Yacht Club Hut Drifts for Freedom, Crashes in Hull
The hopes and dreams of the Cottage Park Race Committee Hut, which broke from its moorings in Winthrop and appeared to be determined to visit Ireland, were dashed upon Hull’s Nantasket Beach on February 15.
According the Cottage Park fleet secretary Linda Epstein, the hut, which was used to run races and store gear for the fleet, probably broke free at three or four in the morning during the storm when the wind shifted to the north. Epstein, a research scientist with a PhD as well as a sailor, wasn’t sure if the force of the wind ripped the boards off the hut, or if the mooring chains sawed through the wood.
This wasn’t the first time one of the club’s huts ran aground. A previous hut broke loose from its mooring in Marblehead harbor and was wrecked upon the shore during the No Name storm of 1991. After that mishap, the Boulter family of Marblehead donated plywood and other materials for the resurrection of the fleet hut.
When the Marblehead frostbite fleet relocated to Cottage Park, so too did the hut. That hut watched over numerous frostbite fleets since 1995 and served the fleet well for almost 20 years. In 2010, when the hut was at the end of its lifespan, fleet architect-in-training Julia Marsh from Peabody designed the new structure. It was built in sections in fleet technical chairman John Pratt’s garage in Stoneham with the assistance of John Laiosa from Marshfield.
Epstein of Arlington, Bill Rothwell of Peabody, and Bob Coyle of Woburn loaded the sections into a U-Haul and drove the pieces to Winthrop. Construction foreman and Race Committee member Tom Robinson assisted by Richard Kaeseler, Andrew Davis, and John Laiosa supervised fleet members in the hut-raising party. The structure was towed out to its mooring, where it spent five years weathering the elements.
After the hut broke free, the Coast Guard posted the above photo. Facebook fans cheered the hut on as if it were a runaway bride escaping from a hastily arranged marriage. More than 3,000 people “liked’’ the image and there were numerous comments.
“This is awesome. If it’s full of buoys and doesn’t break up, it will probably make it too,’’ wrote Dirk Schwenk, an attorney from Annapolis, Maryland. John Hart, a freelance copywriter, commented, “New listing! Cozy beach house, 100 sq. ft, stunning harbor views!’’
Alas, the hut’s escape did not conclude with a storybook ending. The Cottage Park Yacht Club hut was smashed upon the shores of Point Allerton in Hull, and the debris stretched down Nantasket Beach.
A piece of plywood indicating “course 2’’ was salvaged as well as two race committee signal flags. Two Executive Choice #2 Pencils donated by Judith Krimski and half a bottle of raspberry vodka were discovered on the scene. The spirits were left on the beach.
On Saturday, Epstein led an expedition to retrieve non-biodegradable items in the wreckage strewn across Nantasket beach. Wearing crampons upon her boots, and assisted by a heavy line tied to a fence post, Epstein, John Laiosa and a correspondent belayed down the ice-covered steps to retrieve blue styrofoam flotation devices. Pam Laiosa helped them load it up into their pickup truck.
The fleet has announced a fundraising site to help defray the cost of building a new hut. Thus far, they have raised $3,500 of their $10,000 goal.
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