George Brown of Bayview, N.L. and his two fishing partners had faced grave danger at sea while hauling crab pots some four-five miles off Twilingate. Brown said that it was so close and frightening that his stomach hasn’t settled yet. The noise of the motor and attention on hauling crab pots made the crew unaware of the large vessel coming at them through the fog until she actually struck the stern of their 23-foot long boat. George explained that Gordon Brown was at the bow handling the gurdy, and his brother Jack was standing on the gang boards when the collision occurred.
George said that the crew had no indication that the large vessel was anywhere close and it was so sudden that he was knocked into the mid-ships and it was just lucky that he didn’t go overboard. He then asked Gordon to cut the line connecting their speedboat to the crab pots, but before that could be done the ship had freed herself from the stern of the speedboat and continued on its way, giving absolutely no indication that anyone aboard had been aware of what had just happened.
According to George the damage to the speedboat was minimal, although one of the two 40 horse-powered motors on the stern had considerable damage to the housing and may well be a write-off.
