Caribbean sailing trip ends in Rockport the day it started – Boston 25 News

What was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime for a couple from Maine ended the same day it began after their sailboat capsized in Rockport, Massachusetts.

Stephen Davis and Liza Constable had planned a sea adventure that was to last over a year, ending in the Caribbean.

“We bought a used boat in New Hampshire a few years ago and have been repairing it ever since, planning a trip, we were going through the South Pacific to the Panama Canal,” Davis said.

However, the day they set sail, feeling seasick and struggling to keep control of the boat, the couple eventually lost control and crashed into Rockport Harbor Pier.

“I could see all of a sudden, ‘Oh my God, there’s the pier and we’re going to crash’, and we did,” Davis said.

The two rushed to grab as much of their belongings as possible as the boat began to sink.

“I look overboard and I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m going to have to step in,’ Constable said.

Instead of jumping in, they were able to climb onto the pier. Rockport Harbor Masters said if they hadn’t left the boat on their own, the wreckage might have gone unnoticed.

“They would have been there all night if they hadn’t gotten off the boat,” said Scott Story, a Rockport harbor master.

“It’s unusual for someone to be able to disembark in the sea conditions that prevailed there,” said Rosemary Lesch, harbor master of Rockport.

Just three weeks ago, a man died after a boat he was in capsized near Straightsmouth Island.

“These types of incidents put us all on, make us realize that we have to seek out and find the cause of it all,” Lesch said.

Almost everything Davis and Constable own has been destroyed, but they both realize that, given the circumstances, they’ve been lucky.

“I don’t want to sail for a little while,” Constable said.

Despite the setback, the couple still plan to head south, but this time they will do so by train.

Cox Media Group