s/v Island Princess was a 1982 Hardin 45' ketch that I purchased in 2006 way up the Chesapeake in Maryland. The four-day trip south to Norfolk in April chill, directly into 20 knot winds, was the first of many adventures on this big, beautiful, and somewhat troubled boat. The photos below show her as I first found her, and then having fun on the lower Chesapeake with friends.
I lived on her on Little Creek [Norfolk, VA] across from the JSOC Seal team and amphib bases for a couple of years, with frequent visits from my girlfriend Bri, now my wife, was finishing up school in Boston at the time. It was all fun and games [and repairs] until one fateful day the boat just in front of us in the marina exploded and sank, doing great damage to Princess and other neighboring boats as well.
The last photo in the gallery was taken on the ill-fated boat, and the man in the pony tail died in the accident. RIP Fritz. Bri was aboard our boat at the time, but luckily avoided serious injury. The end of an era for us, and the beginning of the inevitable downsizing that all sailors go through eventually.
Just came a bit abruptly for us!
I lived on her on Little Creek [Norfolk, VA] across from the JSOC Seal team and amphib bases for a couple of years, with frequent visits from my girlfriend Bri, now my wife, was finishing up school in Boston at the time. It was all fun and games [and repairs] until one fateful day the boat just in front of us in the marina exploded and sank, doing great damage to Princess and other neighboring boats as well.
The last photo in the gallery was taken on the ill-fated boat, and the man in the pony tail died in the accident. RIP Fritz. Bri was aboard our boat at the time, but luckily avoided serious injury. The end of an era for us, and the beginning of the inevitable downsizing that all sailors go through eventually.
Just came a bit abruptly for us!