Community Corner
Looting Reported at Sailboat Beached in Edgartown
"This is truly terrible behavior, and we are doing our best to keep people off and away from the boat," the Trustees of Reservations on Martha's Vineyard posted in a Facebook update Wednesday.
Looters have targeted a sailing yacht which has come ashore in Edgartown, according to the nonprofit that manages the beach where the sailboat grounded last Friday.
The Trustees of Reservations, which manages Norton Point Beach in Edgartown, posted the following announcement on Facebook Wednesday:
Update about the sailboat at Norton Point:
As many of you know, a sailboat recently washed ashore at Norton Point. Recent attempts to pull her off the beach have been unsuccessful, but the towboat operators are optimistic that weather and conditions over the next couple of days should be conducive to the cause.
How did the boat get here? It is a troubled story. The "Running Free," as she is named, was sailing off the coast of South Carolina when she hit a significant storm. Her crew was airlifted off by the Coast Guard, and she has been drifting ever since. Her owner was elated to hear that she had been found, and he is anxious to get her free and bring her back home. Almost everything he had was on that boat.
Unfortunately, there have been looters trying to take things off of her in her compromised state. This is truly terrible behavior, and we are doing our best to keep people off and away from the boat.
Imagine that you had lost your beloved boat in a storm, considered her lost forever, joyfully discovered that she had been found -- only to then discover that she had been pillaged on the island paradise of Martha's Vineyard!
Remember the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Please stay away from the boat, and encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Watch our exclusive video to see a salvage crew trying unsuccessfully to pull the yacht off the sand at high tide Sunday.
For more about the yacht and its owner, please see the Vineyard Gazette's reporting here.
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