Red Sea, Pirates, and more.

Pirates!

25-foot seas, 30-mph winds and we are out of cooking fuel. What was I doing, here in the middle of the Arabian Sea with three strangers, being chased by pirates?

Living on the edge and living a dream.

For me, the camel’s back broke in December 1999. No more office job! I quit my job and got on the Internet. I found someone who needed crew for the next leg of his trip from Muscat, Oman to the Mediterranean. Oman is on the Southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. After travelling 21 hours, making two connections including a strange, 15-minute stop in Saudi Arabia, I really hoped that there was a boat at the end of the flight.

I’ve sailed since I was a kid but mostly out of Toronto harbour and always ending on the same dock I left. At the end of our first day at sea while watching a beautiful sunset over The Indian Ocean, it hit me that I wasn’t going back to port that night or any other night soon. The two-month, one way trip took us over 5000 miles and during this time, I was more alive than I have ever felt.

In the middle of the Arabian Sea, we became aware of a ship overtaking us from astern. We changed course six times. So did they. We allowed the ship to get close enough for us to see what they were doing.

Why would a rusty old cargo ship follow us? We soon found out … to lower smaller, faster speed boats to catch and board our boat!

Full ahead engine … get out the Winchester rifle … stand by on radio. The captain had been through this before, but this was my first ‘being chased by pirates’ event. As we were off the coast of Yemen, we took the threat seriously, for we were now in pirate alley. No one is immune through here, not even the US Navy, as was proved earlier in the year.

My first action was to stop making banana bread. That could wait.

Captain Rod told me what to say on the VHF and single sideband radios in the event of imminent boarding by the bad guys. He got out his Winchester 308 rifle, put a shell into the chamber and aimed at the ship, now in very close range. Through the rifle sight, he could see that the ship’s crew were using cranes in lowering smaller boats over the side. We kept our stern at a 90-degree angle to the ship and this forced us to circle, but at least it did not allow the ship to get any closer. It had the feel of a slow speed chase but felt threatening nonetheless.

I suggested we hail the ship on radio, if only to let them know we knew they were there. Whether it was this move or the presence of the rifle, the ship dropped its pursuit after an exciting two hours. Though the event lacked the Hollywood flare and dramatic end, it was real and could have ended differently. Pirates are a popular discussion topic among cruisers in the area. Just weeks before we ran our gauntlet through pirate alley, an Australian family was boarded by pirates and robbed, leaving their boat shot full of holes. We made it through and were lucky.

The banana bread was great!

Skip ahead now to the Red Sea, one day out from the Eritrean port of Massawa. The wind had turned around and came at us on the nose, increasing to 35 mph and creating 25-foot waves.  Our propane had leaked out during the night and left us with no cooking fuel.  To turn back meant two days’ delay and we were pressed for time.  For 14 days and nights we became very good at timing wave crashes to use our momentum to fly across the cabin from our bunks to the galley.

At the time, I wrote in my journal that I imagined that sailing into 25-foot seas with 30-plus mph winds was similar to driving a small rally car at 60 mph down a wooded mountain road and crashing into a tree every 10 seconds.  Roll, thrash, crash, repeat. 

With our propane gone we became the galloping gourmets of the Red Sea. Our primary cooking utensil became a can opener, which made for some creative meals.  Have you ever had Spam with a cold curry stew and pickled corn?  For added texture we would add some succulent cocktail weenies. 

The point of this trip was to see if I would enjoy being on a boat for an extended period. After two months, three continents, six countries and numerous cultural immersions, I have to say: yes!


Live your dreams!

@DaveCreelman

 

A sailor for over 30 years, Dave Creelman has had a variety of careers including radio producer, sailing instructor, event Disc Jockey and salesman. He is currently a radio host on Jewel 88.5 Mon-Fri 10am-3pm in Toronto and the GTA and Jewel 92.1 in Hamilton, Burlington, Kitchener Waterloo and Southwestern Ontario. Both can be heard online at www.jewelradio.com


Find Dave on Twitter @DaveCreelman