[Public-list] overboard

[Gordon White]

 After all the doom & gloom (probably realistic) I can relate an 
incident that happened to a good friend, Fred Gerretson, many years ago 
in Long Island Sound. He was at the wheel of his sailboat, at night, 
with his crew asleep below. Went on deck for a pee and fell overboard. 
The boat was on autopilot, in a steady wind. The crew eventually woke 
up, missed Fred,  noted the course, turned 180 degrees and sailed back 
along the course and actually found him more than an hour later. It  was 
in August, Fred was about 30 and a strong swimmer wearing a life jacket, 
and was very, very, very lucky.

- Gordon White, Brigadoon II

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