Amos, what Kharon said.
Centaurus probably won't consider a tale from another Pacific airline to be hijacking his thread.
The hero of this true story is no longer with us, but he was a close friend and I am sure that he would not mind me telling it.
On the regular HS 748 run from Nadi through Funafuti and Tarawa to Nauru, my mate reckoned the Lagoon at Funafuti was the pick for swimming. Problem was the HS748 never obliged by breaking down at FUN. However the turnaround was a fairly leisurely affair as the pax checked in on 'island time'. Also, sometimes a magistrate came up from Fiji and ran a court hearing in the grass hut that was the terminal, thus slowing the turnaround even more.
When it was time to board, a triangle was rung to round everyone up.
On this occasion my mate figured that he had enough time for a swim, so without saying anything to the Captain (who was also the Deputy Chief Pilot and a bit of a stickler), he slipped away. He reckoned he would hear the triangle being rung and that would still give him time to change into his uniform and get back to the cockpit. Unfortunately, he had not accounted for the onshore wind which masked the boarding signal.
Needless to say, all pax including the magistrate were aboard, the Captain ready to go and no First Officer anywhere. Eventually my mate reappeared dripping wet, did a quick change in the toilet and the flight continued.
From distant memory, I think that episode cost him another 12 months in the sin bin before he could be considered for command.
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