S/V Andiamo dismasted off of Prudence Island.

At approximately 1600 hours on May 4, 2007, the Safe/Sea Emergency Response Center received a call from the S/V Andiamo. The Captain of the Andiamo explained that the mast and rigging of his 28 foot Sabre sailboat had failed while underway and was hanging over the side of the vessel. The M/V Safe/Sea Salvor was immediately dispatched with Captains Peter Andrews and Phil LeBlanc aboard.

            Upon arriving on scene, Captain LeBlanc was placed aboard the casualty to assess the damage. The mast had broken into three pieces with one break occurring approximately five feet from the base of the deck-stepped mast, and the second break situated fifteen feet above that first, just above the spreaders. The entire mast was still attached to the vessel via the stays and halyards. The main sail was still in the water and attached to the broken mast, and the occupants of the casualty were just completing the recovery of the jib. Captain LeBlanc assisted in recovering the main sail and un-footing it from the mast and boom, and then proceeded, with the help of the occupants, to recover the broken portions of the mast. The pieces first needed to be secured with lines to prevent their loss, and the stays and halyard needed to be selectively cut and recovered before the rig could be hoisted aboard. Captain Andrews placed a hawser on the bow of the Andiamo and held the vessel into the wind to prevent the mast from colliding with the vessel's hull. The entire rig was removed from the water and secured on deck by approximately 1715 hours. The vessel was then slowly towed to Norton's Marina in East Greenwich where it was deemed secure at 1815 hours.