The Gleaner headline of July 5, 1963 told a harrowing tale:
“Forty missing on fishing boat… ‘Snowboy’ not heard from since Monday night"

This was the first news report of the disappearance of the fishing vessel, carrying 39 Jamaican fishermen and the captain, an Australian citizen. The 63ft boat, had left Zero Processing Wharf in Kingston Harbour, at 6pm on Monday, July 1, according to the Gleaner report. The men had been expected to reach their destination in eight hours but never reached and the last contact with them was made at 10pm on the night of their departure.

It took some time for the country at large to be made aware of the tragedy that was unfolding at sea, but already, in the sleepy fishing village of Treasure Beach in St. Elizabeth, unimaginable pain had been awakened in the bosoms of those they held most dear. Mothers and wives, were now part of that relay of grief, with painful shrieks, echoing from Billy's Bay in the west, to Frenchman and on to Calabash Bay and bouncing against the bluff at Great Bay at the eastern end of this tight-knit enclave.

Worried fathers, struggling to maintain their stoic pose, looked out to sea and swapped tales of encounters past with nature’s fury and narrow escapes.

But there would be no escape on this tragic voyage. By July 9, the Gleaner was reporting that a table top had been “picked up on Friday in the Pedro Cays area” and believed to be from the missing boat and brought back to Kingston.

Some of the names of those missing, as published initially by the newspaper, gave ample testimony to the outpouring of grief in Treasure Beach:

TRUMAN HILL
SAMU'EL JAMES, Treasure Beach. St. Elizabeth
MANOLA MYEES, Treasure Beach. St. Elizabeth'
GORDON JOHN, Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth. .
SAMUEL JAMES, Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth
AUBREY CROWE, Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth
AVERY CROWE, Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth.
OLIVER MOXAM Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth.
VERNAL MOXAN, Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth
CLEVE GOBDOX, Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth
EEEOL WHITEAKER, Treasure' Beach. St. Elizabeth
HALDON HILL, Treesure Beach, St. Elizabeth
HAEVEY EBANKS. Flagaman. St. Elizabeth
CLIFTON PARCHMENT, 24 Sixth Street, Greenwich Town

There was no happy ending then. Fifty years on and the pain is not quite at an end.

Those of us born after 1963 were infused with the memories of a community left forever scarred. And so it goes on from one generation to the next. But pain is not an end in itself. Out of pain come re-birth and growth and a reminder never to forget.

Rest In Peace to all who lost their lives on the Snowboy and our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of those who perished.

Earl has told us that he'll be writing a series of articles on the tragedy in the days to come and we'll link to them here.

-TBNet

Rest In Peace...John Is John Gordon From Calabash Bay...He's the uncle of Sylvan James

On this somber day we would like to take a few moments to remember all those from the greater Treasure Beach area who have lost their lives at sea.

May they always remain alive in our memories.

We want to make a note that the list Earl Moxam provided above is not meant to be a complete list of those who perished on the boat but is just reflecting what the Gleaner had reported on a particular day and also, some of the names were hard to make out because the newsprint in their electronic archive was so faded.

Thanks again to Earl for this remembrance.

So sad to go through the list of names!

Cleve Gordon, I have often thought of you and will continue to remember you and the happy times we spent playing at Sandy Bank School. RIP buddy.

Cleve Gordon, I have often thought of you and will always remember your blonde hair and smiling face as we played in the hot sun of Sandy Bank School. RIP CG.

Listen to "SnowBoy" by the Skatallites

@Scobie, I got curious so I went looking for a link for SnowBoy. Here's what I found. Its all instrumental, no lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHsgMWv-IEg

Eric the Skatalites were all instrumental ( one of Jamaican greatest band)

Don Drummond did a version too ( same instrumental). Like the Skatalites' version, the music is appropriate for the theme--very haunting.

https://youtu.be/d7lvfPaHGrc?t=1m33s

Thank you for that article,Manolo Myers was my dad.


Rip
Papa Malo