We were hanging out at Pete's Pub in Little Harbour when John heard on the VHF radio a Mayday call from a boat in distress. You see all communications with the marinas, restaurants, taxi cabs, preachers, etc. in the Abacos are by VHF radio. They all monitor certain channels, but channel 16 is the emergency channel as it is at home. Pete's Pub has one hanging above the bar and that is how we called in for a mooring buoy and that is how we heard the Mayday call. It was from a 90 feet long yacht that had caught on fire a few miles offshore and 6 people were in the water. A guy dressed like Roger & Josh when PPVFD is on a call came up to the bar with a radio in his hand and said they were bringing the passengers to Little Harbor. He told us you could see the smoke just over the hill from the bar. Sure enough, you could. The view was beautiful other than the smoke you can see in the picture coming from the burning vessel. They diverted the passengers to Marsh Harbour as the tide was down and they could not get into Little Harbour. We didn't get to see the people or the boat itself, but it still made us uneasy knowing it could happen to us too. We carry our dinghy to use for fun, but also for a life boat and we have a ditch bag with all the essentials, life jackets, portable GPS, flares, flashlight, water, etc. to throw in it when we have to abandon ship. Hope I never have to use it.
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