Escuminac, 1959

 “Worst Storm Ever Seen” , 1959

Editor's Note: Salmon fishermen Bernie Jenkins, 52, and his nephew Cyril, 21, sailed into harbor here Sunday after spending 40 hours at sea as the result of a violent storm in Northumberland Strait.

ESCUMINAC, N.-B. - We put out to sea earlier than usual Friday. The salmon were running good; better than they had all week and we wanted to take advantage of it. We just took lunches with us and started out about four o'clock.

Things seemed to go all right until about 11 o'clock that night when it started to squall. It would have been a good thing if there had been rain because that quiets the sea. It was the worst storm I've ever seen. Waves rose up like mountains all around us. You have no idea in God's almighty world how terrifying it was.

When it became too bad, we reefed our sail and huddled in the cuddy (a cabin on the small boat). We were about 12 miles out. We figured it was about 11 o'clock Saturday morning when we saw another boat overturned with three people hanging onto it. They were Jack Doucet and his two boys. We took them off one at a time with a rope. The first time we threw them the line, one of the boys handed it to his brother. The next time the same youngster caught it and gave it to his father. The seas were still high and we had to circle for awhile before we could toss the rope a third time. I think he thought we were going to leave him then and was pretty scared. We managed to get in position again though and finally got him aboard.

We'd run out of fuel for the stove in the cuddy and ripped off the tires we use for guards on the side of the boat. We cut them up and began using them for fuel to keep warm. We'd dumped our lunches into the beds earlier to use the pails for bailing. The food was spoiled by the salt water and we had to do without. We ran out of water too.

It wasn't long after we got the Doucets on when our boat nearly capsized. She reeled and the engine was hurled to the floor. It must have been six o'clock that evening before we got the engine fixed up. We could have come in Saturday night. We could see the lights of Escuminac but we were afraid to risk it and stayed right in deep water until daylight. We started in as soon as day broke and arrived about seven this morning.

Source: Bernie Jenkins, “You Have No Idea In God's Almighty World How Terrifying It Was” , The Telegraph Journal, 22 June 1959, p. 1.