Was crew pressured to stay on Wave Dancer?
The first of two Belizean crewmembers who perished while aboard the dive boat Wave Dancer was buried this afternoon in Corozal. Eloisa Johnson, the boat’s cook, died with nineteen others on Monday night when the Wave Dancer capsized in the port of Big Creek while trying to ride out Hurricane Iris. Tonight, one member of the boat’s crew tells News 5 that even though the Belizeans wanted to seek shelter inland, the captain told them that if they left, they would be fired. Angela Luk, the assistant cook, decided that her life was worth more than her job and walked away…but couldn’t convince the others to go with her. Janelle Chanona reports.
Angela Luk, Assistant Cook, Wave Dancer
“I don’t think you should worry about comfort and those things when the hurricane coming directly to you. You should just run for your life.”
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
That’s exactly what twenty-five year old Angela Luk did on Monday night. Luk had been employed as the relief assistant cook aboard the dive boat Wave Dancer since May of this year. The passengers and crew were moored at Lighthouse Reef on Sunday, when they first got wind that there was a hurricane watch in effect for Belize.
Angela Luk
“From Sunday night, we went to bed already about nine o’clock and one of the crewmembers came to knock on our door and he said: You guys need to go to the kitchen and secure everything. We might leave tonight, either to Big Creek or Belize City. At that time, there was drinking already, having fun, joking around, like nothing is happening around.”
But early Monday morning, instead of heading for Belize City, the captain, identified only as Philip, steered the boat south, heading for the deep water port of Big Creek to wait the storm out. By this time, there were predictions that Hurricane Iris would hit the lower part of the country hardest. The passengers trusted the captain’s judgement but the decision did not sit well with the Belizean crew.
Angela Luk
“From Lighthouse to Big Creek, it took us about seven hours and I don’t think the captain wanted any staff to get off at that time because on Sunday night, the cook went to the captain…I was right beside them, and she told him, during Mitch, they let off the local crews…whoever wanted to get off the boat got off at the Fort George Dock and then they continued go to Big Creek. But he said, “If you guys come off the boat, who will cook and clean the cabins?” So he was not going to let anyone off. But the guests, the captain told the guests that Big Creek is a very safe place and the only thing you will feel is a little bit of breeze.
During the trip from Lighthouse to Big Creek, that day, they wasn’t drinking during the day. They were checking out the computer, checking out the pictures they had taken, having fun, painting each other toenails and so on. So they wasn’t worry a lot.”
When the Wave Dancer docked at Big Creek, the twenty passengers were happy to see the other members of their group from Richmond, Virginia aboard the Belize Aggressor, which had also decided to seek shelter in the south. Luk says the passengers opted to stay aboard, enjoying the company of friends, but she herself had already planned to go to Belmopan. But the captain’s reaction to her decision will shock you.
Angela Luk
“The boat docked at Big Creek by the port about little bit after three o’clock and then my boyfriend arrived and I left. Before I left, I went to inform the second captain first. I said, “I’m sorry, the hurricane is coming directly to us and I’m not going to stay on the boat and risk my life.” He told me, “You cannot leave, you still have a job to do.” I said, “I’m sorry I’m still going for my life.” Then I went to the captain and I told him the same thing and he said, “If you go, you’re not coming back.” I said, “That’s fine, I’m still going. I’m not going to be stupid and stay on the boat and risk my life.”
Luk says the other crewmembers were confused and worried as they checked in with their families. She says she tried to convince the others to leave with her, but in the end, no one else came ashore.
Angela Luk
“They was really worried, there was crying and they was confused. They don’t know if they should go home, they wonder if they could go back to Corozal or if they should stay on the boat. But they decided to stay.”
The crew that stayed behind included cook Eloisa Johnson. Johnson’s husband, Albert Hall says his wife wanted to get off the boat.
Albert Hall, Husband of Eloisa Johnson
“She said, “Babes, I think we’re okay. The guy told me, if I leave, I’m fired.” I said, “Forget that, get off that boat.” And she was mad and she wanted to get off. I know she wanted to get off. She told me that this guy said she had to cook food for these guests.”
Angela Luk
“The other girl, Brenda Wade, she had talked to her mother I’m sure, but I am not sure if she had talked to her sister before I left. I had offered her to come with me too but she said, I believe that when your time is come, she say, it’s your time. So she say, If anything, if the hurricane hit, she said she would rather die on the boat.”
Those last words haunted Angela Luk when she learned of the tragic fate of the Wave Dancer late Monday night.
Angela Luk
“I was like, cold seed was all over. I was really worried about my co-workers first. I didn’t know anything, I heard fifteen persons had died and I found out two of the co-workers had died but I didn’t know who was it. But when I found out that it was the two girls that worked with me, they died, I was really sad. I couldn’t believe at that moment that they had really died.”
Janelle Chanona for News 5.
The Belizean survivors included dive master Bart Stanley, and another crewmember named Chico. Funeral services for Brenda Wade are expected to take place on Friday. Captain Philip Martin and owner Peter Hughes of Wave Dancer were in Big Creek today and could not be reached for comment.
