Coast Guard clears dislodged barge to continue on its journey

VIRGINIA BEACH

Crews composed of Coast Guard and salvage team members were optimistic about Wednesday morning. They knew high tide would be a foot higher than the previous evening.

Tugboats began towing the 570-foot barge again at sunrise. They made quick progress.

Before high tide even arrived, they moved the barge 40 feet in 10 minutes, said Mark Miller, a spokesman for Crowley Maritime Corp., the company that owns the barge.

Rick and Nancy Felini, who live in the Sanctuary at False Cape condominium complex next to where the barge got stuck, had been watching since it first drifted toward the fishing pier at Little Island Park last week.

"It clearly started moving, getting the full effects of the waves this morning," Rick Felini said of Wednesday morning's efforts.

About 15 minutes before high tide, La Princesa rocked loose.

"It made a big bang, and it was free," said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Robert Birdwell.

The first tugboat pull Tuesday morning got La Princesa off the beach and onto a sandbar, said Lt. Jack Smith, a spokesman for Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads. The second effort Tuesday evening moved the barge halfway across the sandbar.

Wednesday morning's effort pulled La Princesa off the sandbar entirely, Smith said.

"I was glad that the fishing pier lived to see another day," said Coast Guard Capt. John Little, deputy commander of Sector Hampton Roads.

But for moments the night before, the situation looked bleak - at least from the shore.

Three lighted tugboats were already hooked up to the vessel shortly after 6 p.m. Bobbing up and down in the waves as high tide approached, they cranked up the pressure to help rock the barge.

"Come up to full, please," crackled the instructions to one of the tugboats across a radio.

"It's moving!" a spectator said. "Those waves are breaking up the sandbar."

Not long after that, part of the wire linking one of three tugboats working to dislodge La Princesa split.

From the shore, it looked as if the barge that had taken up residence in Sandbridge days earlier wasn't going anywhere - at least that night.

Despite the broken wire, "last night, we were pretty close," said Phil Reed, who helped run the salvage operation.

"It's just a tremendous relief, all the way around," Miller said.

As Sandbridge's high-profile guest headed for the horizon and Wednesday morning wore on, life returned more to normal.

La Princesa's arrival and subsequent rescue efforts created a stir, generating a camera crew for National Geographic, off-season excitement and not-so-welcome traffic.

"That barge brought in a lot of business," mainly from Coast Guard members and police officers, said Becky Wilson, who works at Sandbridge Seaside Market.

Spectators with cameras disappeared shortly after La Princesa's departure Wednesday morning.

A survey team and Crowley's insurer boarded the barge and determined that it was seaworthy, Smith said.

The survey found La Princesa does have several structural deficiencies that will need to be corrected before its next cargo load, Smith said. At 3:50 p.m., the Coast Guard released La Princesa from Lynnhaven Anchorage. The vessel's next port of call is Pennsauken, N.J.

And now, Nancy Felini, who admits she spent "too much" time tracking the barge over the past few days, is looking forward to getting back to her morning walks on the beach.

Jen McCaffery, (757) 222-5119, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com