The HMS Bounty, a half-century-old 180-foot long wooden sailing ship, sank in Hurricane Sandy roughly 100 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. A U.S. Coast Guard aircraft captured this image of the ship moments before it went down.
Bounty's final moments —
The HMS Bounty, a half-century-old 180-foot long wooden sailing ship, sank in Hurricane Sandy roughly 100 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. A U.S. Coast Guard aircraft captured this image of the ship moments before it went down.
U.S. Coast Guard
Aboard the sailing ship Liberty Clipper, survivor Jessica Hewitt held a message-in-a-bottle ceremony honoring the two victims on the first anniversary of the disaster last October. The bottle, seen here in a photo from Hewitt's Facebook page, was tossed near the site of the sinking off North Carolina. It contained messages and mementos from other survivors, loved ones and former Bounty crew members. The ceremony was joined by dozens of dolphins.
Shipwreck survivors sail on —
Aboard the sailing ship Liberty Clipper, survivor Jessica Hewitt held a message-in-a-bottle ceremony honoring the two victims on the first anniversary of the disaster last October. The bottle, seen here in a photo from Hewitt's Facebook page, was tossed near the site of the sinking off North Carolina. It contained messages and mementos from other survivors, loved ones and former Bounty crew members. The ceremony was joined by dozens of dolphins.
Courtesy Jessica Hewitt
One of the vicitms was an inexperienced deckhand. Claudene Christian, 42, tweeted this photo of herself and the ship shortly after she joined the crew a few months before the disaster. "To not have her here is so hard," Hewitt said. After Hewitt's message-in-a-bottle ceremony, Christian's mother, Dina Christian, posted on Hewitt's Facebook page, "Thank you Jessica, I know you remembered Claudene." Christian's family filed a civil lawsuit against the Bounty's owners.
Claudene Christian —
One of the vicitms was an inexperienced deckhand. Claudene Christian, 42, tweeted this photo of herself and the ship shortly after she joined the crew a few months before the disaster. "To not have her here is so hard," Hewitt said. After Hewitt's message-in-a-bottle ceremony, Christian's mother, Dina Christian, posted on Hewitt's Facebook page, "Thank you Jessica, I know you remembered Claudene." Christian's family filed a civil lawsuit against the Bounty's owners.
From Twitter
Walbridge's body was never found. On October 25, 2012, he chose to set sail from New London, Connecticut, while Hurricane Sandy churned toward the U.S. East Coast. Aboard the ship were Hewitt and 15 other crew. Hewitt says she gets annoyed when people ask her, 'What were you doing out there? What was the captain thinking?' I tell them, 'I can't answer that for myself, and I can't answer that for you.' "
Capt. Robin Walbridge —
Walbridge's body was never found. On October 25, 2012, he chose to set sail from New London, Connecticut, while Hurricane Sandy churned toward the U.S. East Coast. Aboard the ship were Hewitt and 15 other crew. Hewitt says she gets annoyed when people ask her, 'What were you doing out there? What was the captain thinking?' I tell them, 'I can't answer that for myself, and I can't answer that for you.' "
dave souza/herald news
Hewitt nearly drowned in the disaster. Lingering trauma from the ordeal is forcing her to reconsider her childhood dream of life on the high seas. "I can say I'm a better sailor now because of this," she said. "But at the time I still felt embarrassed and ashamed. I felt like a part of me sank with the boat. A sort of innocence was just gone. Now, my heart races sometimes. I have a hard time sleeping on boats when it's rough out. I don't leave my cabin door open."
'Part of me sank with the boat' —
Hewitt nearly drowned in the disaster. Lingering trauma from the ordeal is forcing her to reconsider her childhood dream of life on the high seas. "I can say I'm a better sailor now because of this," she said. "But at the time I still felt embarrassed and ashamed. I felt like a part of me sank with the boat. A sort of innocence was just gone. Now, my heart races sometimes. I have a hard time sleeping on boats when it's rough out. I don't leave my cabin door open."
Courtesy Jessica Hewitt
Hewitt nearly drowned because her tether to a shipmate got caught on sinking debris. She posted this Facebook photo of herself holding twine and ship's rigging. She captioned it, "Strong like seine twine." <br /><br />"It's hard when people say cruel things," Hewitt said, "like 'oh, Bounty, those reckless people' or 'they're loving the attention they get.' They don't see the side like when I had to interrupt my job conducting boat tours to go cry in a Porta-Potty."
'Strong like seine twine' —
Hewitt nearly drowned because her tether to a shipmate got caught on sinking debris. She posted this Facebook photo of herself holding twine and ship's rigging. She captioned it, "Strong like seine twine."

"It's hard when people say cruel things," Hewitt said, "like 'oh, Bounty, those reckless people' or 'they're loving the attention they get.' They don't see the side like when I had to interrupt my job conducting boat tours to go cry in a Porta-Potty."
Courtesy Jessica Hewitt
Hewitt climbs across a tall ship's yardarm, high above the deck.
Going aloft —
Hewitt climbs across a tall ship's yardarm, high above the deck.
Courtesy Jessica Hewitt
Hewitt checks sail rigging out on a yardarm. Maintaining a tall ship's hundreds of rope lines and multiple sails is complicated and dangerous work.
Dangerous work —
Hewitt checks sail rigging out on a yardarm. Maintaining a tall ship's hundreds of rope lines and multiple sails is complicated and dangerous work.
Courtesy Jessica Hewitt
Before the sinking, sailing "was my passion," said Hewitt. "I've lost that, at least for the time being."
Sailing 'was my passion' —
Before the sinking, sailing "was my passion," said Hewitt. "I've lost that, at least for the time being."
Courtesy Jessica Hewitt
The message bottle, weighted with an iron shackle, is "the only way the message would get to them," Hewitt said. During the ceremony, Hewitt read aloud from sailing poems by Henry Longfellow and Walt Whitman's "Passage to India," including, "For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go / And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all."
'We will risk the ship, ourselves and all' —
The message bottle, weighted with an iron shackle, is "the only way the message would get to them," Hewitt said. During the ceremony, Hewitt read aloud from sailing poems by Henry Longfellow and Walt Whitman's "Passage to India," including, "For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go / And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all."
courtesy jessica hewitt