Day 12
The night went on and on as they rotated watches. The wind was picking up which allowed them to make a little headway against the outgoing tide. As the sky turned grey from black they found themselves out from Humpy Cove. The weather continued to deteriorate and the fog was now replaced with low clouds, constant rain, and moderate winds. With the pilot house gone, taking the watch meant sitting in the rain staring into the greyness for signs of another boat or possible hazards. Their battery power was about gone. Johnathan turned off the GPS which meant they only had the compass to guide them and it was damaged.
Johnathan was using his phone to check their heading and said, “I have a signal!”
Mikey yelled up from below, “Call 911 and get some help for the Captain. He is in a lot of pain.”
Johnathan asked, “What should I say?”
Kade suggested, “Maybe we should pretend it is a marine radio and declare a mayday.”
Johnathan tried to hand the phone to Kade but Kade said, “It is your phone. You make the call!”
Johnathan dialed 911 and when the voice answered he said, “Mayday, mayday this is the Sea Shanty. Our boat is damaged and our Captain injured.”
There was some sort of response but then the signal was dropped. Johnathan was looking at his phone and Kade wanted to know what had happened. Johnathan said, “We lost the signal but I think they received my message. What do we do now?”
Quinn said, “Let’s raise some more sail and get around Caines Head. We should get a clear signal once we clear the headland.”
Kade insisted that safety lines be used if anyone left the cockpit but the sails could be controlled from the cockpit. Quinn turned into the wind so they could raise the main and then resumed course as they let out the headsail. As the storm built behind them they picked up speed. Even with the partial sails and damaged hull they were making 5 knots. Quinn had the rain dripping down his face and neck but didn’t mind because he was in his element. Calling out small changes in the sails to compensate for their damaged rudder. He tried to limit the number of tacking maneuvers but it was almost an hour before they cleared Caines Head.
Johnathan tried his phone again and this time was greeted with, “Please hold we are transferring you to the Coast Guard.”
When the Coast Guard came on line the questions began. “Name of your vessel?”
“Sea Shanty.”
“Number of people on board?”
“Five.”
“Are you taking on water?”
“No.”
“Are there any injuries?”
“Yes, our Captain has a head injury and a broken leg or hip.”
“Is he conscious?”
“At times but has trouble staying awake.”
“Is he bleeding?”
“No, we sewed up the head wound.”
“Any other injured?”
“Just minor bruises.”
“What is your vessel ID number?”
There was a pause before Johnathan answered, “I don’t know.”
Mikey called up from below saying, “The Captain says it is the numbers on the side of the fuel tank.”
Kade went below and called back up, “1212378”
Johnathan relayed the information and waited for a reply. The Coast Guard wanted their GPS coordinates and Johnathan stammered a bit before replying, “Our electronics are out but if you hold I will figure it out.” Johnathan was busy tapping away at his phone and after just a short break said, “60.0 north by 149.4 west.”
The Coast Guard then asked, “Do you need an emergency tow?”
Johnathan looked at Quinn who was shaking his head in the negative. Johnathan handed the phone to Kade to explain their situation. Kade reluctantly took the phone and said, “This is Kade, acting Captain of the Sea Shanty. We are making good headway under sail but our Captain needs medical care.”
“The Coast Guard came back saying, “Unable to call in a rescue helicopter because of the weather. We will attempt to reach you by boat.” The voice then advised them that they would contact them at this phone number and that they should continue on course.”
Quinn had turned on the hand-held radio and could barely make out the Coast Guard radio message about the Sea Shanty. They sailed on through the rain knowing help was on the way. Mikey called up and said, “Johnathan, you had better call home.”
Johnathan said, “I had to talk to the Coast Guard. You can call home!”
Mikey put on his rain coat and joined the others in the cockpit. He used his own phone to dial their parents. When his mother answered, he did not even give her time to ask why they hadn’t called and said, “We’re all right.”
“What do you mean, ‘You’re all right?’ What happened? Why didn’t you call?”
“It’s a long story. Right now, we are heading into port so we can get the Captain to the hospital.”
“Why do you have to get the Captain to the hospital? Who is sailing the boat?”
“We’re sailing the boat and Quinn is at the helm. The Captain was hurt when we got hit by the tsunami but he is conscious again.”
“Why hasn’t the Coast Guard rescued you?”
“We lost our radios and we notified the Coast Guard as soon as we got a phone signal. We are ok and will be back in Seward in a couple of hours.”
Their mother had a million more questions but Mikey said, “I will call you back as soon as we get to port.”
“Your father will be home from work soon and he’ll want to talk to you.”
Mikey had no sooner finished talking to his mother in Germany when Kade told Quinn, “You had better call our folks.”
“I’m at the helm. You call.”
Kade called home and when his mother started asking her questions he said, “Just a minute. I’ll let Quinn explain.”
Quinn glared at his brother but took the phone and said, “We are all right. We will be in Seward in a couple of hours.”
“Why are you late getting back? And why haven’t you called?”
“No phone signal. We were delayed a bit. The Sea Shanty is one tough boat.”
“What does that have to do with you being late?”
“We’ll explain later. I need to pay attention to the helm.”
“Why isn’t the Captain at the helm?”
“He was hurt pretty badly and we are trying to get him to the hospital.”
“Quinn, I need to know what is going on.”
“Mom, we are all right and will call you back when we get to Seward.” Quinn hit the off button to turn off the phone and worked to get the Sea Shanty back on course.
It had been about 30 minutes since their call to the Coast Guard when they heard the sound of a fast boat. Kade fired one of their flares and the boat responded with a flare of its own. Soon a Coast Guard boat was behind them. It looked like a giant bright orange version of their dingy with two huge outboard motors on it. It had a nice warm looking cabin. Kade pointed out what appeared to be a machine gun mounted on the front. The crew were suited up in their orange survival suits. Over a loudspeaker, they announced, “Maintain heading and course. We will board from the rear.”
Quinn did as requested but it was hard to pay attention to where he was going with all the activity behind them. Two people transferred to the swim platform and climbed aboard. They introduced themselves as Petty Officer Hogel and Medic First Class Shaughnessy. Mikey took the medic forward to evaluate the Captain. The Captain woke easily and tolerated the exam. His blood pressure was low and his pulse was high. Both pupils responded well to light and appeared equal in size. The medic looked at the funny angle the Captain’s foot was turned and did not try to move it. He checked for a pulse at the ankle. Then he carefully removed the dressing from the Captain’s head and inspected the wound repair. He told Mikey, “You used an unusual dressing but it appears to have worked well.” Mikey helped redress the wound with proper materials
and tried to explain that all the gauze they had was wet. The medic called out on his radio relaying the report to the Coast Guard vessel who in turned radioed the results to their base. The petty officer did a safety check of the vessel and noted some water in the engine bilge. Kade explained, “We could not bail out beneath the engine and the sump pump died with the battery.”
The two crewmen manning the coast guard vessel did a survey of the Sea Shanty’s hull damage and added that information to their report. Now everyone knew the status of the Sea Shanty.
The medic explained the need to Captain Cook for medical care saying, “Captain, you have lost a lot of blood and appear to have a fractured hip. We can transfer you to our vessel but it will be difficult.”
The Captain asked, “What are the boys going to do?”
Kade looked at the others before responding and said, “We will sail the Sea Shanty to port.” The others just nodded in agreement.
The Captain said, “I would stay with my vessel and crew. I would appreciate something for the pain.”
The medic searched through his kit and took out a small bottle of pain pills. He handed the Captain two of the pills and Mikey brought a glass of water. The Captain took the pills and lay back down tired from the exertion of sitting up enough to swallow. The rest moved to the main cabin and discussed the plan for return to port. The petty officer asked Quinn if he was capable of docking the boat under sail. Quinn replied, “No sir. We will need help with the docking.”
The petty officer said, “I will have the harbor tug waiting for you just outside the entrance. You will need to secure a line to your bow and toss it to the tug when she comes alongside.” He looked at the four boys and said, “You’ve done a good job and probably saved your Captain’s life. I would like to give you my personal ATTABOY award for your actions.” None of the cousins knew for sure what an ATTABOY award was but praise from a professional was reward enough. The petty officer continued, “We will accompany you to port. Just call us on the handheld channel 22 if you need us.”
They sailed on into the rain and greyness. As they approached the harbor entrance several boats were waiting, among them was the harbor tug. They ignored all the boats taking pictures and concentrated on lowering their sails and tossing the line to the tug. With the line secured the tug slowly pulled them through the narrow entrance of the harbor sea wall and up to the fuel dock. Hands were ready and took the lines the boys tossed to them. The Sea Shanty was secure to the dock. An ambulance was waiting and the paramedics came aboard with a stretcher. The Captain could not contain the scream of pain that erupted when they moved him onto the stretcher. The boys stood by as they carried the Captain off the Sea Shanty. He reached out to touch each of the boys as he went by. He asked Kade who was last in line, “How many did you get back to port?”
Kade answered, “Five, sir.”
“How many did we leave port with?”
“Five, sir.”
“Job well done.” The medics wheeled him away leaving the boys with tears in their eyes.
The Harbor Master was waiting by and when the ambulance left he asked for permission to come aboard. Kade responded, “Permission to come aboard.”
He was a middle-aged man who at first seemed to be all business. After the first couple of minutes he said, “Cook is a good friend of mine. Many of us owe you a debt for the risk you took. What can we do to help you?
Quinn said, “I would like some real food served hot.”
Johnathan said, “We need some dry clothes and a place to spend the night that is warm but it’s not in our budget.”
“Wrap up your belongings and I’ll get you a couple of rooms at the hotel. We’ll stop by and get you some new clothes and see if we can’t get your old ones cleaned.” He asked, “What type of food do you want?”
Quinn didn’t hesitate and said, “A steak with real potatoes and no seaweed.”
The Harbor Master laughed and said, “Sounds like Cook fed you his all natural diet plan. We can handle the steak.” He asked, “The news folks have got wind of what happened and would like to do an interview. I will set it up if you are willing.”
Kade said, “We didn’t do anything special and I don’t know what to say.”
“You might not think you did anything special but there are not many adults who could have done what you boys did. Just tell them what happened.”
Kade looked at the other boys before replying, “Okay. But can we get some dry clothes and warm food first?”
The Harbor Master was smiling and said, “My car is on the other side of the fuel dock. I’ll wait for you and take you to get some clothes and then some food.”
While the other crew worked to secure the sails and deck of the Sea Shanty, Kade made the final entry in the log book.
Captain’s Log
Day 12
This is Kade, acting Captain of the Sea Shanty. We are now docked at the Seward Harbor and the Captain is on his way to the hospital. We sailed through the night to stay ahead of the arriving storm. I am thankful for the assistance of the Coast Guard but mostly for the crew. Quinn took charge of the helm. Johnathan worked his math and navigated to perfection. Mikey cared for the Captain who finally woke up and was able to eat a little. I mostly helped out when I could. This will be our final log entry.
Alaskan Sailing Adventure Page 12