The tempo onboard HMJS PAUL BOGLE on the night of 20 September 1988 was one full of apprehension. Hurricane Gilbert was still topical, as it was then the eighth day after the storm. The plan for the voyage was to focus on inspection of the navigational aids in many devastated Jamaican ports. The ship was equipped however to carry out any of the myriad tasks that are routine to any JDF Vessel on patrol. These tasks range from humanitarian missions including rendering assistance to persons or their vessels found in distress, to disaster relief; law enforcement duties such as pollution prevention, fishery protection, the anti-narcotics campaign, and any other conceivable breach of Jamaica’s maritime laws.

At about 2:45 a.m. the ship was on a course headed farther and farther out to sea. Her crew mentally transformed from civic normality to a prolonged state of alertness. They prepared to take on any eventuality at very short notice. The scattered lights of city Kingston had long disappeared with just a faint halo that lingered in the distance. The giant hills of Portland Point faded indistinguishably into the dark skies. It was time for the non-duty crewmen to retire to their bunks despite the rolling and pounding effects of the aluminum hulled patrol vessel at the mercy of the residual swells.

At sea while on patrol, every bit of rest counts as the next several hours present the potential for incidents that could render sleep impracticable. The next few hours that elapsed however turned out to be uneventful. The somewhat tranquil cruise was disrupted just before 5:00am when the Officer-of-the-Watch finally detected a faint echo on the main radar. His long experience told him that this trace represented an average sized yacht, much the same as the ones they had recently caught trafficking marijuana. In fact, he was so sure, that he rang the general alarm to raise the entire crew into an alert mode. Continuing his drill sequence, he caused the Boarding Crew to be fully armed and decked out with every defensive and protective gear available. He was taking no chances as events could turn hot. He then briefed the captain of his discovery and his plans as he piloted the ship closer and closer to the subject. Stealth was atop his agenda so all lights were switched off to match his opponent’s darkened condition. He next maneuvered the ship skillfully to achieve a tactical advantage. At the final moments of approach, he barely made out the silhouette of the subject which was then set ablaze. "They are burning the evidence", he concluded, as he instinctively ordered the searchlight on. A ‘deafening’ silence followed.

After rescuing what eventually turned out to be two fishermen disabled and lost at sea, he began to record their plight in the Ship’s Log. They heard the warnings of hurricane Gilbert, sailed from Pedro Cays for mainland Jamaica in an open canoe but, lost their engine in transit and later got disoriented in the storm. The ship’s radar had actually picked up a fish-pot that they drew to feed on the next batch of raw, dried fish. The fish-pot gave a significant radar picture much the same as an average sized boat. They had been adrift for ten days without other source of food, heard the patrol boat approach, and in a desperate attempt to be saved, caught the boat afire.