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The Last Voyage of the Lucette – Douglas Robertson

It felt for all the world like we were trapped inside a giant tornado.  As suddenly as it had stopped just 20 minutes before, stinging sheets of rain returned in a teeming wind borne deluge, to flay our exhausted forms as our battle to survive continued unabated until the predawn glow illuminated the eastern skies… dawn found us crouched under heavy rain and still bailing wearily…….

Still numb from lack of sleep, we were woken later that morning by the sound of ankle deep wavelets sloshing to and fro inside the dinghy.  Worn out, we had slept as the water steadily rose inside the boat to a depth of several inches, reducing our freeboard to a mere inch or two.  We had only the quietness of the early morning seaway to thank for our salvation, as hasty action with the bailing cups reduced the water levels inside once more.

We returned to our rest, shivering as we chewed on strips of dried turtle meat and as a special treat, a small portion of sea biscuit for a very late breakfast or an early lunch.  It was warmer now and as we huddled together under the sheet Lyn told us she had counted seven people in Ednamair during the night, stating that she had seen the vision of a presence rather than a person, positioned above and behind me, helping us to fight the storm.

Although this was greeted with scepticism by the others, Lyn steadfastly maintained her belief in the vision and indeed if this had helped us in the midst of that terrible storm then it certainly had made a great contribution to our survival.  Given that our general situation was precarious enough, we had been to the brink of disaster and death many times during the night and failure by anyone to play our part would have meant annihilation for us all.  For twelve long hours, we had tottered on the cusp of our own mortality, trapped in a half world of the living and the dead.  I wondered how much longer our weary bodies could have delivered what was demanded of them, or indeed how they would be able to continue such challenges in the future