ON Saturday night, as fierce winds lashed Penang and floodwaters rose around the island and mainland, the fishermen of Teluk Bahang were out in the rain on the pier watching their boats and the sea.

At the same time, one of them, Mohd Zamir Mohd Sharif, was braving the swells and heavy rain out at the sea in search of his brother and a friend who had earlier gone out for their nightly catch.

Always at the mercy of the weather, this time, the fishermen were on high alert – they could lose their boats to the sheer force of the waves smashing them against the jetty.

For Zamir, 30, he was about to lose his brother and a friend to the storm.

It was 9pm and his older brother, Mohd Fitri, had not returned after leaving three hours earlier to fish for pomfret and threadfin, as was his daily routine.

“Things were bad. The strong winds did not help. The sea was choppy and it was dark. I was scared to go out there, but I was not prepared to lose him. So, I went and got three of my friends to rescue him and his friend,” said Zamir.

Mobile phone reception was still available and Fitri, 34, managed to call his brother to provide rough directions.

“He called and told me to hurry up and rescue him because the boat was sinking,” said Zamir.

In a few minutes, the rescue team spotted Fitri and his friend. The boat had already flipped over and both men were sitting on the upturned hull.

It took another 20 minutes of fighting wind and waves to reach them. The boat capsized about 4.8km from the beach off Teluk Bahang on the northwester side of Penang island.

“If I was late by few minutes, he and his friend would probably be lost in the sea. The only thing that guided me through the dark night and the rough sea was a laser pointer that his friend used to guide us,” said Zamir.

Fishing runs in the family. Their 60-year-old father is also a fisherman. The Teluk Bahang fishing community supplies its catch to the local market and the seafood restaurants that draw visitors to Penang.

For others like them, losing their boats would mean a loss of their livelihoods.

It was this thought that kept worrying Haidar Mohd Isa, 23, as he sat on the pier in the rain, watching the two boats he co-owned with his fishing partner Zulfitri Yahya. Each boat costs around RM50,000.

“The wind was so strong that we could not even stand up straight against it,” said Zulfitri, who is married with one child.

Haidar waited from 9pm to 4am and he was not alone. About 30 other boat owners had also camped out on the jetty to do the same. The fishermen’s jetty at Teluk Bahang has about 80 boats and 40 tugboats when all are docked. 

All of them were soaked and shivering but none willing to leave their boats unattended.

“It was very cold. I was soaked. We were not covered by anything except for the roof along the jetty. I rather lose my sleep than my boats,” said Haidar.

The rain eased up and the sea grew calmer by 2am. Some fishermen headed home but Haidar decided to wait another two hours.

“I am not taking any risk. The boats are our only source of income,” he said. One boat is used as a fishing vessel and the other as a tourist boat. Both generate about RM400 a day which Haidar and Zulfitri split equally.

They were lucky. Haidar said there were those who lost their boats when the ropes tying them to the jetty snapped. Other boats sunk after being smashed repeatedly by the waves.

Zamir, who was out at the same time rescuing his brother, was also lucky.

After retrieving Fitri and his friend from their capsized boat, they had to battle a strong current that pushed them further out to the sea.

“I had to take a different turn and head to Straits Quay,” said Zamir, referring to the docks almost on the other side of the island where luxury boats and yachts are moored.

Their small fishing boat took shelter there until the wind and rain slowed down.

“If you ask me whether this or the 2004 tsunami is scarier, I’d say this experience. We only dealt with waves back then. This time we were hit by strong winds, big waves and a downpour. I was scared to go out there but the thought of losing my brother was unbearable.”

Some fishermen will mourn their broken boats and losses. Fitri lost his boat, too, but his brother is just glad that he is alive. – November 6, 2017.