The Boat, The Sea and Me

I am deeply saddened by the tragic incident happened last week while storm “Frank” hit Southern Tagalog Region here in the Philippines. Over 800 people might be declared dead because they were already trapped inside the sunken ship for almost a week now. Dead bodies were also seen on the shoreline of the nearby islands.

 

This incident made me remember my near death experience in the same sea. Not many of my friends knew that I had a thrilling experience on a ship. That was in 1994, I was 14 years old then and a second year high school student. My two sisters and I went to visit our relatives in Bohol. Travelling by air was not yet possible by that time. Our itinerary included a large boat trip from Manila to Cebu and a small boat (lantsa) from Cebu to Bohol.

 

 

We took SuperFerry boat. It was a large boat and I remember that it has 4 more decks at the top and more cabin decks at the bottom. The travel time was 22 hours (it even beat my 16-hour trip to Heathrow Airport in London). As far as I can remember, the incident happened during night time because we even had our exciting picture taking during day. At some point, we couldn’t see any island in any direction, only the seawater that surrounded our boat.

 

 

After our dinner, I went to sleep and woke up feeling something was not right. The ship  was actually moving very very slow. I only learned from my sisters that one engine of the ship got burned and broken. There was fire actually at the engine area! Fortunately, the fire was put up according to some crew of the ship… but our 22-hour travel time became 24 hours. We landed at Cebu with feelings of being relieved and saved from a tragedy. We had our week-long vacation in Bohol, met our relatives and enjoyed ourselves with the virgin beauty of the province.

 

 

When we went back to Cavite, they told me everything happened that unforgettable night. It was the only time I realized how terrified and scared my two sisters were but they stayed calm and showed me an extra bravery so I won’t be scared…

 

 

This is my second life...

 

 

My sisters and I are really blessed...

 

 

 

pero... may pasok ako sa July 4! waaaaaa, bakeeeettt?

 

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