Boats

Amanda circa 1921.

Amanda

The Amanda and its 31 passsengers almost didn’t make it. The 21-meter-long wooden fishing boat survived three lashing gales in the Atlantic that crippled its engine, ripped its sails to shreds, and caused a leak below the waterline. On August 19, 1949, a Spanish vessel spotted the floundering boat 480 miles southeast of Halifax and signaled to a coast guard plane, which contacted the U.S. Coast Guard Unimak to come to its rescue.

“We thought we were gone,” said Captain Jekabs Andersons. “When we saw the United States ship, we were very glad.” It took the Unimak 22 hours to tow the Amanda halfway to Halifax. Then it handed the schooner over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police cutter French, which towed it into port.

Birmingham Gazette, England, August 20, 1949 

There were Latvians and Poles on board, including eight women and four children. Two of the women were in medical distress: one had a sick newborn and the other had severe stomach cramps. When the boat was rescued, the refugees had almost run out of food and water.

In Sweden, Latvians Peteris Gingulis, Edmunds Ozols, and Teodors Deedins bought the schooner on May 3, 1949, for 25,000 Swedish kronor. The 96-ton fishing boat was built in Landskrona in 1898.

The Amanda left Göteborg on July 7, 1949. The boat encountered good weather until after it departed the Azores, where the engine broke down. It was able to sail for about 500 miles under wind power but then it ran into the three successive gales and needed to be rescued. 

On August 20, 1949, Stockholms-Tidningen Eestlastele reported that the Baltic “Viking boat” Amanda had run into engine trouble. On August 23, a second article reported that the Amanda had been rescued. The refugees were taken to Rockhead immigration center, where passengers from the recently arrived Sarabande were also being processed.

Known crew and passengers:

  • Captain Jekabs Andersons, 32
  • Peteris Gingulis
  • Edmunds Ozols
  • Teodors Deedins

“Amanda Distress at Sea”, Stockholms-Tidningen Eestlastele, August 20, 1949

“Amanda Rescued”, Stockholms-Tidningen Eestlastele, August 23, 1949

Editorial supporting the refugees’ quest to stay in Canada. The Ottawa Citizen, August 25, 1949