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Home > Info Centre > Publications > Alert 2000 > Trick of Treat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Every sailor who is worth his salt will confess that no two voyages are alike. In fact, every new hour at sea presents a mystery that can result in peril as well as exciting new discoveries and salty tales. 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.
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. The ship’s crew, relieved somewhat, rendered immediate first aid and treated each of the fishermen to a cup of chicken soup as they were transported to mainland in the vicinity of Rocky Point in Clarendon. The ship then reverted to cruising stations. With a quick debrief and re-assembly, the patrol continued.
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