Let's face it.... that Jim & Trish Hughes must have done something terrible
in this or a past life to have this kind of karma following them. I noticed
nobody feels sorry about the damage to Olafsson's boat!
Keep the Sea ... Anal Free!!

CM


"Scott Vernon" wrote in message
...
| Isn't Donut the one who believes there shouldn't be any laws or rules
| against drunk boating?
|
| Scotty
|
| "Scout" wrote in message
| ...
| Enjoy this one,
| Scout
|
| A retired couple's dream of sailing round the world has been wrecked by
a
| calamitous Icelandic fisherman who crashed into their yacht twice in one
| year.
|
| The second collision occurred when Eriker Olafsson, still feeling
| remorseful, tried to sail alongside to reinforce earlier apologies for
the
| first mishap.
| Jim and Trish Hughes, who had just completed repairs to their 45ft yacht
| Dragon Song when Olafsson hove into view the second time, now say they
| will
| feel safe only when he has left British waters for good.
|
| Olafsson's drunken antics landed him in court facing a charge of
criminal
| damage. Nigel Hodkinson, defending at Fareham magistrates' court, Hants,
| said
| that the case was proof that lightning can strike twice in one place.
|
| On the first occasion Olafsson caused £25,000 of damage, forcing Mr and
| Mrs
| Hughes to cancel their trip of a lifetime. He paid them in cash for the
| cost
| of the repairs.
|
| A year and a day later, after drinks at a party, Olafsson was sailing
down
| the Solent when he spotted the Dragon Song lying at its moorings.
|
| Graham Heath, prosecuting, said: "He was overcome with a desire to give
a
| more formal and heartfelt apology to the yacht owner for the trouble he
| caused the previous year. But instead he smashed into the yacht again,
| getting caught in its swinging moorings for the second time."
|
| Mr and Mrs Hughes were not aboard their yacht. Witnesses saw Olafsson
| "taking slugs from a bottle of wine" as he tried in vain to free his
45ft
| yacht from the moorings of the other. He then "steamed off with the
luxury
| yacht in tow".
|
| Harbour police arrested Olafsson after he had dragged the Dragon Song
five
| miles from its moorings at Gosport, Hants, to near Portsmouth. Olafsson,
a
| 59-year-old bachelor, admitted causing criminal damage of £18,000.
|
| Mr Heath told the court: "This case is based around an amazing blunder
by
| Olafsson who managed to wreck the same yacht twice." He said the
| Icelander,
| a retired fisherman, had been drinking heavily at a party in Chichester,
| West Sussex, before setting sail up the Solent, bound for Ireland.
|
| Mr Hodkinson said: "The fact that Olafsson managed to make this mistake
of
| hitting the same yacht and getting entangled on two separate occasions
is
| proof that lightning really does strike twice.
|
| "This was a hugely unusual and unlucky mistake. Olafsson has been at sea
| all
| his life and, as a former Icelandic fisherman, has sailed in probably
some
| of the worst waters in the world.
|
| "He is distinctly hazy about what happened but remembers wanting to
| apologise to the yacht owner for the incident a year before, and the
next
| thing he knew, bang, the two boats struck again. Olafsson is a gentleman
| who
| just panicked."
|
| The defendant, who has already paid compensation for the damage caused
by
| his yacht on June 6 this year, was fined £200 and ordered to pay £118
| costs.
|
| Speaking after the case, Mr Hughes, 55, said the collisions had
shattered
| his life's dream of sailing across the Atlantic for two years in a row.
|
| He and his wife had sold their house and put their savings into their
| £150,000 yacht. Mr Hughes, a former builder and developer, said: "What
| that
| man has done to me is absolutely incredible. I don't want him ever to
| apologise to me again. Both times he caused massive damage to the hull
and
| mast."
|
| He and his wife have been forced to live on a small motorboat while
Dragon
| Song is repaired. "I can never rest sound or leave her alone again
unless
| Olafsson has sailed off into the distance, never to return," he said.
|
| "I, for one, will never, ever sail anywhere near Iceland, just on the
| off-chance that he will be there."
|
|
|
|