Conference unifix::sailing

475.0. "teddy bears save lives" by PULSAR::BERENS (Alan Berens) Thu Jan 29 1987 14:29

I thought the following tale of shipwreck and rescue was worthy of 
inclusion in these notes. We are adding a teddy bear to our abandon ship 
kit.

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Associated Press Thu 29-JAN-1987 01:31                     Shipwrecked Family

   LOS ANGELES (AP) - A shipwrecked yachtsman says his daughter's
teddy bears provided vital support for him and his family as they
waited 18 hours in a raft for a passing ship.
   Joshua Jones, 51, his wife, Victoria, and children Catherine,
15, Diana, 13, and Hilary, 11, were rescued Friday off southern
Mexico by the crew of the SS Canberra, which docked Wednesday in
Los Angeles.
   Their 35-foot yacht, the Catherine Ann, sank in a storm while in
the Gulf of Tehuantepec.
   The Joneses, originally from Littlehampton on the south coast of
England, said they planned to return to London today.
   ``I'd like to do another voyage ... after the kids have gotten
their secondary education, maybe we'll get away again,'' Jones told
a news conference aboard the British-registered liner. The family
had been on a round-the-world cruise on their yacht and were
heading for Panama when they ran into trouble.
   The Catherine Ann began taking on water Jan. 22 during a storm.
After four hours, the family was standing on the deck as it went
beneath 15-foot waves, then scrambled aboard their eight-person
inflatable life raft.
   With all five Joneses on one side, the canopied raft flipped
over in the darkness, and everybody was upside down under water.
   ``My stomach turned over a bit when we were upside down,'' said
Jones. ``The worst moment was being under water with all these
people on top of me, wondering what was happening.
   ``That was the moment we asked whether we could survive,'' said
Jones, a former computer maintenance engineer. ``No life raft, no
life.''
   The family righted the raft, then distributed themselves
carefully as it bounced on the waves.
   ``It took some time to believe the raft would stay in one
piece,'' said Jones. ``Wind was ripping at it, water was hitting
it.''
   The family was virtually without emergency supplies, most which
Mrs. Jones had dropped. The emergency radio transmitter was among
the lost supplies.
   But Hilary brought aboard her recorder flute and books,
including Joseph Conrad's sea epic ``Lord Jim.'' She also brought
two teddy bears to hug.
   Jones said the teddy bears ``were of vital importance.''
   ``It's a link,'' he said ``It shows everything hasn't gone.
You're lying there touching the teddy bear, it's not too far
removed ... even I touched it a few times.''
   Jones said despite what appeared to be a desperate situation,
the family began figuring out how to survive and get rescued.
   After 15 hours, they spotted a Korean freighter, whose captain
decided after several attempts that he could not safely take the
family aboard because his cargo ship had no stairs.
   He called the Canberra and stood by until the cruise ship
appeared three hours later.
   ``I said `Gosh, I think it's one of ours' meaning a British
registry,'' said Jones.
   ``It couldn't be the Canberra,'' he recalled thinking. ``I
wouldn't believe it until the name was so big that I couldn't make
any mistake reading it.''
   The Canberra added the Jones rescue to its already rich history,
which included being converted into a troop ship for the 1982
Falkland Islands war.
   After the family ended their news conference, ship's Capt. David
Hannah presented Jones with a Canberra plaque and $1,800 that
passengers collected for the family.
   ``Tell them I'm very grateful,'' said Jones, his voice breaking
with emotion.