posted on Oct, 2 2016 @ 08:38 AM
a reply to:
verschickter
He "told" her (major language barriers) he needed to go back to the dock. He'd mentioned something about this earlier, but we couldn't really
understand what he was saying. It sounded like he'd take us out, but might need to go back to the dock (for some reason), but if he did he'd come
back for us. This was a fishing boat, not a dive boat. It was the only boat running at that time of night. All the rest had either gone home, or
were out fishing. He was fixing a net when we ran into him the first time.
As for the wife, he apparently told her "must go back to island". After he tied up he took off somewhere. She waited around for a while, but he
never reappeared. He just left. After that she didn't really know
what to do. There weren't a whole lot of boats there to begin with, and
those which were there were all just tied up for the night. No one was around. It wasn't like there was another boat around she could hire.
Out where we were I pretty much knew the score when he didn't show back up. It was him or nothing, and 'nothing' was the final answer. I hadn't
really worried about it at first because it seemed like it would be an easy enough swim. I hadn't counted on the wind and the tide running between
the two islands. I'd checked the tide tables before hand, and the tide was actually coming "in". I figured this would make it easier, not harder.
What I hadn't realized was that when the tide came "in" it actually accelerated between Tioman and the smaller island offshore...and worse, ran "away"
(out) from Tioman toward the larger S. China Sea. "In" meant 'in to coastal peninsular Malaysia', not 'in to Tioman island'. When this realization
hit me (i.e. when we were swimming and not getting closer, but further away) it was too late. By then it was "swim or become bait". I chose swim.
When we finally got back I dragged Henry out of the surf and pretty much collapsed on the beach and tried to catch my breath. Laying there I fell
asleep. When the little gal from Norway ripped open the Velcro on my BCD and unzipped it (probably to see if I was even alive) I woke up instantly.
We were a couple miles down the beach from where the marina was. After I collected my thoughts (and drank the coffee) I headed off down the beach to
find Joyce. I could barely walk because my legs were so tired, and trudging through the sand made it even worse, so it was kind of slow going. I did
manage to find her though (I knew I would eventually...it was an island). Needless to say she was pretty exasperated by that point.
I guess it all ended well though. As for finding mr. boat man and whoopin' his backside, I was too tired for that. I was just glad we made it back.