Monday, 22 June 2009

Feelings of helplessness.

Last night my little brother showed up on the doorstep almost out of the blue. He was off sailing with one of the Lake District's climbing legends, Frank Davies who owns a yacht, and his old school buddy Eddy Luke. They all stayed with Chris and I last night and Chris got roped into joining them for a 5 day trip up to Skye. They were all very excited as they set off this morning and I was pleased that Chris could go and enjoy the wildlife and try something totally new.

This evening I received a call from Chris saying that the yacht had hit a rock and was sinking fast. They were trying to get through to the coast guard but salvaging the boat was not looking good and he sounded pretty scared.

I felt so helpless sitting at home waiting for news. Eventually the call came through that the coastguard had reached them and pulled them off the rocks. There was no hole in the boat but it had almost capsized and this was why it had taken on water and something had broken off from somewhere.

I now know that they have managed to limp into port and I'm waiting for the call to go and get them. I'm not sure how taken Chris is with sailing!

6 comments:

Nancy K. said...

"All's well that ends well???"

Thank God they're safe. I can't imagine how frightened you must have been. Not to mention how scared THEY must have been!

But, think of the great adventure story Chris now has to tell....

;-)

I'm so glad he's safe!

Tammy W. said...

Jenny - that must have been so terrifying for you - and them.
I am so glad that this story had a
safe ending.

Michelle said...

How frightening! I had sailed a little bit on tiny boats while in college, so when we saw a great deal on a little catamaran in our first years of marriage, Rick and I snapped it up. The first time we took it out on a large nearby reservoir (in KS), the wind was stiff. I explained the principles to Rick, but when it came time to reverse direction and go back towards the launching site, he got confused and let go of the tiller instead of letting the boom swing around and we capsized, splitting one of the hulls so that it was impossible to right. We have never sailed together or apart again....

Jenny Holden said...

Thanks for the kind words.

Blimey Michelle that was some introduction to sailing! The awful thing is that this was Chris's first time sailing too!

I'm just glad that they are all safe now.

Rayna said...

Good thing they're safe! That's scary :(

Kara said...

Jenny how scary!! I'm so glad that everything is OK. Even if Chris nevers sails again he's got a tale to tell for life!

re posted with "less" spelling errors hopefully :)