Botetourt residents the Roberts and their sailboat rescue stranded fishermen
Botetourt residents John and Shelly Roberts are retired. He worked for 36 years at Gala Industries and she from teaching at Lord Botetourt for over 30 years. They bought a sailboat– actually a Catamaran she describes as “a 42 ft Lagoon Catamaran – owners version. One whole side is ours master bedroom and bath and the other side has two more bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.” They learned to sail in the British Virgin Islands in 2014 and continued their sailing Ed in Tortula and Little River,SC. Both are certified.
Fast forward to the winter of 2020. Shelly Roberts said, ” We sailed to Ft. Lauderdale all the way through to the Bahamas. It was sometimes terrifying and a steep learning curve.” Then Covid-19 spread across the world. They sheltered among uninhabited islands and with 21 boats.
As hurricane season approached the Roberts headed back to the United States. On the trek back they were approached by a Coast Guard plane that contacted them by VHF radio and asked them to rescue two Bahamian fisherman that were adrift in their fishing skiff for three days. They had drifted 146 miles from their home.
They dropped sail, motored into the Gulf Stream and retrieved the fishrmen and their skiff.
Here is what Shelly described. ” We had no idea what we were getting into but knew we had to help them. After we were able to get them on our boat, we tied their skiff onto our boat and got back on our course. We gave them water, food, and let them get showers, they were so grateful. The Coast Guard was supposed to send a “warship” to our intercept us to pick them up in a couple of hours. The CG contacted us to let us know that there was a delay, so the Bahamians would not be picked up until 1:00 am. During the night, there were 6-8 foot seas and their skiff broke free three times. John had to maneuver our boat so that one of the guys could jump into the skiff with a line to retrieve the skiff and eerie the lines- the skiff was the Bahamians’ livelihood.”
They kept on sailing and finally a Coast Guard Cutter, 24 hours later, retrieved the fisherman off the coast of Charleston, SC. The men were almost 350 miles from home.
This past week, Captain John Roberts and First mate Shelly Roberts received the following letter.
We have often heard that the good Lord picks everyday people to do extraordinary things. He picked John and Shelly. You see them give them a big Hurrah! Be proud Botetourt, of our wonderful friends the Roberts!
Story by Cathy Benson, Photos courtesy of the Roberts
