Sunday, July 26, 2009

Oops!!

So we decided to get out of Rodney Bay finally and we made the long 4 mi journey south to the Capital city of Castries. The anchorage is at the head of the bay along the side of the main road leading into town and is quite a busy road. The anchorage itself is about 20-30 feet deep and except for us and a couple tugs rafted together it was quiet and deserted.

Sunny decided to drop the side shades down on the boat and since it was hot she was wearing her bikini. As she was tying the shade to the rail the boat swung close to shore say within 50 feet or so and she looked up to see a man driving along staring at her. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact he had just cut across the oncoming lane, over the sidewalk and was in midair above the water before he realized what he was doing. Sunny was screaming the whole time but it was too late.

Splash!!! Driver and all went for a swim. Another man dove in from shore to save the driver. Sunny screamed for me to get the camera but I elected to launch the dinghy instead to help. As I approached the truck was still floating in the water with both the driver and good Samaritan clinging to the outside of it. Suddenly, as the water crept over the top of the open door windows the truck went vertical and headed for the bottom. Luckily it missed our anchor.

The two men swam to shore and it appears there were no injuries. The rest of the day we had about a hundred people and a traffic jam in front of the boat as the Port Police kept locals from jumping in the water to "rescue" items from the truck. A dive crew eventually made it as did a tough old wrecker which probably looked old in the 60's. Eventually the truck was pulled up and the crowds moved on, but it was quite an evening at our "quiet" little anchorage.

We may have to observe the 3 mile limit in regards to the bikini as well. Way to go Sunny!

4 comments:

  1. Ok, we give up. That's the best one we've heard for ages. Talk about stopping the traffic!!! You'd better get yourselves south before you cause any more damage!
    Trish & Robert

    ReplyDelete
  2. OMG. Way to stop traffic, mom... LITERALLY.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow we cant beat this story. you guys need to head south before you cause any more trouble

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello from Reach!
    This is the funniest story we've heard in a long time!! Glad to hear that you are enjoying the islands & sounds like they are enjoying you being there as well. We are in New England for the month before heading south on a similar track as you next year...
    Take it easy, Michele & Mark
    www.svreach.com

    ReplyDelete