Page 21 - John Angus Fraser and the Wreck of the Kismet II

ISSUE : Issue 70

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1996/6/1

sand ton, a crew of 30--28 men, one parrot, one budgie--headed for P.E.I, for a load of potatoes. No cargo aboard except lots of beer, and rum and whiskey--the strongest I ever drank, except my own homebrew. Now to get those men off was the problem. The only way left was the helicopter, and with the wind blowing as hard as it was, that wasn't going to be easy. But around one in the afternoon the wind went down enough to lift the crew off (by helicop? ter) , but definitely no equipment, as then it was so bad on the water that they couldn't let their own lifesaving boats down, and the pilot was scared that the wind would blow up again, and he would be blown against the cliff. That was two-thirty, and it gets dark around 4:30. At 6 o'clock crazy John Angus and a friend named Fraser went on one of the craziest, and stupidest, and dangerous adventures that I was ever on, and let me tell you it was crazy. Believe it: we head? ed out on that ocean that night--snowing, blowing--with a small two-bit flashlight, no graplin, two broken paddles and an 8- foot rowboat that was so old that nobody would go out in it during the summer. The last two people who had it out pulled it up on the beach and pulled it apart. Now, that not being their boat, they went to a lob? ster trap and took some 1/2-inch nails out and stuck the plank back to the stern. Fraser and I pushed it in the water to see if it was leaky, and it was not. But I found out later why it wasn't. Any old boat, no different how leaky it is, when the frost comes the water will freeze in the seams and form ice and won't leak again until the ice melts. And we proved that point the next day (when it was warm? er) when we went to push it in the water-- DON'S FLOWERS Serving Port Hood, Judique, Inverness and Surrounding Areas p. O. Box 179, Port Hawkesbury, N. S. BOE 2V0 Telephone 625-2215 or 625-2717 UCCB ?? Press reserving our literary heritage Tainted Justice 1914: Hitman, Lover or Dupe? Author David Newton investigates the repercussions of a ?? disturbing local murder and resulting trial TAINTED JUSTICE VOYACEof Wood Duck TanTELI KAaS!MiLLLSlS Malsjkws The Voyage of Wood Duck by Maxim Trottier, illustrated by Patsy MacAulay-MacKinnon An award winning illustrated children's story in English and Mi'kmaq. No Place Like Home and Pride of Place by Mary K. MacLeod & James St. Clair A lively study of the architecture of Cape Breton homes and the people who have lived in them. Distributed by Goose Lane Editions. For more information on the University College of Cape Breton Press publications please call (902) 563-1604. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF CAPE BRETON 21

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