to keep that designated area clear, so my vessel needed to be moved a couple of hundred feet. I offered to go and move her immediately but the USCG operator said she would prefer to dispatch a USCG team to go move it, the vessel only needed to be moved a couple of hundred feet and that they would take care of it. I figured they were the Coast Guard, so they should know what they're doing, no problem, right?
.... and thus my nightmare began.
We were having pretty rough seas at the time, so when I anchored her I set her up for stormy conditions. I dropped anchor and run her backwards 'till she wouldn't move, so the anchor was set pretty deep. I then threw off a couple 5gal buckets on ropes tied to the swim-step to keep her bow to the seas and flooded the bilge to weigh her down and add ballast so she couldn't be capsized by any rouge waves. I was using perfect 11/4" anchor line and it was tight as hell, she was VERY stable.
When the USCG called me, she (the operator) said the boat was taking on water but was sitting perfectly level in the water I tried to explain that I had flooded the bilge for ballast, but I don't think she understood. Of course, one would need to turn on the bilge pumps and empty the hull before raising anchor... common sense right? And she would need to be either driven or towed forward to dislodge the anchor... common sense too right? When I found her, the anchor line had been CUT !!!
So....what that means is; they couldn't raise anchor, they didn't empty the bilge and some freaking genius got the idea to just cut the anchor rope!!! (with an axe by the look of it) Well, of course the line was tight as a guitar string, so you could imagine what happened. Who ever was on the forward deck when the line was cut would have been flung through the air as the bow sprung up and all the water in the bilge rushed aft-wards causing the yacht to up end vertically!!! I'm sure it would have been quite a sight!!!
Then, during the panic of them tending to the M.O.B's the yacht just drifted away. I was awakened by a call at about 2am - the USCG:
"Sir, your vessel appears to have broken anchor and has drifted into Orange County waters which is not within our jurisdiction. You will need to contact the O.C. sheriffs dept immediately... here's the number....."
The O.C. sheriff told me that conditions were too dangerous for me to go locate my vessel, and to wait for first light before I head out there....
He added that if he saw me out there before sunrise, he would arrest me for 'self endangerment' ! So I spent the next couple of hours climbing the freaking walls! As the sun shed first light I was already in my ski boat headed that way at full throttle.... only to find my yacht with her bow poking out above the surf on Bolsa Chica beach... the rest is history.
It still breaks my heart to think about the demise of something so beautiful and powerful yet also so elegant. One day, I do hope to have another motor-yacht... but I will never be able to replace my Christina.

1953 ChrisCraft 52' pilothouse motor-yacht, 1080HP twin screw mid engine, two queen staterooms + crew quarters, two full heads, galley down.

Music by The Little River Band - Cool Change

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Tags:

• 1953
• ChrisCraft
• 52'
• motor-yacht

[kingrowanthefirst]

that's a dam shame, great vid tho

[1loydster]

Thanks

[PeteM234]

Sometimes I think the US government could screw up a one car parade and that includes the Coast Guard who handled this boat. You should have sued the pants off them and the people responsable should have been severly disciplined by the Service.I hope you did something about his tragedy.

[alsationwolfdogs]

wow, thats an unbelievable story, did you ever get any compensation? not that it would make it better.. but................

[680mudman]

What a pussy.better put on a fresh maxi pad......lol

[michaelpilot1000]

Well, I have rebuilt several clasic yachts. from 30ft Gloucester, 32ft Grand Banks, 54 ft Ed Monk sr and more.

I have tons of photos of restoration, running out on trips ect.

You only have one poor photo of a boat at a marina.

I find this odd.

I do not find stories of USCG sinking boats. I have seen quite a few mistakes over the last 40 years between river bars and ocean.

[deadmanzen]

Little River Band, cool change Ozzie band "360" Hand in hand at the will of the ocean, what place to be and just think, the sun, the wind... feel the salted waves apon u.

[cleareyedcleanheart]

@pizamoto LOL!

I always wondered what kind of moron would believe the Richard Gere rumor.

Now I know.

Nice diatribe. Care to refute me logically and, dare I say, with sanity? Loydster knows where I'm coming from. It was some big-brotherly advice. Do you think this video didn't make me sick?

[pizamoto]

You're an asshole...no, I'm wrong, you're the whole ass.

Your pet Gerbil must've got stuck, 'cause you sure do need to see a Proctologist!

[cleareyedcleanheart]

Looks like you screwed with the wrong people. I bet they're still laughing their asses off.

Maybe you should stick to making videos about funny cats.

[imafishgod]

Oh what a shame ..She was as beautiful as you are.. Why do such things happen to the kindest people.... Much respect, Paula

[nameofthepen]

Ahhh, Lloyd...

What a tragedy. I never saw a prettier boat. So very, very sorry. :-(

This surely proves once more why the following English words are the most dreaded in the world:

"Hi. We're from the U.S. government, and we're here to help."