Post by Joe on Feb 23, 2010 17:02:42 GMT -5
Hi all,
Some of you will have read about last week's sinking of the sailing ship Concordia. The ship was owned by West Island College. She was designed and used for the college's Class Afloat program.
Allister sent me an e-mail today, about an interesting tale which took place during the daring at-sea rescue:
By DAN ARSENAULT Staff Reporter (Halifax Herald)
Tue. Feb 23 - 4:53 AM
Maurice Tugwell wore too-small clothes and carried a battered life-jacket when he arrived home in Nova Scotia on Monday, days after he and 63 others survived the sinking of the SV Concordia more than 500 kilometres off the coast of Brazil.
The retired Acadia University economics professor was a teacher on board the Concordia, a seagoing classroom that went down in bad weather last Wednesday afternoon.
"It¹s the best outcome that you could have had, given the circumstances that we were in," he told reporters gathered at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
Tugwell and three other Nova Scotia employees of Class Afloat of Lunenburg flew from Brazil to Toronto and then on to Halifax. The others teachers Kate Braedley and Heather Fitzpatrick and chief mate Kim Smith did not speak to media at the airport.
Tugwell said he was in his cabin below decks when bad weather started playing havoc. He said the sails had already been lowered to compensate for the weather when the ship rolled strongly to one side, apparently because of a violent wind shear known as a microburst.
His lights went out and the emergency lights came on. An alarm eventually sounded when the engine started flooding with water.
Tugwell said it¹s fortunate that many of the ship¹s 48 high school and college students were already in classes on the deck, so it wasn¹t difficult to get them together near the life-rafts and put them in survival gear.
Tugwell had a tougher time below decks.
"Picture it, what used to be the wall is now the floor, and you can hear things smashing and crashing," he said. "You had to essentially go up the stairs, which were now on the side, and the lights went out."
Tugwell started the semester, his second stint on board the Concordia, on Feb. 4 in Recife, Brazil, and he said there had been three drills since then on the procedures for abandoning ship and numerous sessions devoted to life-jackets and survival suits.
The students appeared to have learned their lessons, he said.
"They were just carrying on as if it was another exercise," he said.
Soon the ship was completely on its side and everyone was sliding along the masts in order to drop into the covered life-rafts. Some of the circular life-rafts held up to 20 people and contained flares and enough energy bars and water to last eight days.
Everyone was off the Concordia by 3:15 p.m. and it sank not long after.
Tugwell said one of the life-rafts needed constant bailing, but that was more for comfort as it wasn¹t in danger of sinking. The sailors lashed three of the life-rafts together and a separate one stayed within sight.
Staff and students sang and talked to one another through the rest of Wednesday and Thursday.
Tugwell said the sailors bonded well under the harrowing circumstances and sometimes sang songs like Farewell to Nova Scotia to keep their spirits up.
Marie Braedley said her daughter Kate, a Truro woman who teaches physics, chemistry and math for Class Afloat, told her that she tried to keep the students calm by singing two songs by Cape Breton singer-songwriter ALLISTER MacGILLIVRAY "Away from the Roll of the Sea", and "Sea People".
Some of you will have read about last week's sinking of the sailing ship Concordia. The ship was owned by West Island College. She was designed and used for the college's Class Afloat program.
Allister sent me an e-mail today, about an interesting tale which took place during the daring at-sea rescue:
By DAN ARSENAULT Staff Reporter (Halifax Herald)
Tue. Feb 23 - 4:53 AM
Maurice Tugwell wore too-small clothes and carried a battered life-jacket when he arrived home in Nova Scotia on Monday, days after he and 63 others survived the sinking of the SV Concordia more than 500 kilometres off the coast of Brazil.
The retired Acadia University economics professor was a teacher on board the Concordia, a seagoing classroom that went down in bad weather last Wednesday afternoon.
"It¹s the best outcome that you could have had, given the circumstances that we were in," he told reporters gathered at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
Tugwell and three other Nova Scotia employees of Class Afloat of Lunenburg flew from Brazil to Toronto and then on to Halifax. The others teachers Kate Braedley and Heather Fitzpatrick and chief mate Kim Smith did not speak to media at the airport.
Tugwell said he was in his cabin below decks when bad weather started playing havoc. He said the sails had already been lowered to compensate for the weather when the ship rolled strongly to one side, apparently because of a violent wind shear known as a microburst.
His lights went out and the emergency lights came on. An alarm eventually sounded when the engine started flooding with water.
Tugwell said it¹s fortunate that many of the ship¹s 48 high school and college students were already in classes on the deck, so it wasn¹t difficult to get them together near the life-rafts and put them in survival gear.
Tugwell had a tougher time below decks.
"Picture it, what used to be the wall is now the floor, and you can hear things smashing and crashing," he said. "You had to essentially go up the stairs, which were now on the side, and the lights went out."
Tugwell started the semester, his second stint on board the Concordia, on Feb. 4 in Recife, Brazil, and he said there had been three drills since then on the procedures for abandoning ship and numerous sessions devoted to life-jackets and survival suits.
The students appeared to have learned their lessons, he said.
"They were just carrying on as if it was another exercise," he said.
Soon the ship was completely on its side and everyone was sliding along the masts in order to drop into the covered life-rafts. Some of the circular life-rafts held up to 20 people and contained flares and enough energy bars and water to last eight days.
Everyone was off the Concordia by 3:15 p.m. and it sank not long after.
Tugwell said one of the life-rafts needed constant bailing, but that was more for comfort as it wasn¹t in danger of sinking. The sailors lashed three of the life-rafts together and a separate one stayed within sight.
Staff and students sang and talked to one another through the rest of Wednesday and Thursday.
Tugwell said the sailors bonded well under the harrowing circumstances and sometimes sang songs like Farewell to Nova Scotia to keep their spirits up.
Marie Braedley said her daughter Kate, a Truro woman who teaches physics, chemistry and math for Class Afloat, told her that she tried to keep the students calm by singing two songs by Cape Breton singer-songwriter ALLISTER MacGILLIVRAY "Away from the Roll of the Sea", and "Sea People".