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Re: The sinking of the modern day Bounty
From: Don Seltzer
Date: 2014 Feb 10, 19:29 -0500
From: Don Seltzer
Date: 2014 Feb 10, 19:29 -0500
On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 5:46 PM, Frank Reed <FrankReed@historicalatlas.com> wrote:
I haven't read through the complete report yet (linked above --I will later this evening). Does it indicate that this voyage of the Bounty was scheduled to be its absolute last? That it would either be condemned in New England (and probably scrapped or scuttled) or sailed to Florida that week at the latest to become a pier-side attraction? Does it mention that this would probably be Walbridge's very last opportunity to command a tall ship? He took that opportunity, that's for sure, putting his own adventure, his own joy in sailing, ahead of the safety of his crew.
The report makes a slight reference to the Bounty having been up for sale for two years, but goes no further in drawing conclusions. It also briefly addresses scheduling, with the comment that waiting five more days would have still allowed it to reach its next destination in Florida in time.
As long as we are speculating over motivations, I think it possible that Capt Walbridge thought that sailing past the hurricane would be a good selling point for the ship (and sincerely believed that he could do it). And conversely, his delay in notifying the Coast Guard of the flooding problems may have been motivated by the negative publicity it would have generated.
The only slightly new aspect to the report was pointing a finger of blame at the ownership.
Don Seltzer
