We have had some action in our little town that is sad . A tug
collided with a 1911 built schooner and sunk it just west of here .

Here is the story in tonights local newspaper online , and then a link
to a website about the schonner . The C & D Canal remains closed as of
Monday evening , until they get the old girl off the bottom of the
canal . No one died in the mishap .

STORY -

Sailboat sinking to keep C&D Canal closed until Tuesday
By TERRI SANGINITI, The News Journal
Updated Monday, May 14, 2007 at 7:09 pm


A 45-foot wooden schooner that sank in the channel of the Chesapeake &
Delaware Canal will remain on the bottom until Tuesday and the
waterway will be closed to all traffic until it is raised, officials
said this afternoon.

A father and his two daughters were rescued by crew members of the
tugboat Schuylkill after the tug and sailboat collided about 3:30 a.m.
today, said Edward Voigt, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers
in Philadelphia.

The three were taken to Union Hospital in Elkton, Md., after being
treated by paramedics on the scene for minor injuries. One daughter
was admitted to the hospital, Voigt said.

The collision happened about 1.5 miles west of the Chesapeake City
Bridge over the canal (Md. 213). The schooner was headed east and the
barge was headed west, Voigt said.

The 14-mile canal cuts through the northern Delmarva peninsula. It
provides a shortcut of about 300 miles for marine traffic between
Philadelphia and Baltimore, saving ships from having to make a long
journey around the southern end of the peninsula.

As of 1 p.m, the closing had affected two large container vessels, as
well as six tugs and barges, said Scott Winslow, a search and rescue
controller with the Coast Guard in Baltimore.

Winslow said he did not know how long the canal would be closed.

"That's the million dollar question," he said.

Winslow said the schooner Heron, built in 1911, was based in Port
Monmouth, N.J.

A three-foot section of its mast was all that showed above the water
this afternoon.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Kip Wadlow said the Army Corps closed the
canal about 6:30 a.m.

“It poses a hazard to navigation and the Army Corps wants to make sure
the debris is out of the water so it doesn't pose a risk to water
traffic,” Wadlow said.

While Coast Guard officials are broadcasting advisories every 30
minutes, many smaller vessels that use the canal are not equipped with
radios, Winslow said. "We don't want anybody to get hurt," he said.

The collision is being investigated by the Coast Guard’s Baltimore
district.

Voigt said divers would be brought in this morning to assist with
removal of the wreckage. He said the Corps hopes to have the Canal
reopened by Tuesday afternoon.
Contact Terri Sanginiti at 324-2771 or


LINK TO SCHOONER - http://www.amschooner.org/node/83