by Logan Jacobs
Chapter One
“Well, that doesn’t look good,” I muttered to myself as I watched storm clouds brewing in the western sky. They were getting darker and angrier by the second, and I could see bright flashes of lightning bouncing like a rubber ball between them.
Regardless, I wasn’t too concerned with the incoming storm. I’d been sailing for as long as I could remember, and my mom often told anyone who would listen that I was born with sea legs and the ability to outswim most fish. I was also confident I was in safe hands with The Celeste, my grandfather’s cherished sailboat.
He’d named it after my grandmother, and much like her, it was a strong and sturdy gal who didn’t back down from anything. Still, I thought it would be a good idea to drop the regular sails and ready my storm sails. My grandfather had kept a well-organized vessel, and I wasn’t about to let that go to the wayside when I inherited the boat. The trysail and jib were exactly where they should be and in impeccable shape, just the way Grandpa Benji would have left them.
As I was setting the storm jib just forward of the mast, I took another look at the approaching storm. It had tripled in size in the past ten minutes, and my concern grew to match it. It wasn’t unusual to have a pop-up storm happen in the Bahamas, but one of this magnitude without warning was really unheard of.
Once I got the jib in place, I headed to the hull to check on any radio signals coming in. The storm had reared its ugly head between me and the next destination on my island-hopping vacation, so I also needed to check my map for the next best alternative destination that wasn’t going to take me through the middle of this bitch of a storm.
After reaching the hull, I flipped on the radio and turned it up as loud as it would go so I could hear it clearly over the increasing volume of the storm. It had grown exponentially darker in the few minutes I’d been inside, so I lit a nearby lantern to help me see. Then I held the map up to get a better look at the path through the Bahamas I’d set for myself.
I’d planned on sailing to the Bimini Islands next, but in current conditions, that would likely be suicide. So, I decided to divert to Andros, which would take me south of the storm. It wasn’t what I’d planned. I’d been there several times, and this trip was to focus on the smaller islands I hadn’t deeply explored in the past.
“Just my damn luck” I mumbled to myself, right as an urgent voice came screeching out over the radio.
“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” squawked the female voice. “This is The Lone Wolf, I repeat this is The Lone Wolf, Mayday!”
I reached over and snatched up the receiver.
“Copy, Lone Wolf, this is The Celeste, and I hear you loud and clear. What’s the emergency and your coordinates?”
I kept my voice as calm as possible, even though my heart was hammering in my chest. This woman sounded terrified, and I didn’t want to make it even worse by allowing my own fear to creep into my voice.
“We are taking on water really fucking fast!” she screamed
“My kids are on this boat with me. My kids and my mom. That’s it. This shit wasn’t supposed to happen!”
Well, no wonder my calm voice had zero effect on her.
“Ma’am, I can’t be too far away if I am picking up your signal. Can you give me your coordinates?”
“If the goddamn thing will stop jumping all over the place!” she shouted before her voice was drowned out by a clap of thunder.
“You’ve got this,” I encouraged her as my own boat continued to bob with the increasingly rough waves. “Just take a deep breath and give me the best reading you can.”
“Okay, okay,” she repeated, mostly to herself, “I can do this The best I can give you is 25.974591, -78.544951.”
“You are a little over a mile west of me,” I replied after a quick glance at my equipment. “I am on my way. Get your family to the highest point of your boat. Make sure everyone has their life jackets on and that they are secure. How old are your kids?”
I wanted to keep her talking and calm, but I also needed all the information I could get if I was going to attempt this rescue on my own.
“Jack is eleven and Maya is eight,” she said, and her voice was much steadier than it had been in the past thirty seconds.
I sighed a breath of relief since I wasn’t going to have to try to rescue a toddler or infant. These kids could listen and follow directions, and that would make this endeavor a lot easier to accomplish.
“Alright, keep them close to you and keep broadcasting your distress signal,” I instructed. “Make sure you have your fog lights turned on. I will sound my horn when I get close to let you know I am there, just in case you can’t see me through the storm.”
“Wait, don’t leave me!” she screamed as all rational thought vanished once again.
“Ma’am--”
“My name is Jess,” she cut me off. “Jess Martin.”
“Nice to meet you, Jess,” I replied gently. “My name is Ben Whitfield. Now, I can’t stay on the radio and sail to you at the same time. I will find you. You have to trust me on that. Keep sending out your signal, the more help the better. You can do this.”
“Okay. Yes. I can do this.” She paused, and I pictured her clutching her own receiver somewhere out there in the dark storm. “Thank you, Ben! I will make sure to do what you said. But please, hurry.”
“I am on my way.”
I hung up the radio and steeled myself to do what had to be done.
I knew it was absolutely crazy for me to steer my boat into that storm, but I couldn’t leave a mother and her kids out there. I was trained in the Coast Guard as a rescue swimmer, and the ten years I spent in there had taught me very well how to do exactly what I was about to do.
This was just another mission I refused to fail. I would get all four of those people on my boat and to safety. There was no alternative in my book.
I flipped the motor on and double-checked to make sure the storm sails were in place. I didn’t need them yet, but if this storm started blowing me way off course and beyond my control, I was going to have to use them. It was the last thing I wanted, though, since they would slow me down considerably, and now was not the time for a leisurely boat ride.
It had started to pour on deck while I’d been on the radio with Jess, and my vision was obscured by the fat drops pelting the surface. So, I grabbed my rain gear, slid into the bright orange poncho, and secured my wide visor hat to my head. It didn’t grant a miracle by allowing me perfect vision, but it certainly helped by keeping the rain from hitting me directly in the eyes. I aimed the stern of the boat straight toward the brunt of the storm and the ridiculously huge waves it was causing. My stomach churned much like the chaotic ocean I was headed toward, but it was mostly adrenaline that caused my gut to flip flop.
Honestly, I was pumped. This was the kind of stuff I joined the Coast Guard for, to rescue people and win a battle or two against Mother Nature. I held fast against the increasingly aggressive waves slapping wildly against the sides of my boat. I was steering The Celeste so that she absorbed the shock of most of the waves as they hit and then straightened her to make forward progress toward Jess and her family.
She was living up to her namesake, to say the least.
Less than a half a mile from my destination, conditions turned even uglier and darker and threatened to blow me entirely off course. I knew it was time to shut down the motor, take over with the storm sails, and pop open the sea anchor which was actually a small parachute that would help keep the bow of the boat on the waves and not the standard anchor that would bring the ship to a complete stop. I checked to make sure the load on the rudder wasn’t too much. I braced myself at the helm of the boat and focused on steering and utilizing the storm sails to their
maximum capacity. It was as smooth as I could hope for in conditions such as these.
A few hefty waves made it over the side, though, and one hit me square in the back.
“Fuck!” I cursed as I struggled to retain my balance. I was incredibly glad I wasn’t a slight man, because it would have knocked my ass right overboard. A cubic foot of water weighed sixty-four pounds, and it was no joke even against my six foot three, two-hundred-pound swimmer’s body. The water was warm, as you would expect The Carribean to be, but the heavy winds kicked up by the storm were definitely not. When you combined the two elements, it was a cold I felt to the core. I shivered violently against my will, and my teeth chattered so loudly, I could hear them over the booming thunder. I was also terrified my shaking hands would threaten the rescue attempt.
After what seemed like forever with little to no forward progress, I saw a flashing light about a hundred yards in front of me. I knew that had to be Jess and her family. Unfortunately, it looked like I was the only boat able to respond to her distress call.
As I approached, I laid heavily on the boat’s horn to signal my arrival. A full minute went by without a return horn sound, and my stomach started churning again as my heart tried to pound out of my chest.
Was it too late? Had they all been washed overboard?
I reasoned with myself that it would be damn impossible to hear easily over the racket of this storm and made a little more progress before completely losing my shit.
At about seventy yards out, I laid on the horn again, hoping against all hope.
Thirty seconds later, which felt like years, I finally heard The Lone Wolf blare her horn in response.
Thank all the gods, I’d gotten there in time.
Over the last sixty or so yards, I got myself into what I call “the zone” and got my game face on. My focus became undeterred, my heart slowed down to match my breathing, my formerly scattered thoughts now organized themselves into a definitive plan to get these people to safety, and my survival instincts kicked in.
I got close enough to the other boat to see who I guessed was Jess and her family. All of them were soaked to the bone, and their hair and summer clothes dripped as bad as the sky above us. The woman I assumed to be Jess only stood about five and a half feet tall, but was still the tallest one in the group. She had elf-like features, and I half expected her to have pointed ears to top it all off. Her mother shared the same features, just silver haired and a little more full bodied. The kids were both on the small side for their age, and both managed to look like their mother, too.
I steered my boat so the stern would pull up flush with the bow of their vessel and make taking on new passengers easier. The stern of The Lone Wolf had almost disappeared entirely under the ocean, so I knew I’d gotten here just in time.
I pulled the anchor in tighter to slow me down more, and then I grabbed the harness rope I was going to need to toss to Jess as I passed. I hoped like hell this woman had a good head on her shoulders and that she also could catch the rope. I knew we would be damned lucky to get more than one chance at this.
Through the pouring rain, I waved my arms above my head to get the attention of the woman still several yards away. She looked to be in her mid-thirties, but it was hard to tell when she was positively soaking wet.
I mimed what my intentions were, and she gave me one firm nod of her head along with a thumbs-up.
Good. It looked like she was focused and not freaking out. Things might go a little easier.
I didn’t know why the universe decided to bless us with an act of kindness in that moment, but when I tossed the rope to Jess, it was like an angel hand-delivered it to her waiting arms. My throw was so perfect, so solid, I was not so sure I could repeat the toss again under perfect circumstances.
I watched as Jess tied the rope to one of the boat’s cleats, and her smooth movements convinced me she was no amateur sailor. Seeing her in action boosted my confidence that this rescue was going to be successful, so I braced my legs and feet against the side of The Celeste, slipped on my work gloves, and used every single bit of strength I had in my arms, back, and legs to pull our boats closer together. All the muscles in my arms and hands felt like they were on fire, and my back screamed as I yanked on the rope.
Then the boats clunked together, and I caught my breath as I looked up at four sets of terrified eyes.
“Hey guys, I’m Ben!” I yelled over the storm. “I’m here to save you!”
“Fuck yeah!” the eleven-year-old boy, Jack, shouted.
“Jack, watch your mouth!” his mother Jess scolded, but then a relieved smile broke out across her drenched face. “But I have to agree. Fuck Yes!”
Even though it was super dark and rain was coming at us from all directions, I could tell Jess was a very attractive woman. She didn’t have any rain gear on, just a pale-yellow sundress with thin spaghetti straps that clung deliciously to every curve of her soaked body.
Well, I’d have plenty of time to appreciate her beauty later. At the moment, I had to worry about saving her and her family.
“Let’s get you folks off this sinking boat!” I yelled over the renewed sounds of the storm. It seemed to have grown meaner in the last few seconds, and I knew we didn’t have much time. The stern of The Lone Wolf, a forty foot motorsailer, had already mostly sunk under. There was maybe twenty feet of the boat still out of the water. The family was huddled together at the back behind the rapidly disappearing cabin.
“Take the kids before us,” Jess insisted as she shoved her children ahead of her.
“You first, Maya!” I grabbed the little girl firmly by the life jacket and easily hauled her over to my boat. “Head down to the hull where it’s safe and dry.”
“Is that the boat basement?” she whined.
“Yep, get down there and dry off with one of the towels I laid out,” I said to her before I turned to grab her brother. “Come on, big guy, you’re next.”
I lifted him up almost as easily, set him down on my boat, and he scampered down below after his sister.
“No,” Jess’ mom shouted when I reached for her, “I can climb over myself, you don’t need to lift me. I just need you to support me. The last thing we need is for you to throw your back out!”
I didn’t know what she meant, really. While she had a few more pounds on her than Jess did, she was still a very shapely woman, and it would have been easy for me to lift her.
She got one leg into the boat just fine while holding my hand, but when she attempted to swing the second one over, her foot slipped, and she started to fall into the space between the boats.
Instinctively, I reached out and grabbed her life jacket, and then I yanked her right into the boat as my back screamed again.
“Oh, my god!” the older woman screamed gratefully as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “You saved my life! How can I--”
“Just get below!” I shouted over the wind as I gently nudged her toward the door leading into the cabin. In the amount of time it had taken to get three people off the boat, it had sunk another four feet. This damn thing took on water faster than I thought possible. There was no time for any more mistakes.
The older woman nodded at me, and then she crawled on all fours toward the stairs.
“Now it’s your turn, Jess!” I yelled as I turned to the beautiful woman. “I got you, just go with it!”
Before she could even answer, I lifted her up in my arms and pulled her into my boat as she clung to my shoulders desperately.
“There is no possible way I can ever thank you enough for all of this!” Jess shouted as soon as her feet were on the deck of my boat. I glanced again at The Lone Wolf and could see maybe six feet of the boat remained above the surface. Rapid bubbles rushed up from the surface of the water as it poured into the hull of the boat.
“Get down below!” I shouted as I started untying my boat from her sinking ship.
“Wait!” a little voice screamed behind me as I heard feet pounding u
p the stairs. “Don’t go yet!”
“What?” I asked as I whipped around.
“Maya, come back!” I heard Jess’ mom scream as she managed to grab Maya before the girl could finish bolting up the stairs.
“But Winston!” Maya cried while she struggled against her grandmother. “We can’t leave Winston!”
“Winst--?”
“Oh shit!” Jess cut me off, right as I heard little barks coming from the other boat. “Our dog. He must have been hiding under something trying to stay dry. In all the craziness, we forgot him. I can’t believe I did this. I was just so scared for the kids and Mom.”
I looked over into the other boat and saw a drenched little fuzzball hopping up and down as it tried to jump over the side of the sinking boat and into the safety of mine. There was no way his short little legs were going to get him to safety.
“Fuck,” I cursed as I wiped water from my eyes.
“Ben, don’t worry about it!” Jess told me, though I could see the pain of the decision on her face. “Don’t risk yourself!”
There was very little of the boat left above water. It wasn’t going to be long before it went completely under, taking Winston with it. I also knew my weight would just accelerate the sinking. It was a dangerous and stupid idea to get on that boat. I couldn’t rationalize putting us all in jeopardy.
“I just don’t--” I started to say, but then I looked at Maya and Jess as they pleaded to me with their eyes. I knew they would accept my decision not to get back on the sinking boat, but I could no sooner break their hearts than I could teleport all of us out of there.
And I did love dogs.
“Fuck me…” I sighed as I tightened the rope that attached the two boats together. “Operation Save Winston will now commence!”
I easily climbed over into the other boat, but noted how much more water it had taken on in the short amount of time I’d been there. I needed to make this as fast as possible. There wasn’t much time left, and the storm didn’t show any signs of letting up soon.
I reached down to pick Winston up, but he darted away from my efforts. I realized I probably looked pretty damn scary with my rain gear on, so I squatted down and beckoned to him with the gentle voice I used on my own pets. He hunkered under the captain’s chair and shivered from the cold and fear. Over my shoulder, I heard Maya call his name, and his little tail started wagging furiously.