I´m very sorry to report this - but the Robertson II grounded on Mink Reef off Winter Cove near Saturna Island on Sunday July 1st 2007. I´m updating this post as news comes in so check near the bottom for the latest information.



From the photos it doesn´t look good. I am very thankful to Patricia E. for notifying me about an hour ago and sending along these photos... They had seen the ship underway the previous afternoon (Saturday) off Tumbo Island and all looked well. They went by the rocks about 9:45 pm Saturday and didn´t see it. But by 10 am Sunday morning it was there on its side, high and dry.

The Robertson II has been a privately owned vessel for quite a while now. Back in June 2003, the Robertson II was sold to Atlantic and Pacific Fisheries of Victoria, represented by Roy Boudreau and Tom Nimbly. The sale marked the end of an era for the heritage schooner. I had sailed on the Robby many times prior to that sale and there is literally some of my own blood sweat and tears in her - seeing these photos fills me with a great sense of loss. I will follow this story and collect information from as many sources as I can and keep everyone up to date.

UPDATE 2007-07-02-1600h:
I recently got off the phone with A Channel News in Victoria - I know they will be doing a story on this today. The person I spoke with also noted that a salvage operation was intended and they were going to be sending out a reporter to try and get more information.

UPDATE 2007-07-02-1750h:
I can confirm that the location of the grounding is the far end of Mink Reef (visible in the chart) and that the grounding occurred at 0300h Sunday July 1st. Aerial footage from Global TV shows an oil slick and as yet, there are no signs of a salvage operation.

UPDATE 2007-07-02-2030h:
I know a bit more about what happened now: It seems that they hey were attempting to enter Winter Cove at about 0200 on Sunday.  From the look of it, they made the turn to starboard clear of the end of Minx Reef, but completed the turn too soon and grounded on the end of the reef.  This was close to the lower high tide of the day, around 8.5´ (vs higher high of 10.9´ around 2000). We are experiencing fairly extreme tides in the region at the moment. Although I´m not sure what the norms are for that area yet.

UPDATE 2007-07-03-0600h:
The newspapers are starting to pick up the story now and I see one from the Times Colonist in Victoria. I also received an email from Ryan C. (one of the current Robertson II crew - who added these comments: We will continue to make salvage efforts with the intent to fully resurrect her[...]  We are gathering all of the means today to make this all possible.  The current owner is fully versed in the matter of salvage and has been on the water his whole life.  We have the full capability to make this happen in every aspect and if all goes well the Robertson II will be afloat once again.

UPDATE 2007-07-03-0900h:
There is some video online at the CH News site from Victoria - I´m not sure how long this link will be valid but you can get some aerial video.
The Times Colonist also has an article
Looking at the video you can see some pretty severe buckling of the deck - from my own recollection of the state of the Robby´s hull back when she was sold I can´t imagine that she is doing too well. There was so much dry-rot back then that I could stick my finger right into the planking. That said I have no idea what restoration work may have been done over the last 4 years - the whole thing doesn´t look promising though.

UPDATE 2007-07-03-1200h:
The Notice to shipping that had been issued requesting a minimum wash for the area where the Robby went aground has been canceled - I´m not sure what that implies but I´ll try to find out.

UPDATE 2007-07-03-1945h:
Another new article from the Times Colonist

UPDATE 2007-07-04-1200h:
As new photos come in I have elected to create a Robertson II Aground photo album dedicated to this incident. This will allow people an easy way to survey the damage and also to contribute any photos of their own. I will also be creating an album for photos of the Robby happily afloat to try and offset some of the heartache. The video link from CH news in Victoria has also bee updated - so if you watched it before - you may want to have a look again.

UPDATE 2007-07-04-1500h:
According to a source on Saturna Is. There is a crew out right now pumping out the Robby - so a salvage effort seems to be underway. That´s all I have for the moment.

UPDATE 2007-07-05-0500h:
Tow new news articles one article from the Globe and Mail and one article from the Vancouver Sun have been published. These are basically more of the same information from different sources.

Google Maps - Location of the grounding

Another update, but not exactly news about the Robby herself, I was able to provide an account and some background for the Robby on our local radio station this morning just after their newscast.

So far today I´ve been contacted by CBC radio and CBC Newsworld also for more information. Basically everyone has the same questions - what´s going on, where is the owner, and who should one contact for more information.

If anyone has further information - Please add a comment with any conclusive details and facts that you have.

Significant new from my source on Saturna Is. regarding developments on the salvage effort for the Robertson II.

See the Complete Article near the bottom for the latest.

I discovered the Robbie on July 30th in much the same condition as described.  There was an apparent attempt to caulk the hull planking when exposed at low tide but no evidence of other activity.  We spent that night anchored in Irish Bay and found the majority of the missing mast/spars/boom afloat and tied up in the back of Irish Bay.  A sad sight indeed....

Thanks for the update - the new owners wanted to know where the mast was so this mast help. Thanks for sharing.

I figure this one is significant enough to put here as well as the main news article


UPDATE 2007-08-09-0600h:
Two new articles have popped up this morning one from the Globe and Mail and the other from the Chronicle Herald of Nova Scotia - I´m glad to see these two reporters managed to find out some facts. I spoke with the reporter from the Globe yesterday morning and at that point he hadn´t found out much - so what came of the second half of the day is very impressive. We now have a name for the new owners: Drew Clarke, a former commercial fisherman, who runs Blue Angel Towing on Salt Spring Is. To summarize what the two articles have uncovered it looks like the current plan is to try and refloat the Robby this weekend (hopefully with some government funding) haul her our and repair the damage and then finally sail her back to Nova Scotia as a gift to that province. It all sounds fairly grand and expensive and is still hinging on government funding which, as yet, is not confirmed. The article also mentions that they are currently working on creating the society and as yet, are not asking for public funding. "He said a group of volunteers, including tug operators as well as professional salvors and divers, will join him in a major effort to refloat the old schooner on the weekend."
We´re all back to "wait and see" mode for the time being - but I know we all wish them luck and look forward to hearing what happens with the attempt.

I had the good fortune to sing and record the Chorus of Robbie 11 with Bill Henderson last week.Tonight he sent out this notice to Tuned Air...the back up Choir.
 Hi everyone

Drew and his volunteers have stood down from the Robbie II operation. They had all their resources working on her over the weekend, had her sitting up straight with more bags under her but she just wouldn´t come off. So Sunday night they made the decision to leave her be.

The Robbie II will probably rest on Minx reef for quite a while serving as a beacon. There won´t be any mistaking where those rocks are.

I´m glad to have put some effort into it. Thanks for helping out.

All the best,

Bill

Robbie 11
In repose, you are entitled to
Contemplate your fate
While gently bathed by the wash
Of warm August tides.
Gather your strength,
Collect your power
Sweet Grandmother of wind.

Ragnhild Flakstad

August 17th,2007

Ragnhild, do you know where people can get a copy of the song? I know I would like one but I expect others would as well...

?

Saw Robbie aground September 2. Sad.
I went aground there myself a few years ago, probably doing much the same thing
- coming around from the South at night, lining up the edge of Irish Bay visually
to turn into Winter Cove in my pre-GPS/chartplotter days, not leaving enough room and grounding on Minke Reef.
Not much damage to my heavy GRP hull, but I had to move quickly to kedge off on a falling tide.
http://andrew.triumf.ca/andrew/photos/000_2336.JPG