| Petit
Robert is owner and captain of two vessels at the moment, one on which
he lives and the other with which he works, the 'Pioneer' an old British
fishing boat, with a Gardner five-cylinder 150 hp engine. He is restoring and adapting
Pioneer to a live-aboard working
boat whilst working her as a small tug when the opportunity or need
arises which is reasonably frequently. He was born amongst boats and is a seaman of skill, courage and great
generosity towards fellow mariners in times of trouble. You
may have read our article, on the Carrying On page, about Petit Robert's
cattle shipping experiences.
 In
St. Martin, French West Indies, where he has been based in recent years,
he is known by many in the local community as 'the Robin Hood of those
who have been hit by hurricanes'. In the photograph you can see a
catamaran being pulled upright via a line attached to the top of the
mast.
Immediately after Lenny, the
hurricane which rampaged through the Lagoon in St.Martin/St.Maarten in
1999, Petit Robert worked tirelessly with Pioneer to get 23 boats clear
of rocks and beaches and help total strangers to recover from the
devastating effects of the blasts which had thrown their boats onto one
another and their lives into disarray.
Those who had no means of paying
for help were cheerfully assisted and those who could afford to pay were
encouraged to do so, although at a far lower rate than other local
tugs were charging, and mainly he accepted money from those who
volunteered any so that Robert could afford to help more
unfortunate sailors.
One of his greedier competitors during normal times tried to bully Robert into desisting,
saying that Robert was depriving him of lucrative salvage opportunities
by helping those who couldn't pay. A blazing argument ensued, with Robert accusing him of cynicism and, in
turn, being accused of being naďve, but he won
the day and carried on giving aid to others, regardless of whether their
troubles were the result of sheer bad luck (someone else's poorly
secured boat had rammed theirs) or poor preparation.
 With one of his
previous tugs, the 'Dakar', Robert had managed to assist 125 boats after
Hurricane Georges, thus gaining his nickname. Sadly, while he was away
working as captain of another tug, leaving Dakar with someone else, she
was lost in a storm and sunk in 10 metres of water. Robert dived
extensively on her to assess the damage and found one side of the hull
so badly damaged that she was beyond saving.
 His next
vessel was 'Big Ben' a late 19th century tugboat (right) with an engine,
when he first bought her, that smoked so much he appeared to be moving
around in a patch of fog wherever he went!
Tragedy struck again. Robert returned from a job on another vessel
during bad weather and found that 'Big Ben' had been damaged and cast
adrift and was about to become a hazard to shipping. Unable to find any
other vessel to assist him at the height of the storm he managed to
reach her in his inflatable dinghy and, finding the vessel's engine
disabled by the damage, he had no choice but to open her sea-cocks and
sink her as quickly as possible. He says it nearly broke his heart to
have to sacrifice her.
His plan is to finish works to 'Pioneer' within two years and then move
on. Where to? Robert doesn't know - he says he will see where the work
leads him...
|
PETIT ROBERT
