Sailing
single-handed out in Prestwick
Bay in a newly purchased GP14
dinghy I was a fair way out, as
usual being drawn to any horizon
there was, when I was hit by a
squall I hadn’t noticed coming
and capsized. I ended up under
the dinghy with a foot caught in
the trailing sheets.
Knew all about air pockets but
it still took a bit of courage
to actually try it out and suck
a tentative breath. Don’t know
what I expected to happen but I
was so pleased that it actually
worked. Of course there was no
problem about stale air- the
slot in centreboard casing was
allowing fresh air to enter all
the time.
I
was quite comfortable. My
buoyancy aid was keeping me
afloat without effort and I was
protected from the elements. I
leisurely started to disentangle
myself from the ropes that were
still wrapped quite tightly
round my right ankle and leg.
I
heard the muffled sound of an
engine getting closer and
shouting. Then I called out
that I was under the boat and
the profanity that replied to me
was not what I had expected at
all. I cleared the sheets and
pulled myself down and out from
the hull..
There was the Rescue boat
alongside and an anxious crew
staring at me. I called to them
“ I got stuck under the boat
–and you know -that air-pocket
theory really works”. I was
told in no uncertain terms what
they thought of me and my air-
pocket.
They had
seen me capsize from a distance
and had headed to assist at full
throttle. On arrival there had
been nothing to be seen of me.
As it had taken them some time
to reach the upside down dinghy-
they had naturally presumed the
worst, and here was this clown
shouting about ‘air-pockets’.
With the help of the rescue crew
my dinghy was righted and I was
reinstalled on board. Once I
was sailing and the boat had
cleared of water they shouted
over to me “ Did you see the
sharks?” .I laughed- thought
they were kidding but they
pointed to two large half
submerged, glistening monsters,
a hundred yards away. It really
was true. While I had been
under the dinghy and quite
happy, two basking sharks well
over 20 feet long had been
circling my wee boat until the
arrival of the rescue boat when
they moved away a bit.
You are told
that basking-sharks wont harm
you. That they only feed on
microscopic marine life. But,
to them, in my oilskins I might
have looked just like a big
piece of juicy, yellow,
plankton.