Our hell as whale sank us in middle of Atlantic
British skipper tells of crew’s rescue drama
There was a tremendous strike. I was thrown across the saloon DAVID BOWES ON WHALE COLLISION IN ATLANTIC
THE skipper whose yacht was sunk by a whale in the Atlantic has spoken of his crew’s ordeal and dramatic rescue.
Retired teacher David Bowes, 61, had to abandon his boat after it was damaged in a freak collision with the giant 350 miles off the Azores.
He and two pals were en route to Southampton from the British Virgin Islands and thought they were fine after last Monday’s impact – but cracks opened up in the hull and they started taking water.
David said: “I felt an initial strong judder and knew we had hit something. Next thing there was a tremendous strike. I was thrown across the saloon and went up to the cockpit and saw a huge tail fluke of a whale sticking out of the water.
“It was within touching distance of the boat. I braced for the impact of it hitting the rudder, which would have put us in serious bother, but fortunately that never came.”
David, from Pocklington, East Yorks, and his crew – boatbuilder Jimmy Cliff, from Yorkshire, and Andy Clarke, from London – decided to press on after a damage check on the 15-metre Destiny of Scarborough. But hours later he decided to alert coastguards in Falmouth as cracks opened up and water poured in.
David said: “It was a difficult decision. That yacht was my pride and joy. When the rescue vessel arrived, I had to set it adrift to sink.
“If we had been 60 miles from dry land I would have tried to nurse it ashore. I wasn’t going to gamble with three people’s lives and we wouldn’t have lasted that long. There was no panic while we were on board. But we’re aware now how close we came to losing our lives.”
Coastguards alerted Portuguese authorities, who scrambled two air force jets to circle over the stricken yacht and reassure them while they waited for a naval vessel to arrive. However, the frigate would only get there the next morning. Thankfully, a Liberian-flagged merchant vessel called Justice, crewed by Ukrainians, picked them up on its way to the Spanish port city of Aviles.
David said: “We’ve grateful to everyone involved in the rescue. It was nerve-racking getting on board with two-inch rope lines attached between the two vessels snapping as we moved up and down on the water at different rates.”
Cruz Martins, Captain of Ponta Delgada Port in the Azores, where the rescue operation was co-ordinated, added: “Their lives were in danger. The next step would have been jumping into the life raft and losing communications with us.
“They were very lucky for having a merchant vessel nearby.”