Cape Breton's Magazine

see me. And we were starting to have hal? lucinations. Because as a boy I had an un? cle in Paragon Park. And I woke up one night and I could see the ferris wheel, and I could smell the hot dogs, pop? corn. So I said, "Art, I know where we are! We're right off Paragon Park!" The next morning, of course, we weren't near Paragon Park, we were hundreds of miles out in the ocean. Darkness had set in and most of us had fallen into a sort of shivering doze when we heard the thundering of a monster sea close astern. Shouts of warning, and then the stern of the boat rose up and up into an almost perpendicular wall of water. A second later the wave broke on top of us, the bow dug deep, the stern went up and over, and we were all in the sea amidst a tumult of shouts and rushing water. not too far off, you were fairly close." So he said, "We're going to go now and see if we can spot this submarine." So, we didn't head for shore then, but we were in good shape then. We were being taken care of. So off we went to look for the submarine. And then they couldn't find it so they brought us to Portland, Maine. That's it.... So, at daylight the destroyer was right there. She was com? ing right down to us. The destroyer Escort. And she took us aboard. We were able to get up the net ourselves, both of us. I guess they may have reached and helped us, but they didn't carry us up or take us up in stretchers. And we were then wrapped up and taken good care of. And the cook brought down an enormous breakfast, and then came and took it away from us again. I was just getting ready to hoe in to a bunch of bacon and eggs, and toast, and doughnuts. Somebody came down and said the doctor said to take that away from them right away. All right, well, we're getting near the end. (Well, when did they feed you?) The doctor then said, "Here, you can have this. Then a little later, in an hour, you can have a little more." So after awhile they gave us all we wanted of everything. Then the captain had us go up to his cabin and try and describe the submarine. Asked us where we thought we were, he showed us a chart. And the captain said, "Well, you're Seeing the white bottom of the upturned boat, I made for it and strug? gled aboard with several others. Nearby Jack, who couldn't swim, was calling for help. A man held the end of an oar and went out after him. Other men were helped up and also the poor dog, which paddled and scratched, panic stricken, at the side. After a moment the captain called out the names and we saw that all were back aboard. Within five minutes a sea rolled the boat over again, and as the sputtering men climbed back Jack had to be rescued once more. In the darkness it took several minutes to discover that Captain Jensen and his dog were not with us. We called loudly, but heard nothing but the wind and the sea. (I guess you get off and you give up sailing forever after that experi? ence, right?!) No way! {Walter has a list.) Here's only some of the ships I was on after that. So I didn't give it up at all. I only stopped sailing in 1990. (At the age of....) Well, I'm 74 now, so just about when I was 70, 71, I had to give it up. I didn't get fired but I was told that it was time to go and start a farm. (Walter, I really want to know what it was like to be in the black of that night in ' LIMITED 110 Reeves St. SYDNEY, N. S. .. ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS p "Serving Cape Breton Over 35 Years" SPECIALIZING IN: • INDUSTRIAL • COMMERCIAL • INSTITUTIONAL • RESIDENTIAL WIRING CONTRACTORS • MAINTENANCE SERVICE ?? ELECTRIC HEATING SYSTEMS • FREE ESTIMATES 562-1132 FAX 526-1699 Your Sign of Quality DON'T ACCEPT LESS Let our experienced staff help you with all your printing needs SPECIALISTS IN PROCESS COLOR PRINTING 180 Townsend St.. Sydney ' _ oo'o 564-8245 Fax: (902) 539-2040 539-8666 Riverside Cleaners Cape Breton's Only Drive-Thru DryCleaning KINGS ROAD • SYDNEY Lowest Drycleaning Prices in Town! 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