B

Unit 18- B

Sam: Alice, did I ever tell you about the time I capsized in the Irish Sea?

Alice: No, you didn’t, Sam! What happened?

S: Well, it was probably the most dangerous thing that’s ever happened to me.

You know my boat?

A: Yes, oh yes.

S: Well, this was, er, ooh, a couple of summers ago. I was sailing the yacht from North Wales up through the Irish Sea to the west coast of Scotland. [Uh huh] Er, my girlfriend was on board - oh, you know Natasha, don’t you?

A: Natasha, oh yes.

S: And a friend of mine, Jake, er, he’s about 45,and his 16-year-old son, Tod. [Ooh] Just the four of us. It was beautiful weather, but the Irish Sea can be a bit rough, so we were all on deck. [Mmm] Anyway, we were just off the coast of Northern Ireland, when suddenly …

A: Oh no, what happened?

S: Wait for it! The boat Just hit a wave and turned on its side, [Oh] and then right over! [Oh, no] We couldn’t believe it! We were all thrown out Immediately. A: Oh no!

S: Luckily we were all wearing life-jackets …

A: Yes!

S: And when we surfaced, we managed to swim back to the boat. We couldn’t get it the right way up, though - it’s very difficult to do if you’re in the water. [Mmm] Natasha and Tod climbed on top and sat there, while Jake and I held on for dear life.

A: Oh, how awful!

S: There we were, in the middle of the sea, miles from land, with no way of calling for help. As I said, it was a warm summer day, but even so, the water was very cold, [Oh] and I was beginning to think it was the end, when suddenly we saw the Irish ferry.

[Ooh] It goes from Larne to Stranraer on the Scottish coast, and it had seen us. We were so lucky! [Wow] The captain turned the ferry off its normal course, and picked us up. Honestly, they were so nice to us. [Oh] Wrapped us up in blankets and gave us hot drinks and spare clothes, and took us to Stranraer.

A: Oh, what a relief! Weren’t you lucky!

S: Oh yes. We were even on the local TV news,you know! [Oh, oh] Then, of course, we had to get home by train, and arrange for someone to get the boat, but that’s another story.

A: Well, I can imagine …