Shipwreck on Christmas Eve in Aquinnah waters

Updated Jan. 5

On a beach in Aquinnah, waves crashed over splintered, light teal pieces of a sailboat that rested by the shore last Tuesday. 

The shipwreck apparently washed ashore from an incident on Christmas Eve, when the captain of the vessel called the U.S. Coast Guard for assistance, but had to leave the ship behind during the rescue. 

“A decision was made just to protect life rather than property,” said Executive Petty Officer Tyler Vanderhaden of Coast Guard Station Menemsha in an interview with The Times last Tuesday. Vanderhaden added that there were four small dogs on the sailboat along with the captain.

Vanderhaden said the Coast Guard received a call about a captain in distress, and they responded immediately to the scene. Once on the scene, they started to slowly tow the boat to safety, but the captain reported that his ship was taking on water rapidly. 

The Coast Guard officers loaded the captain and his dogs safely onto their vessel, and released the sailboat into the open water. It later crashed on the shore of a beach in Aquinnah off Pilot’s Landing Road, Vanderhaden confirmed. 

The wreckage was still visible on the beach last Tuesday afternoon. Fuel containers, a sneaker, tools, and various other supplies were piled on the sand, and wooden pieces of the ship’s exterior were strewn nearby. 

In the aftermath of the shipwreck, some Island community members decided not to rely solely on a scheduled cleanup of the boat and items left behind. Over the past week, locals went out with ATVs and homemade sleds to excavate the wreckage and ensure it didn’t further litter the area. 

Isaac Taylor, one of the Islanders who helped lead the community cleanup efforts, said a few people worked each day, occasionally alongside the captain of the ship and a construction crew the captain hired, to remove debris from the stone-strewn beach. Taylor was joined by Juli Vanderhoop, her brother Chip Vanderhoop, and a few others. 

Chilmark Harbormaster Ryan Rossi said the captain of the ship was James Gorman, who declined a full interview with The Times, but did give some details about the incident over email. Rossi said Gorman informed him that his sail had failed on Dec. 24 while he was out on the water, and he requested to enter Menemsha Harbor. 

“By the time I spoke with him on the phone, the Coast Guard was already responding from Station Menemsha in one of their motor lifeboats to provide assistance,” Rossi said, adding that “operational command” was under the Coast Guard’s authority at that point since it was conducting the search and rescue operation. 

According to Lieut. Jon Hommen from the Sector Southeastern New England Coast Guard, the captain of the sailboat recruited the help of a local construction company to clean up the remains. They were scheduled to arrive last Wednesday to collect the fuel containers, and were expected to remove the boat itself a few days later. The community aided that effort, and collected much of the debris. 

Hommen also said the ship’s fuel tanks were checked by the Coast Guard from Menemsha last week so that no oil could leak into the ocean, a practice to ensure a safe maritime environment even if a crew takes proactive steps to secure the vessel. 

“They ensured that the fuel tanks were watertight and closed,” Hommen said in an interview with The Times. 

Editor’s note: This story was developing over the holiday weekend, and The Times pieced together this account with the information available. Certain aspects have been revised for clarity, and comments were added from Chilmark Harbormaster Ryan Rossi as part of the process of fact-checking.