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 up
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.
"That's it, Winston, that's a good boy!" I yelled as I reached for him.
"Come to me, and we will get you to Maya and Jack and get you some food
in your tummy. Do you like beef jerky? Do you want a tasty treat? Come
on, buddy."
The tiny dog finally responded to the combination of my baby talk
and Maya calling his name. He slowly crawled to me and let me pick him
up. I never felt so bad for a dog in my whole life. He was positively sopping
wet, freezing cold, and scared out of his wits.
I picked him up, braced him under my arm, and made my way back
to where the two boats were still joined. Then I handed the pitiful ball of
fluff over to Jess and untied the rope from the cleat so I could manage the
knot a little better. I got that undone and started to climb into my boat, ready
to get the fuck out of this hellhole.
Right as I got one leg across and into my boat, a gust of wind picked
up and pushed an enormous wave right at me. I braced myself for the
impact, but there was really nothing I could do. It hit me square on with the
force of a tank and knocked me into the gap between the boats. I felt my
head collide against the cleat I'd just removed the boat from, and a searing
pain rocketed through my brain.
The last thing I remember was seeing Jess and Winston's faces
peering down at me before I lost consciousness, and everything went black.