Seven men from Belize City went fishing in the vicinity of St. George’s Caye on Sunday, November 4. One of them was Abner Quiroz, who owns the Ocean Hopper, the 25-foot skiff they went out in. It is assumed that he was the captain.
The day was sunny, but there was a 25-knot wind blowing from the northwest. When the wind is blowing from this point, the sea is nipping gently around the City but, the waves get larger as you go eastward. Around St. George’s outside the reef, there would be 8- to 9-foot swells. Traveling in a boat that size, the captain would have to be alert even in the daytime.
When the men did not return by Monday morning, November 5, the Coast Guard began an intensive air/sea search.
There is a bit of Sherlock Holmes in many of us when there is a mystery. This is a mystery because up to the time of writing this article, only one of the men has been found.
This is what we know. The Ocean Hopper was found in shallow water, partly submerged, with its engine missing and signs that it had been torn off its transom with some force. Life belts and a water cooler were found floating, and other personal items were found in a protected compartment of the vessel.
Let’s begin our enquiry by asking some questions. Where were the men and the vessel when Mrs. Edelma Quiroz spoke to her husband by cellphone at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 4? Was he on land (St. George’s Caye) or at sea, and if at sea, where? We don’t know but, we can conclude that he was stationary. So. He was either at the caye or in the boat at anchor, otherwise she would have observed that the signal was unclear. We can conclude, also, that they had not started for home at 5:30 p.m. At this time of year 5:30 p.m. is near to nightfall. Ergo, they were traveling home at night. Also, they did not have their life jackets on.
We don’t know for a fact but, men on fishing trips usually take things to drink and they would not bring back any. So they may have been inebriated to a lesser or greater degree.
Sometimes, when you are fishing in the evening approaching night, fish would start biting as if they have an addiction and, it is hard to leave a “drop” when they are behaving like this, then you have to travel at night. Even if you know the area well, a good captain would travel at half speed or less, until he knows for sure that he is entering what seamen call “bold water.” The area inside or outside the reef around St. George’s Caye is full of rocks.
There are two versions of what happened to the Ocean Hopper and the men on board.
The official version, which seems to fit the facts, is that the boat hit a submerged rock on the reef line or near to it. The impact tore off the engine, which sank in deep water, the men were cast overboard in turbulent seas and they may or may not have reached land.
The Coast Guard, assisted by many private boat owners, searched the area from where the accident supposedly took place to where they could have been carried by wind and waves. They were unsuccessful up to Friday, November 9. On Saturday afternoon the body of one of the men, identified as Magistrate Richard Swift, was found around Glover’s Reef. This discovery would seem to support the official view. It would be confirmed if other bodies were found in the area.
The other version is that the man may have had an encounter with invaders engaged in the drug trade and have been kidnapped. This would hold out the possibility that the missing men are still alive.
I asked one of my associates who thinks that the second version is the correct one, how he explains the discovery at Glover’s Reef and his answer is that Mr. Swift could have escaped his kidnappers by jumping overboard. I asked him what is the explanation of the missing engine. He believes that the kidnappers removed it to throw the police off the “scent”.
I will not go as far as to say that the second version is impossible, but the first is more believable.
Reflecting on this incident, as someone who has been on many fishing expeditions, inside and outside the Reef, I think it makes good sense for someone on shore to know where you intend to go and what time you intend to be back home. Now, more than before, there are hazards that may be encountered in certain well known areas. This is the digital age, and it would have been helpful if Mr. Quiroz had told his wife during their cellphone conversation where he was at the time and when he expected to leave for home. It would have been helpful also, for other members of the group to have called home and impart similar information. These days, when members of my family go to the cayes, I want to know when they are leaving town, when they arrive at their destination and when they leave the island on their way back. I already know their usual fishing areas.
You are required to wear a seat belt when traveling on the highways in a motor vehicle. Personally, I find it irksome to wear a seat belt, especially if I am dressed for an occasion but, I obey the law. I understand, also, the rationale which supports it. Similarly, when traveling in an open boat at more than 12 miles an hour, you can be flung overboard if the vessel hits some large submerged object. It makes good sense to wear a life jacket, especially at night. It might mean the difference between life and death. And, if it is your destiny to die in a fatal accident at sea, your loved ones would prefer that your body is recovered. Wearing a life jacket will be of help.