Dream of sailing to Caribbean ends with crash on Manasquan jetty

By MaryAnn Spoto From NJ Advance Media

MANASQUAN — Just days ago, Bob Allan was fantasizing about sailing to the Caribbean, where the climate would be kinder to his aging bones.

But now, after crashing his boat in a freak accident into a rock jetty off Manasquan on Wednesday, Allan, a native of Wales, says he’ll be thankful if he can just get back home.

“That poor baby saved my life,” Allan said Thursday morning of the sailboat that was being crushed to pieces behind him. “It’s heart-breaking.”

Allan, 63, said he bought the 32-foot Endeavour in April with plans to sail it to warmer climes. He said he set out from Massapoisett on the southern coast of Massachusetts on June 28. After a treacherous trip through the New York Harbor, he said, he reached the coast of Manasquan on Wednesday afternoon. Exhausted, he set the steering wheel to keep the boat going in circles in the ocean so he could take a 10-minute nap, he said.

At least 3 miles from land, he figured he’d be safe, he said. But the next thing knew, he was crashing up on the rocks.

With the help of Manasquan lifeguards, he got off the ship and was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment of injuries to his legs and hands.

Overnight, his sailboat continued to be pounded on the rocks and sank. At low tide Thursday morning, it was towed a little farther north in the ocean, pulled onto the beach and crushed by a front-end loader as its remains were stuffed into a Dumpster.

As he sat on a bench on the Manasquan oceanfront Thursday morning, Allan, still wearing hospital-issued socks and shirt, kept his back to the scene of his dreams being smashed to pieces.

A hospital ID bracelet encircled his left wrist and a Band-Aid still covered the spot where an intravenous line had been in the crook of his left arm. His left leg – from his knee to his ankle – was covered with cuts and scabs.

A sort of jack-of-all trades, Allan said he’s been sailing since he was 11. He took several odd jobs including at a bar and a cider mill before becoming a civil engineer and a surveyor, he said. He also worked in a car component factory, was a long-distance van driver and an electrical insulation installer, he said.

But health issues sidelined him and he’s now considered disabled for work purposes, he said.

Members of Manasquan’s Office of Emergency Management salvaged as many of Allan’s personal belongings as they could. For Allan, the most important thing he wanted from the boat was his passport.

“I have to get my passport sorted out – if I can find it,” Allan said.

But his passport was nowhere to be found, said Wally Wall, manager of Manasquan’s beach department.

Wall said Allan only recovered his wallet, which contained some papers and a debit card.

He said borough officials have contacted the American Red Cross to get Allan food, clothing and shelter while he tries to get back home.

While Allan said he’s “wrecked inside” about his predicament, he also said he’s buoyed by the care he received along his journey.

“I met so many wonderful people,” he said. “I’ve got great confidence in humanity.”

ALL IMAGES:
Crews pulled a sailboat from the ocean in Manasquan after it crashed on a rock jetty on Wednesday, July 6, 2016. The owner, Bob Allan of Wales, lost all his belongings, including his passport. (MaryAnn Spoto | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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