In August 1947 myself and three other members of the 1st Tyne Sea Scout Troop of Newcastle upon Tyne were lost at sea in a rowing boat during a dense fog off the coast of Scotland for 12 hours before being picked up by a fishing smack which was looking for us, as were every other boat or ship at sea in the area.

We were on a summer cruise aboard the Troop's 55ft.Yawl 'Gladwyena' travelling from Blyth, Northumberland to Burntisland on the Firth of Forth with many stops during the voyage.

While docked in St.Abbs harbour, four of the Troop, Ray Stevenson, Gordon Walker, Jimmy Herring, and myself Noel Kelly, were assigned to take the yachts row-boat and go to Eyemouth to get fuel for the yacht's inboard-engine.

Fuel was not available in St.Abbs Head and Eyemouth was only a couple of miles down the coast and should have been an easy task for the four scouts, the eldest being sixteen and myself the youngest at fourteen.

We set out early in the morning on what appeared to be a clear, sunny day with a low off-shore swell and had every indication that this trip was going to be an uneventful one, like a row in the park!

It wasn't to be, it seemed like we had just cleared St. Abbs harbour when a fog began to descend upon us and, not being smart and turning back, we kept heading for Eyemouth and before long we were enveloped in a fog so thick you couldn't see more than six feet in any direction.

We kept going using the sound of waves breaking on the rocks as our guide but not getting too close to the sound in case we ran aground, putting us in more trouble than we were already in.

As there were only two oars in the boat we kept taking turns in tandem, one in the bow on look-out, one on the tiller, and two on the oars. We were in fairly good spirits, or we pretended to be.

I know that I and one other lad couldn't swim, but we did have life-jackets. We sang a little, talked a lot, even morbidly talked about who was to get what for floatation if we happened to sink!

To make a long story short, the fog eventually began to lift and we were picked up by a fishing boat off Berwick on Tweed. We had been lost for 12 hours and were 13 miles past our destination port of Eyemouth.

The fishing boat took us aboard and towed the row-boat back to Eyemouth where a very concerned Scoutmaster was waiting for us. He treated us to a meal of fish n' chips and then we boarded another fishing vessel, which took us back to St. Abbs towing the row-boat behind it.

The Scoutmaster, retired RN commander S.D.Newton, known as 'Uncle', arranged for the crew of the fishing vessel to put us back into the row-boat upon arrival at St.Abbs so that we could row back in to the cheers of all the villagers who were lined on the piers to welcome us.

Despite being 'Geordies' the four of us were choked up and had tears in our eyes at the reception we received as we rowed into port.

I have endeavoured to find the three lads I shared this 'mis-adventure' with and have succeeded in finding only one, Jimmy Herring, who still lives in Newcastle and with whom I had a reunion in August 2001, 54 years since we last met or heard of each other.

I would like to ask for help in locating the other two, Ray Stevenson & Gordon Walker. I now live in the USA, can anyone help?

Gateshead, Co. Durham was my home for 26 years before moving to California in 1959, and I remain an ardent Newcastle United supporter. I spent 5 years in the Merchant Navy with Royal Mail Lines 1953-1958.

I am a little mentally disabled due to surgery to remove a brain tumour nine years ago, I am not very good at remembering some things and I am not very good on a computer as my learning skills have been sadly diminished but I do my best.

Noel Kelly, California, USA, 2002