A Near Tragedy

Another yarn from our Caribbean friend Capt Tuna.

Sometimes when we go to sea tragedy is always near and we must always be carefull about what we do and when we do it The sea can turn against us unexpectedly and force us to go right back to basics in order to survive

It was 4.00 a,m and I pocked up my friend Chris at his house We reached our boat a VIVACITY 20 at about 4.30 am and got ready to go to sea A good friend Earle joined us and we pushed off using a 4 HP Yamaha to go on a fishing trip out of our harbor in Kingston.

I was feeling sleepy so I went down into the cabin to catch some sleep. After about an hour we reached the marina at Morgans harbor and hooked up a King fish. Earle and Chris got into each others way and the fish escaped. We continued fishing and decided to go to the marker at the South end of the shipping channel. On the way we got three strikes and landed three King fish.

As we reached the marker I was asleep in the cabin, apparently Chris was at the helm and Chris wanted to use the head. So he gave the helm to Earle and stood on the gunwale to relieve himself. Chris then fell into the sea. I awoke to Earle screaming like a woman who had been raped. I rushed out of the cabin fully awake and grabbed the tiller. “Where is Chris,” I shouted and through my mind I wondered what I was going to tell his wife when we returned. That I had taken her husband out of his bed to go fishing and that I did not know where he was or what had happened to him. Earle stood up and spotted Chris swimming next to the boat. Earle pulled him on board. I was scared, really scared. Chris lost his wallet and his shoes.

Suddenly, the sea started to build. Fortunately, Earle had gassed up the engine as this 4 HP Yamaha has an integral tank. A squall suddenly hit us, bringing rough seas and blinding rain. We could not see the horizon and visibility was about 20 feet. But we knew where the sea was coming from and we fortunately had on board our only true friend, a compass to guide us and the next friend, a depth finder. Now where Chris had fallen into the water , we could almost touch the buoy at South Fairwell. So we knew where we were. But there were reefs around and we knew where we were and the direction to steer to get back to home. We headed ENE and reached the southernmost edge of the main ship's channel. Here the South channel and the main channel converge. Now there was real uncertainty. The sea was rough, the visibility down to twenty feet and we did not know if there was anything else big like a container ship with us in the channel.

I prayed and set off across the main ship’s channel. Eventually we reached Port Royal and then the Marina at Morgans Harbor and we decided to tie up and get some coffee. Chris and Earle decided to have a drink of rum. Visibility was still only about twenty feet and we had to be there for two hours. During that time, my crew drank steadily and so at about 1.00 pm we departed. Chris was trembling and cold. It was pouring with rain. There were some English soldiers at Morgans Harbor that day who came across and asked if they could be of any help. We told them no as we had things under control.

Eventually, we set off and reached the Royal Jamaica Yatch Club and put our boat into its berth. My boatman was there and he helped me to take off the engine and while doing so, my friend Chris in trying to get off the boat promptly falls into the sea again We fished him out but this time he was drunk we were at the yacht club help was available and we were not worried. We took Chris to his home. He made us swear that we would not tell a word off the days events to his wife, Terry. So we dropped him at home and drove off.

Two hours later, Terri rang me breathing fire and demanding to know how I could have nearly drowned her husband and not tell her a single word. I apologized to no avail. The lady cussed me out good and proper. The week passed. Now I know that you must have heard about a hair from the dog that bit you last night. So I decided that it would be good for Chris to go back to sea as soon as possible. So I called up his wife and said “Look I know that I am in your bad books but I think that it would be best for Chris to go back to sea as soon as possible and he should go this weekend.” The heartless lady replied “I think that would be good. There is one condition: Don’t use my husband for bait again.

By Dr. Neil Persadsingh

Aka Capt Tuna

A Knockdown in Kingston Harbour

By DR. Neil Persadsingh, Aka Capt Tuna

Last Sunday the 4th of September we went for a sail and suffered our first knockdown with a Vivacity. We always thought that this boat could never suffer a knockdown. How wrong we were.

It was about 11.00 am and the trade winds had started to blow very early. The wind was about 15 knots gusting to twenty and we had two passengers on board.
A new friend had come on board from Miami where he had been living on a Colombia 36. Normally I am a coward hence the nickname Capt Tuna, but I wanted to create a good impression on my friends. Mistake No 1: I did not want him to come to my home and tell my wife that I was a wimp and afraid of the sea. Mistake No 2: Always be afraid of the sea. It is bigger and rougher than you will ever be.

So we set off for a sail and raised the mainsail. The Genoa remained furled and we sailed out of the docks.
The wind was coming in from the South East and it was varying in strength and clocking from SSE to ESE and varying from 10 knots to 15 knots, sometimes even gusting to about 20 knots. No big deal we were on a reach, sailing across the habour. The waves were about 2 to 3 feet and building. It was time to come in. A tack was called for and Chris was at the helm. I told him to tack the boat. No, instead he decided to gybe the boat. No! I shouted. But the gibe was already under way the boom came across with as you would have guessed considerable force. The boat was on its side and the mast was in the water.

Now, we had three grown men all over two hundred pounds or six hundred pounds of movable ballast on the wrong side of the boat.
We instantly clawed –clambered across the boat unto the right side. The mast came out of the water and the boat righted itself and we were sailing away on a reach.

Lesson No 3: Do not trust anyone with the tiller in rough weather. Even if you are there, just don’t trust anyone.
Now, you may have heard the saying about the hair from the dog that bit you last night --so we had to gybe the boat again to get it out of our system. The wind had gone down, it was now about 10 knots. I took over the tiller, pulled the main sheet in to the center line of the boat and the gybe was completed textbook fashion.
Now it was time to tack. Of course with only the main up, the bow of the boat would not go through the wind. We were in irons. So we fell off and started the engine and tacked the boat using the main sail and the engine again we were on a reach and we headed to the dock to tie up the boat.

The lessons learned:
Do not go out sailing with people you do not know.
2 Don’t let anyone else sail the boat except you or until they get properly used to how the boat.
3 Always remember that you can start the engine and do a wheel barrow turn.
4. If you have a situation when the bottom of the boat is dirty and she won’t tack, you can always go on a run and gybe the boat remembering to always bring in that mainsheet to the center of the boat and then gybe the boat under full control. Don’t trust friends who do not know the boat.
Lastly, you can always go and practice. You will have the skill and knowledge to get the boat to do just what you want.