Jim
Thought you'd enjoy this article on a chum of mine (Guy)
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Three brothers, a boat and a big, big fish
By Mike Whitehouse/The Sudbury Star
Northern Ontario’s Downey brothers love an adventure.
Patrick, Darryl and Guy Downey, all formerly of Chapleau, have numerous
Caribbean tales to tell about their adventures aboard Patrick’s 56-foot Ocean
Sportfish boat, moored in Freeport, Bahamas, but it was what happened
during their last trip in April that gets them talking.
The three northerners, taking their annual fishing trip, thought they would have
no trouble taking home a trophy in a tropical marlin tournament.
Leaving Freeport on Grand Bahama Island on a blustery gray morning, the
brothers were on their way toward Nassau, but caught only five dorado and a
few barracuda. There they took provisions, fueled up and spent a few days of
rest and relaxation in Nassau.
From there the brothers headed to San Salvador via the Exumas, Eleuthra and
Cat Islands toward their final goal — the Contango International Billfish
Tournament.
The first night out of Nassau, they they stopped at Highborne Cay and
navigated the cut into the marina.
“The cut is dicey because it is narrow and has swift moving tidal rips which
can throw boats on reefs,” said Guy Downey from his Chelmsford home.
“But the boat made dock without incident.”
But not all were so lucky. Waking the next morning, the brothers noticed the
enormous 120-foot luxury yacht Esprit in apparent difficulty on the other side
of the cut, left high and dry on the reef.
As the tide was falling fast, there wasn’t much time before the reef would
begin its deadly grinding and destroy the Esprit’s hull.
The brothers radioed the Esprit with an offer of help.
With the tide going out, time was running out, and the brothers knew they had
to work fast. Guy, who worked at Inco moving heavy equipment and blasting
for 30 years, knew that it took weight to move weight, so he came up with a
suggestion.
The Sportfish was only 30 tons compared tot he 100-ton Esprit, so he
suggested filling the Sportfish’s cockpit with water, adding another five tons to
its weight.
“It took only a minute to fill the cockpit with salt water, and then quickly,
before it self-drained through the scuppers, he turned the boat on a dime and
let those diesel dogs eat,” Guy said
In an instant the big diesels lifted the nose and dropped the stern of the
Sportfish, throwing six-foot waves at the Esprit. The first wave listed her, the
second lifted her and the third pulled her off the reef.
After accepting thanks from the Esprit’s captain, the brothers were off fishing
again instantly, since it was why they were there.
Guy was lucky enough to snare a catch and release tournament winning
545-lb blue marlin, while Darryl caught an 85-lb blue marlin. |
