A chunk of the bow is missing!
Dolphin boat returns to Atlantic City missing a chunk of its bow
ATLANTIC CITY - Jeff George's dolphin-sighting boat Cruisin' 1 usually doesn't do Mondays.
He made an exception this week, then immediately wished he hadn't.
The Atlantic City Cruises tour Monday afternoon encountered winds of 28 to 35 mph and 4- to 7-foot seas, so George cut it short after 10 minutes with his passengers' comfort in mind.
When the returning 60-footer was a mile from home, the choppy ocean, or something in it, trimmed 6 to 8 feet off the top of the bow.
The 43 passengers and three crew members donned life jackets, a first in the tour company's 22 years. A distress call went out. The boat remained seaworthy, but less aerodynamic.
"I'm no longer slicing through waves, I'm plowing at that point," George said.
Various marine-aid agencies came to Cruisin' 1's aid, but the boat returned under its own power to its dock at Gardner's Basin.
"We were never in danger," George said. "Everything was above the waterline."
No one was injured, though "everyone was a little shook up," the captain said.
"He handled his passengers very well. They all had life jackets on, and they were all in the stern," said John McLaughlin, of Sea Tow, who piloted one of the escort boats in the inlet.
George did not see or hear the injury to his boat, he said. "I'm not sure if it was a wave or a piece of debris."
"It was pretty nasty out," McLaughlin said. "It must have been a pretty good-sized wave for it to just rip the bow of the boat off."
Wind speeds fell short of triggering a Coast Guard gale warning, which would have kept the boat off the water, George said. He had a pre-arranged tour of folks who had off from school or work for the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur.
Coast Guard inspectors will continue checking the boat Tuesday. Repairs are expected to take two weeks, so George hopes to return to service around Columbus Day weekend and continue until Thanksgiving as usual.
As for the insurance company's cost estimate, George said, "if it's the deductible only, then I'll wince. If it's more than that, I'll cry."
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