The Tragedy of the Yacht 'Ftera': A Cautionary Tale

Written By Neil Parker

NEWS From Dawlish, Devon, UK

12th August 2025

One idyllic summer morning in 2025, the folks in Dawlish woke up to a spectacle on their shores: a small yacht, gently but firmly dumped on the sand at Boat Cove. It was an odd sight, but the story behind it turned out to be even stranger.

Yacht ‘Ftera’ washed ashore at Boat Cove, Dawlish. Illustration: Neil (Nelly) Parker

The boat, named Ftera, belonged to an elderly woman from Torquay, a former Liverpudlian with exactly zero sailing experience. She hadn't even seen the yacht before buying it!

Wings of Wax

This whole mess started because the lady had spent too much time listening to her son. He and his partner had spent blissful summers cruising the sun-drenched coves of the Southwest, sharing tales of clear blue waters and warm breezes. Enchanted by these stories, she decided, on a total whim, that she needed a yacht of her own. She bought the Ftera (Greek for 'Wings') unseen, moored miles away at Starcross on the River Exe, and promptly announced to her son that he needed to sail it down to her at Torquay Marina.

The son was dumbfounded. Not only was he neck-deep in a huge house renovation, but his mother had purchased a sailing vessel with absolutely no way of moving it and no idea how to operate it. She simply assured him she’d "get used to it" once it was tied up nicely in the marina.

Begrudgingly, the son agreed to the frantic delivery mission.

A Hasty Mistake

One evening in May, already pressed for time and stressed out, he cast off from Starcross. He shot out of Exmouth estuary, pointed the bow west toward Torquay, and promptly made his first of many mistakes: he didn't check the weather or the tides.

A squall blew up fast. Suddenly, the nice storybook sailing tales vanished, replaced by heavy seas and total panic. Realising he couldn't make it to Torquay or even the closer port of Teignmouth, he urgently diverted course, deciding to duck into the nearest shelter: Boat Cove in Dawlish. He planned to drop anchor, wait out the weather, and finish the job another day.

His second mistake? Assuming Boat Cove was a safe anchorage.

He managed to get inside the cove, drop anchor near the Pout Wall breakwater, and scramble onto the beach in a little inflatable dinghy. He escaped the storm, but the poor Ftera didn't. Overnight, the heavy waves, which bounce viciously off the famous Dawlish sea wall, snapped the yacht free. By dawn, she was ashore, high and dry.

Trapped by the Tide

The local boatmen did their best, securing the stranded boat with ropes to prevent it from getting smashed against the wall.

But when the son returned, he found his real problem: The Ftera had run aground on a Spring Tide. For the non-sailors, a Spring Tide is the absolute highest tide of the month. That meant the sea wouldn't come up high enough to reach the yacht again for another four weeks! He had no choice but to abandon the beautiful boat on the beach until the next cycle.

And here's where the tragedy gets worse: In his haste, he didn't secure the rudder or the outboard engine before he left.

The Doomed Rescue

A month later, he returned with his partner for the Spring Tide refloat attempt. But the weeks of battering had already claimed a victim: the rudder was snapped clean off. He tried a clumsy repair, failed, and decided to rely on the engine to steer.

But the engine was gone. Opportunistic thieves had broken in and stolen the main outboard.

Struggling with no steering and no power, he tried to tie the boat to the Pout Wall, a move a local boatman quickly advised against, explaining the boat would simply be destroyed. With the locals' help, they finally managed to float Ftera, but with just a tiny reserve engine and no rudder, she was helpless. She was anchored just offshore, the son took the broken rudder, and promised to return with a new engine.

You can guess what happened next. That same night, the sea blew up again. The anchor dragged. The Ftera washed ashore for the final time.

A Sinking Warning

Now, many weeks later, the yacht sits forlornly on the beach. There’s no sign of the son or the ambitious owner. Waves have damaged the hull, and thieves have continued to strip fittings. The local boatmen are still using ropes, desperately trying to save the boat from breaking up against the wall and polluting the cove.

It’s a heartbreaking sight, a beautiful yacht, once clearly loved, now slowly being consumed by the sea.

The Greek myth of Icarus is often evoked when talking about the name 'Ftera' (Wings). Icarus flew too close to the sun despite warnings, and his wax wings melted, sending him crashing into the sea. This poor vessel, bought on a whim and sailed by inexperience, sits on the sand as a poignant, salty warning: Know your limits, especially when those limits involve the sea and expensive impulse purchases.

 

The Old-English version of this article will appear in the next issue of The Boat Cove Chronicle.

 

Bibliography

Neil Parker
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