Advice For A Young Ship’s Officer
by John Konrad (gCaptain) A new ship can be an intimidating place for a deck officer, so here are a few tips to get you started and to remind you...
Now there is talking like a pirate, and then there is ACTING like a pirate. This woman chose the latter.
According to media reports a UK woman, arrested for stealing a passenger ferry while yelling “I’m Jack Sparrow” during a alcohol and drug fueled rampage, has been jailed.
The incident occurred late at night on Sept. 10, 2011 in Dartmouth, Devon when Alison Whelan, after drinking and eating “hallucinogenic plants” on a two-day binge, boarded the moored Dart Princess double-decker ferry and managed to set the 45-foot vessel adrift on the River Dart. The kicker, as if that wasn’t enough, is that the whole time she was yelling “I’m Jack Sparrow” and “I’m a pirate” while bouncing the ferry off other vessels “like a pinball” and causing thousands of dollars in damages.
Needless to say Whelan was arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking and sentenced to 122 days in jail.
So where was Whelan heading? Well, when arrested she reportedly shouted that she “would have ended up in St Tropez.”
There’s no doubt Jack Sparrow has a soft spot for the drink, but something tells me he would not approve of this.
Updated: January 14, 2021 (Originally published September 20, 2012)
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