smoke on the water

Subtitle ‘sea smoke’ on the waters of Bantry Bay

It’s a beautiful, calm, moonlit night. And cold. A pall of mist hangs in the air and the still, somnolent waters of Bantry Bay appear to steam gently, producing what the local mariners call ‘sea smoke’.

Tonight we’re out on lifeboat exercises, practising drills and manoeuvres so we’ll be ready for whenever that emergency call comes. We slice through the still bay waters, cut through the roiling ‘smoke’, urged forward by 300 horse-power of finely tuned and matched outboard engines. Coupled to the slight mass of the rescue boat, we quickly reached 40 knots.

The full moon is resplendent in a black sky only just hazy enough to crown it in a beautiful blue halo all around; yes a blue moon! It shines so bright, like a searchlight from the heavens, lighting this cold, dark November night.

We commence our manoeuvres; each one taking turns drawing out high speed white frothy figures of eight in the calm waters of the bay, getting the feel of the rescue boat as she surges in waves and banks in the bends. Then a shout went up; ‘man overboard!’ Arms point to the vague shape in the darkness, the roar of the engines subsides as they throttle back and the wake and spume we’d thrown up quickly dissipates, the calm waters giving no clue to the turbulence of only a few moments before.

Quickly we picked up our man, a straightforward exercise in the favourable conditions. And then another jumps purposefully in to the icy waters as we continue our drill. He’s competently recovered too. And then it’s my turn to be the ‘victim’; I slip in to the waters and quickly part company with the rescue boat. In a few moments I’m all alone, bobbing gently in those cold waters, with only the brilliant, haloed moon and occasional cormorant for company. What happens next? You’ll never guess; I laugh out loud! And why not, it was a glorious moment; I’m warm and dry for the most part in the survival gear, only my hands and neck exposed to the elements. The dry suit and life jacket keep me well afloat. I’m free to enjoy the juxtaposition of the moment: the still, cold, quiet darkness; the haloed moonlight; and me just floating in it all. Who could not laugh!

And then the rescue boat approaches and I’m quickly brought aboard, still chuckling and grinning from ear to ear. Exercises complete, we return swiftly to base, speeding back through the sea smoke on the water of Bantry Bay.

Captain Crawford