Three Sheets Northwest was on hand to shoot a few pictures for a story we were writing on the 2010 Blakely Rock Race on Saturday, which kicked off this year’s Center Sound Series. Both this annual race and the Blakely Rock Benefit Race in April are well-known by local boatyards, because they usually produce a few casualties as racers cut the notorious rock off southeast Bainbridge Island too close.

This year, it was Stomp Dancer’s turn.

Although a marker was placed outside the perilous sandbar the runs west from the dramatic rock, Stomp Dancer’s crew apparently didn’t see it. Instead, the boat slammed head-on into the bar. The skipper and crew struggled for approximately 15 minutes to free the boat. With some assistance from Gary Stunz, the owner of Whidbey Island Race Week, who was videotaping the race, the boat finally found deeper water.

The slide show below was taken from Three Sheets’ inflatable dingy as we floated just south of the rocks.