A French Sailor’s Amazing Story

2019-04-18

Evelyn Mathieu

Last January, employees of the Canadian Coast Guard regional office in Montréal received a visit from Jacques Gabarro, a French sailor who was rescued from the water in 1963 by the crew of a Canadian Coast Guard vessel, the CCGS Sir Humphrey Gilbert. He received a warm welcome from the Assistant Commissioner, Julie Gascon, and graciously agreed to tell his story. Here is the story of his incredible adventure.

A devastating storm
Jacques Gabarro was nervous. He had difficulty expressing himself. He has a slight build and a deep voice, and speaks with the lilting accent of southern France.

Around 40 people gathered to listen to him speak about that winter in 1963 when the cargo ship Douala sank south of Newfoundland. A young, novice engineer, Jacques was already used to travelling between the Canadian Great Lakes and Marseille, the Douala's home port. But that year, south of Newfoundland, the cargo ship found itself in a storm the likes of which it had never seen before. Everything was ripped from the boat. The hatches twisted off and water rushed in. After several hours, the captain gave the order to abandon ship.

Jacques Gabarro had never seen such a violent storm. "You can't imagine what it was like," he said repeatedly. We hung on his every word. You could hear a pin drop.

A dangerous rescue
In the lifeboat, crew members first had to manoeuvre to avoid the whirlpool caused by the sinking vessel. They then had to try their best to stay awake because, given the cold, they would not wake up again. In total, they spent more than 24 hours exposed in the lifeboat on a raging sea in temperatures of -15 ^oC. Two of Jacques's friends who were close by did not make it. He only survived because of "his endurance and youth."

Finally, a Royal Air Force aircraft spotted them. Shortly afterwards, the CCGS Sir Humphrey Gilbert was in sight. But it was not yet over for the Douala's sailors; they still were not on board...

The vessel positioned itself in the direction of the waves to protect the lifeboat. "We were grateful to the captain for the risks he took," said Jacques. He and his friends had to jump from the lifeboat to the vessel when the waves raised them high enough to grab the ropes. There, sailors on the Gilbert caught them any way they could and hauled them on board. The challenge was to avoid being crushed between the vessel's hull and the lifeboat that was being tossed by the strength of the storm. Some were exhausted and did not make it. After he was rescued, Jacques spent several weeks recovering in the hospital in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, before returning to Europe.

A pilgrimage site
Ms. Gascon asked how this catastrophe had changed his life. "Well, I kept sailing! I was young and when the sea is in your blood... " A while later, he also told his boss that he was ready to make the same trip again. "You have to understand that that is my nature... I like adventure. Even now that I am retired! For example, when I was a hiking guide and had to choose between two paths, I always chose the steeper and more difficult one."

Jacques Gabarro often returns to Canada. He likes the country, its nature and its cities. But he treats each trip as a pilgrimage in memory of his friends who perished.

On the Internet, it is easy to find several references to the sinking of the cargo ship Douala, owned by the company Fraissinet & Fabre in Marseille. In addition to the Canadian Coast Guard, many resources were deployed to assist the cargo ship: aircraft, trawlers, not to mention the US Coast Guard.

The CCGS Sir Humphrey Gilbert, commanded by Captain G. S. Burdock, was the first to arrive at the scene of the catastrophe. This vessel rescued the first lifeboat. The trawlers Rodrigue and Langlade, from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, rescued a second lifeboat that had only two survivors. In total, only 17 of the Douala’s 29 crew members survived.

Later, the CCGS Sir Humphrey Gilbert became the MV Polar Prince. During summer 2017, it was used for the Canada C3 Expedition to celebrate Canada’s 150^th birthday.