SHIPWRECKED !!!

Last week at Boat Harbour, we set off in our dinghys with 3 other couples--"Oasis," "Indemnity," and "Lucky Star."  After a delightful lunch at the new marina in Hopetown (and perhaps a little too much to drink!) we lashed our tiny vessels together and enjoyed a memorable "dinghy drift" back to our "mother ships" securely tied up in their slips at ABR.  Sherri and Frank aboard "Lucky Star" had guests the next day.  As a special Christmas present, Frank had invited his son to bring his girlfriend along for a week of boating adventures in the Bahamas. But last Friday, after a successful day of fishing out in the Atlantic aboard "Lucky Star," tragedy struck. About 4 o'clock, as the little group was returning home and approaching the south Whale Passage, the prop of their boat became hopelessly entangled in the hauser of an humongous 1,000lb plus derelict anchor--just waiting to ensnare unsuspecting boats--off the coast of Whale Cay.  There is a beached freighter not far away, just off Baker's Bay.  And it is believed that this anchor was originally part of that wreckage.

"Lucky Star" had been travelling at 25knots along the recommended route when this "entanglement" caused her to stop dead in her tracks knocking everyone aboard off their feet.  Thankfully no one was hurt, including Frank's son who had been riding 30' up on the fishing perch.  How easily he could've been thrown out and into the waves!  And it was a miracle that he was not.  Frank's mind went completely blank. All he could think of over and over again was "What Happened?!  I was ON the route, there are NO reefs, what happened!!"  But Sherri knew instinctively what had happened.  The gut-wrenching sound of their prop and struts being torn out of their boat was like nothing she had ever heard aboard this vessel before--she knew they were sinking!  And when the floorboards were hastily lifted out and water was seen gushing into the bilge, their worst fears were confirmed.

Frank is a very careful man. Before they had set out that morning he had gone over emergency procedures with his "crew" and given everyone a role to play should their lives ever be in peril.  And thank god for that!  At this point about 20 seconds had passed and now their careful preparations kicked into gear.  Frank's son ran up on deck as he had been instructed to do, and deployed the life raft making sure it was securely tied to the boat so it wouldn't float away.  He then rushed back downstairs, grabbed his (and the girlfriends) bags with passports and other essentials, tossed them into the life raft which he then untied and held onto for dear life while everyone else got their acts together.  His girlfriend grabbed the epirb and, unable to think for herself, stood numbly by waiting for someone to tell her what to do and where to go.  Sherri grabbed the lifejackets putting hers on first and then making sure that Oliver the dog was safely secured into his before distributing the others to the crew all the while hysterical shouting "Where's the ditch bag!  where's the ditch bag!"  not realizing that it was hooked onto her arm.  Meanwhile Frank was still in a state of shock--his mind blank of everything except "What happened?"  Sherri, hysterical, shouts for him to call for help.  This brings him back to reality and he sends out a frantic "Mayday! Mayday!" on channel 16 which is picked up by Dive Guana and another boater just off Bakers Bay. But he is still so numb with disbelief that he is unable to speak or think.  And when asked where he is, can't readily reply.  In his confusion he chokes out something about Whale Cay and Green  Turtle--which is all wrong.  Hysterical Sherri then grabs the mike while Frank rushes up on deck to check on Frank and the life raft. 

Two minutes have now passed and Sherri is shocked to realize she's ankle deep in water.  When asked for her co-ordinates she realizes that it's too late to give them!  The screen is blank and the electronics are out!  She is frantic!  "Help us!!  We're sinking!! she shrieks into the mike.  "We're off Whale Cay and Guana!!"  Again wrong.  She finally garbles something about the big wreck.  "I can see the big wreck off Whale Cay!" And then the would-be rescuers finally know where they are. The boat is now sinking fast. They have a hand held radio, epirb, satellite phone, ditchbag and the dog in the life raft.  And everyone but Frank climbs in.  At the last minute he realizes he has nothing of value and decides to go back for his wallet and cash.  When he finally leaves "Lucky Star" which is now listing horribly, he is waist deep in water, in danger of getting tangled up in rigging and forced to swim out to the life raft.  Sherri is still hysterically screaming for help--this time from the hand-held aboard the life raft.  Dive Guana assures her they can be there in 10 minutes.  But when the boater at Baker's Bay replies back with "I see you!  I see you!" relief is immediate.  Those words Sherri says, were the sweetest she had ever heard!  Instantly everything changes.  They watched their boat sink from the relative safety of their life raft all the while taking pictures of the event on their cell phone.  Less than 5 minutes had elapsed from beginning to end. Five minutes!!  And then the boater from Bakers Bay is bumping up against the life raft and everyone is exquisitely happy.  "Lucky Star" is gone--unlucky today.  But before vanishing completely, perhaps its "Luck" was transferred to it's crew, who were very lucky indeed to have survived unharmed, safe, and able to tell their tale of harrowing adventure and brush with death.