Before doomed voyage, victim of HMS Bounty sinking called parents to say she ‘loved what she was doing’
Harriet McLeod, Reuters | Oct 30, 2012 11:48 PM ET | Last Updated: Oct 30, 2012 11:52 PM ET
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Petty Officer 2nd Class Tim Kuklewski/ /U.S. Coast Guard via Getty
The HMS Bounty, a 180-foot sailboat,
is submerged in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Sandy approximately
150 km southeast of Hatteras, North Carolina, on Monday.
Claudene Christian was thrilled to join the crew of the replica ship
HMS Bounty, embarking on a voyage that ultimately ended in tragedy with
her death Monday.
The Alaska-born woman was a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian,
leader of the British sailors who mutineed against the tyranny of
Captain William Bligh on a voyage to Tahiti more than 200 years earlier.
His five-times great-granddaughter signed up with Captain Robin Willbridge in May to help sail the three-masted square rigger.
“My new home 4 a few yrs! So excited!” she tweeted on May 15, three days after announcing she was joining the Bounty crew for a 21-port sail down the East Coast from Nova Scotia, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The ship was featured in the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty and two of the Pirates of the Caribbean films.
With 14 other crew, Ms. Christian left New London, Conn., on Thursday. The plan was to sail to the Bounty’s winter berth in St. Petersburg, Fla.
But Hurricane Sandy caught up with them when they were about 145 kilometres off Cape Hatteras, N.C.
After the craft was swamped by six-metre waves, Capt. Willbridge gave the order to abandon ship at about 4:30 a.m.
Ms. Christian, who was one of the last to leave, was washed from the deck before she could join the rest of the crew in the lifeboats.
Her unresponsive body was plucked from the water later in the day and
taken to hospital, where doctors were unable to revive her.
Her mother Claudene Christian said her daughter called her before the ship set sail.
“She says, ‘We’re heading out and I just wanted to tell you and Dad that I love you,’ ” the mother told Canadian Broadcasting Corp. from her home in Vian, Okla.
“And I said, ‘What are you saying that for?’ And she said, ‘Just in case something happens.’ ”
“She was truly and genuinely happy and loved the Bounty and loved what she was doing — and wanted us to know that just in case she went down with the ship,” the mother added.
The 42-year-old woman studied at the University of South California.
Friends in Hermosa Beach, Calif., remembered her as a 5-foot-2 stick of dynamite. She was part-owner of a bar for a while and sang in a band.
She moved to Oklahoma last year to live with her parents.
Even before the trip, some crew wondered if it was wise to set sail.
“This will be a tough voyage for Bounty,” read a posting on the ship’s Facebook page that showed a map of its co-ordinates and satellite images of the storm.
As Sandy’s massive size became more apparent, a post on Saturday tried to soothe any worried supporters: “Rest assured that the Bounty is safe and in very capable hands. Bounty’s current voyage is a calculated decision … NOT AT ALL … irresponsible or with a lack of foresight as some have suggested. The fact of the matter is … A SHIP IS SAFER AT SEA THAN IN PORT!”
With files from The Associated Press and news services
Facebook Claudene Christian, 42, has been identified as the woman who died after the HMS Bounty sank.
His five-times great-granddaughter signed up with Captain Robin Willbridge in May to help sail the three-masted square rigger.
“My new home 4 a few yrs! So excited!” she tweeted on May 15, three days after announcing she was joining the Bounty crew for a 21-port sail down the East Coast from Nova Scotia, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The ship was featured in the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty and two of the Pirates of the Caribbean films.
With 14 other crew, Ms. Christian left New London, Conn., on Thursday. The plan was to sail to the Bounty’s winter berth in St. Petersburg, Fla.
But Hurricane Sandy caught up with them when they were about 145 kilometres off Cape Hatteras, N.C.
After the craft was swamped by six-metre waves, Capt. Willbridge gave the order to abandon ship at about 4:30 a.m.
Ms. Christian, who was one of the last to leave, was washed from the deck before she could join the rest of the crew in the lifeboats.
Facebook A photo taken from Claudene Christian's Facebook page shows her on the HMS Bounty.
Her mother Claudene Christian said her daughter called her before the ship set sail.
“She says, ‘We’re heading out and I just wanted to tell you and Dad that I love you,’ ” the mother told Canadian Broadcasting Corp. from her home in Vian, Okla.
“And I said, ‘What are you saying that for?’ And she said, ‘Just in case something happens.’ ”
“She was truly and genuinely happy and loved the Bounty and loved what she was doing — and wanted us to know that just in case she went down with the ship,” the mother added.
The 42-year-old woman studied at the University of South California.
Friends in Hermosa Beach, Calif., remembered her as a 5-foot-2 stick of dynamite. She was part-owner of a bar for a while and sang in a band.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Tim Kuklewski/ /U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images
In this handout image supplied by the US Coast Guard, The HMS Bounty, a
180-foot sailboat, is submerged in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane
Sandy approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, North Carolina, on
October 29.
Even before the trip, some crew wondered if it was wise to set sail.
“This will be a tough voyage for Bounty,” read a posting on the ship’s Facebook page that showed a map of its co-ordinates and satellite images of the storm.
As Sandy’s massive size became more apparent, a post on Saturday tried to soothe any worried supporters: “Rest assured that the Bounty is safe and in very capable hands. Bounty’s current voyage is a calculated decision … NOT AT ALL … irresponsible or with a lack of foresight as some have suggested. The fact of the matter is … A SHIP IS SAFER AT SEA THAN IN PORT!”
With files from The Associated Press and news services
Labels: Adventure, Catastrophe, Environment, Human Relations
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