Crew Blog

The plongeur and the rope

18 April 2008

“Cheer up, things could get worse”, somebody chanted this afternoon and sure enough, things did.  Engine revs dropped as a slight knock was heard under the boat, and we carried out the normal checks down below. All was in order so we had a look outside; maybe there was a rope around the prop.
This would not be a surprise as we have been sailing past flotsam and jetsam all week, fishing floats of every shape and size; maybe at last one had caught us.
And so the Plongeur without SCUBA was sent to Davy Jones’ locker, “the big blue yonder”, armed with bread knife and mask, but no wetsuit. The wrap was confirmed as Miaggi stuck his cold wet head under the stern.

“Tightly roped, I was dragged around the side, abeam of the prop. A few deep breaths and down I went, boy it was cold, pimples on pimples and the rest, but at least the visibility was great. With no dolphins for company, just the abyss, I could see the barnacle encrusted monster that held our Perkins Engine at bay. It was surprisingly easy to unwrap (no Murphy), and just as well cause I wasn’t coming back twice. The rope had held the Gory prop blades shut. With an explosion of escaping air bubbles I headed for the surface, monster in tow, and was pulled around the stern, eagerly hoisted on board.
On went the Donkey, up again went the mainsail and off we went again, me dreaming of neoprene wet suits!”

Mr Miaggi