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