Arranging to fly his family home to Queensland, Australia, was not how Alf Meads was supposed to spend his Thursday. He was supposed to be in the 
Bahamas with his wife Kelly and adult sons Cody and Zach, to give their 53-foot catamaran sailboat to Alf’s mother-in-law. The boat was going to be her retirement home. That will never happen now.
The boat broke in half on Dec. 30 in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida, and now the Meads are back in Brunswick after being rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. They are taking steps out to get back to their home on the other side of the globe.
It just breaks my heart thinking about it,” Alf Meads said Thursday, sitting inside Tipsy McSway’s in downtown Brunswick.
He and his wife bought the boat, dubbed Nootke Dancer, four years ago from its previous owner who had docked it at Brunswick Landing Marina. Since then, all four of the Meads have spent anywhere from one to three months at a time in Brunswick, updating the boat and getting it ready for its trip to the Bahamas.
Alf has made numerous sailing trips on other boats in the Pacific Ocean and off the coast of Australia.
Part of that preparation included a thorough inspection of the vessel’s seaworthiness that resulted in a 13-page report giving the boat a clean bill of health. The report said the boat’s hull and superstructure were adequate for open water after inspectors took moisture readings, soundings and made an inspection dive.
Alf Meads said the report missed one very important detail. A wooden structural beam at the boat’s stern had rotted, weakening it.
