Page 13 - Wishie Rose: From 50 Years at Sea

ISSUE : Issue 29

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1981/8/1

the boat. I got out and the mate was at the wheel. I asked what was wrong. You couldn't see anything, the blinding rain then. He said, "Storm and wind." I said, "I know." I said, "Slow around a bit, it's only a bloody squall, probably only 15 or 20, something like that." He said, "It's a good 50' now, not 20," So we hove her in to for awhile, slow, but it got worse. I said, "Swing her stern to it." We run it up nord- east, and when it start to come daylight, start hauling more to the west, Blow--god, didn't it blow. Like a fog, you know--wind. Couldn't keep her broadside--too much sea, shallow water, too. So we got something to eat, we got a bit of breakfast. Just after breakfast--we had a liferaft up on top, well-lashed to her--the sea struck her, and she parted lashings on the liferaft, And it tore the insulator up through the set, the telephone, tore her up through the roof of the house. Couldn't get ahold of anybody. I could hear Grindstone cal? ling for a little while before the set got wet. I got the heel of a rubber boot, and I got out and drove it back, and got the wire down through, hooked on to the tele? phone again. By god, the red light came on I called Grindstone--that was the middle of the day then, "Well," they said, "we've been calling you and calling you, where are you?" I said, "Well, we're out here somewhere," I said", "What have you got for weather to? night in Grindstone?" He says, "We don't like to discourage you, we got 78 mile of He wind," I said, "You're not discouraging anybody, old boy, we got just as much." said, "Where are you?" I said, "I don't know." The sea used to break. If she'd strike her, you'd think she'd be like a matchbox. But the waves didn't hit her. They'd break before they'd get to her and they'd break after they'd pass her. We were just running slow with two engines, just to keep a serious way on her. I said, "I don't know--we should be 20 miles in back of the Madeleine Islands--we should be. But 'should be' know," I said Island and 'is,' I don't "We're going down for Brion somewhere down in that direction," At two o'clock I said to the mate, "If you ' can get up on top of the house--if you can't, I'll try to get up--you might see some land. We got to be getting close in back of the Madeleines somewhere--I know we are," The sounder wouldn't sound; too much froth under the boat, I said, "If we don't see something pretty soon, I'm going to run her before us--we'll strike some? thing before dark. It's easier to save your life in the daylight than it is in the dark," Well, everybody was satisfied. He got up on top of the wheelhouse, and he wasn't up there long, tied onto the spar, "Skipper," he said, "I can see land--you might know where it was if you were up here." He got down and got in through the wheelhouse win? dow, I got up, and the minute I saw it, I knew it--just exactly where we wanted to CONTINUED NEXT PAGE 539-5111 Visit Our Gallery of Local and Nova Scotia Artists 539-5111 Gardners Gallery & Frame Shop Ltd. Quality Custom Framing - 222 Charlotte St., Sydney Claymore Mote p. 0. Box 1720, Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2M5 Phone 863-1050 - Telex 019-36567 52 Modern Rooms Licensed Dining Room and Lounge Qimlifted Dispensers Always in Att'idanoe OWL DRUG STORE Daniel T. McKeough, Proprietor Convalescent and Sick Room Supplies . Sales & Rental Drug Sundries and Cosmetics Located on Commercial Street, or write to P.O.Box 125 794-3611 North Sydney ALWAn AV iOOE SBBflCS CHICKEN CHALET fried SouUets to serae'jiou- C.B. Shopping Plaza, Sydney Riyer Sydney Shopping IMail, Prince St. Blowers St., North Sydney Steriing Mall, QIace Bay Plummer Ave., New Waterford (13)

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