Buena Onda saves 5 fishermen!
There's a first time for everything, and this was our first time to see a
boat sink. Luckily everyone survived!
It was a beautiful morning, as we approached Guadeloupe after an overnighter with Adriaan's parents. We were tired and happy to arrive, but a little motorboat was to delay our rest for a couple of hours. They were cruising around nearby, recovering fishpots from the sea-bed, when all of a sudden they started waving to us vigorously. It took us a while to realize they might have a problem, as the boat seemed to be doing fine before. When we finally turned around and made our way back to them, they already had their life-vests on and the boat was low in the water. It capsized backwards right in front of us, scattering the crew and inventory in the water. We still must have been about 5 miles offshore, so they were in a nasty situation. Luckily it was a calm day, and we were able to retrieve the crew without problems. A little speedboat came help us collect their personal belongings, and we made for the coast with the somewhat stunned but relaxed Guadeloupian crew.
When we saw it happening, we called the emergency rescue service, to see if they would be able to salvage the boat. They never replied, and we forgot about it. Hours later, when we were safely anchored and spying on the locals' salvage efforts through our binoculars, an emergency helicopter suddenly flew over, circled the disaster-spot and returned empty handed. Talk about an effective organization!
It was a beautiful morning, as we approached Guadeloupe after an overnighter with Adriaan's parents. We were tired and happy to arrive, but a little motorboat was to delay our rest for a couple of hours. They were cruising around nearby, recovering fishpots from the sea-bed, when all of a sudden they started waving to us vigorously. It took us a while to realize they might have a problem, as the boat seemed to be doing fine before. When we finally turned around and made our way back to them, they already had their life-vests on and the boat was low in the water. It capsized backwards right in front of us, scattering the crew and inventory in the water. We still must have been about 5 miles offshore, so they were in a nasty situation. Luckily it was a calm day, and we were able to retrieve the crew without problems. A little speedboat came help us collect their personal belongings, and we made for the coast with the somewhat stunned but relaxed Guadeloupian crew.
When we saw it happening, we called the emergency rescue service, to see if they would be able to salvage the boat. They never replied, and we forgot about it. Hours later, when we were safely anchored and spying on the locals' salvage efforts through our binoculars, an emergency helicopter suddenly flew over, circled the disaster-spot and returned empty handed. Talk about an effective organization!