1993

OVERBOARD

So it’s ’93, my 1st time through the Bahamas and I heard the oddest story I’ve ever encountered in Chicken Hbr, or Georgetown, Exuma Is. I got it from the guy it happened to, most folk thought it was BS, but something about the teller and tale resonated within me and I believed him, I can’t remember either his name of the boats name, but here goes. Let’s call him Jim, he was returning on a different boat to Fl to work and the boat sank out from under him, I also don’t remember why, but it’s not germane to this story. Hurricane Andrew had left a large number of wrecks scattered about and Jim took possession of a 38’ ferro cement sloop and set about rebuilding her while working as a shipwright, besides he needed a place t live.

After 2+ yrs he judged the boat seaworthy and the cruising kitty sufficient to get him down island. So he headed for the Bahamas, entry used to be cheap back then, not any more. The 1st night out Jim, as was his custom, tucked in a reef, just out of prudence, and passed another sailboat in the night that appeared to be on the same course. When dawn came he went to shake out the reef in the main and before he could retighten the halyard stepped over the side, no harness, no lifelines, just a misstep . The boat sailed off under windvane and headsail. Jim reviewed his options and let’s face it he didn’t have a lot of them. So he started swimming for where he hoped the boat he’d passed would appear, he figures he was in the water for over an hour well out of sight of land when a sail appeared. He obviously started swimming for it as fast as possible and successfully hailed the boat, the boat diverted toward jim and the captain put her into irons close to Jim. “Thank God you found me.” Jim hollered. “Thank God I found you” replied the captain, sort of an odd reply thought Jim. “We’re sinking” came the 2nd half of the reply. Jim was onboard right smartly and heard the bad news, the wooden boat had sprung a garboard plank and was making water at an alarming rate. Now I’m not a shipwright, but I believe the garboard plank is the deadwood between keel and hull and is generally considered impossible to repair in the water. So jim and the captain, who I never met, decided their best bet was to sail after Jim’s boat, which only had a headsail up, and do what they could for the “rescue” boat once they caught it. Now they had an extra pair of hands for the bilge pump and could gain ground on the leak. They did find Jim’s boat and tied up alongside and tried mightily to effect a repair. After 24 hrs the owner of the wood boat told Jim they ought to salvage what they could and sail on in Jim’s boat to the Bahamas. And that’s what they did.

So there’s the story, you can take it with as much salt as you require, I’ve already stated my opinion. George and Thalia