Pretoria - When yachtsman David Cross took to the seas off the cost of Melilla, Morocco, on a beautiful winter’s afternoon two weeks ago, he had plans to stay in his boat for seven months before docking in Cape Town and resuming life.
Within 30 minutes of setting sail, his boat was filling up with water and he was working hard at steering it and bailing water out fast. As he pumped out the water, he realised the boat was sailing at a strange angle.
“I steered it back, turned it around to head back to the harbour and went back to pumping the water out,” Cross said.
His delight at making progress was cut short when the pump ripped out of the floor. The next thing, he was standing knee-deep in water.
“I grabbed a bucket and scooped the water out, but I noticed half an hour later that the boat was headed in the wrong direction. I was facing the back of the boat and should have seen nothing but water when I raised my head, instead I could see North Africa.” The boat’s autopilot was steering it around in circles.
The trained skipper decided to call the harbour master to report that he was experiencing trouble.
“I gave them my co-ordinates and asked them to be on standby, and went back to bailing water out as I headed back to shore.”
But within 10 minutes the water – now dirty and oily – was almost waist high.
“The floorboards were swimming around, so walking around became quite dangerous.”
Angry that, despite working hard to restore the boat, there were still holes to allow water in, he got onto the radio’s emergency frequency and asked to be rescued.
The yachtsman did not panic; his survival training kicked in and allowed him to remain clear headed and calm.
“‘The water was not cold, the water was not rough and the wind was moderate, so I was not uncomfortable.”
Cross had landed on the shores of the Spanish city in October, to work on restoring the old boat he had bought in Cape Town. The trip was a dream which would have taken him from Morocco to Spain. He would have sailed past a few scenic islands and cities on a trip spanning seven months.
“I have been sailing for six to seven years and recently acquired my skipper’s licence. I’d turned 43, so I bought my own boat and took on this adventure,” he said.
Along his route, Cross would have visited Sicily and enjoyed the summer in Greece, he would have gone back into the Mediterranean Sea and arrived back in Cape Town in time for Christmas, but his dream was cut short and he lost so much of what he had when he packed up his life and left.
“I lost it all, but I could have lost a leg, a child, my life,” he said.
He said the coastal police had arrived and taken him off the troubled vessel, and when sea rescue officials failed to save it, they all watched it sink and turn on its back, which was when Cross realised that the keel was missing from the bottom of the boat.
“There were six holes where the bolts would have been; that is where the water had come in.”
The sea rescue officials had taken him ashore and given him accommodation, food and clothes, also assisting him to get documentation to go back home.
He left for home on Tuesday and arrived at OR Tambo International Airport two days later. That is when the reality of the past fortnight hit home.
“I was so overcome with emotion when I set my foot down off the plane that I cried,” he said.
The keen seaman lives with his sister in Irene, Tshwane, and is picking up the pieces of his life.
His dream is only deferred, as he has plans to head back to sea.
Pretoria News