peter
“My boat was damaged and it was in a shipyard that day. A friend of mine asked me to come to sail with them. The weather was bad and one part of the day when we lifted up the net to empty the prawns onto the deck, the boat rolled, I lost my balance and fell into the sea. It was dangerous to stay too close to the boat in that type of weather, so I spent about half an hour in the water until eventually I could hold on to the rope and they could pull me back. I came very close to losing my life that day. But the funny part of the story is that it happened on the 11th of November in ’93 and I had a watch on and when I got out of the water the watch had stopped at 11 past 11. My grandfather was in the First World War, and the 11th of November was the day it ended. It was always a great day in his life. He always had a few drinks to celebrate it, even 70 years later, so I often wonder if at that moment, the 11th day of the 11th month, at 11 past 11 whether he was looking after me.”