Admiralty House, a Coroner ruled this week.

Church friends of Ms Joan V. Butler, 62, of Victoria Road, Sandys Parish told an inquest how they saw no signs of struggle and heard no cries for help when she began to take in water.

Pathologist Dr. John Johnston said Ms Butler died due to sea water drowning.

He also said her lungs were congested and twice the average weight and her heart was bigger than normal.

Coroner the Wor. Charles-Etta Simmons heard that on July 3, 1993 Ms. Butler attended a church picnic at Admiralty House in Pembroke.

While there, fellow church member Mrs. Yaunna Ming said she saw Ms Butler floating on her back in the water and looking around and smiling.

"Later I saw her face down in the water blowing bubbles and I asked the children swimming nearby what she was doing. They told me she was just blowing bubbles,'' Mrs. Ming said.

"When I looked at her again, later on, I noticed her eyes and head were in the water and she was floating. She looked like she was dead.'' Mrs. Ming said she shouted for help and some men came and pulled Ms Butler onto the beach.

"Froth was coming from her mouth. I didn't know if she could swim or not. I didn't know her too well,'' Mrs. Ming said.

Nurse of 30 years Mrs. Daphne E. Easton also attended the picnic. When she heard people screaming and saw them pulling a body up on the beach she went to help.

"I had known Joan for a few years. I had seen her earlier that day walking around in a bathing suit,'' Mrs. Easton said. "I did CPR on her and a lot of water came out of her mouth. Due to the amount I had to wait to do mouth to mouth.

"When the ambulance came she still had not responded.'' In a Police report, P.c. Kenneth Brown said Ms Butler was diabetic and in poor health.

"She could not swim and it is possible that a current took her into deeper water. No one suspected any difficulty. It was her inability to swim and her poor health which caused her death.'' Coroner the Wor. Charles-Etta Simmons ruled that Ms. Butler died of sea water drowning. She recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

VISITORS UP TOU Air visitor arrivals last week continued to surge ahead of last year's totals, Government figures reveal.

The first week of February saw 2,690 people visit the Island, 410 or 18 percent more than the same week last year.

So far this year arrivals have outpaced 1993 by 12.6 percent. The total to February 6 is 11,742 visitors compared to 10,432 in 1993.