Yesterday..?...we left Milwaukee for Lake Erie, where we will collect samples for a dissolved oxygen survey. It is about a 2 day steam to Erie and here in the middle of day 2, at 7.30am we overheard a mayday call on the radio.
Spellbound, a 41 foot sailboat(!), was hailing the nearest Coast Guard station (Ste. St. Marie) and trying to give their coordinates for rescue. The radio operator aboard the Spellbound, however, could not use the radio properly it seemed and for the next 20 minutes, the Coast Guard kept asking for them. Finally, a younger voice aboard the Spellbound arrived and in 5 minutes, we had the coordinates, off someone's cellphone. They were only 6 nm away, the Captain was awoken and he gave the order to break course and see if we could help. As we made our way over there we heard information given to the Coast Guard. Things like: we're taking on water, the engines are out (reason for distress), we have no sails, we're hypothermic, send a helicopter, and had been adrift for ~14 hours. Upon arrival we learned more, like: not taking on water (unless raining --- weirrrrdddd), sails were present, just lost rigging during the bad storms that had been taking place the last...week, and they were up and walking around (not hypothermic at all, just 'cold and wet'---there was no foul weather gear in sight...it had been raining for a week, I repeat, a week). The Captain, a navy veteran, did not seem overly impressed by this mayday call and proceeded to interrogate the Spellbound's 2 man crew (what looked like a grandfather and grandson) about the situation. The words, not really in distress were frequently said during this discussion. We had plenty of time, too, as the Coast Guard was not to arrive for about an hour. By the time they arrived, half the crew had woken to see want the increase and decrease in speed during their sleep meant and it had become a circus. This was made official when the rescue Helo came and started circling awaiting instruction. I thought, "Just go back to base now - save your fuel." They waited 10 more minutes for the boat to arrive. They assessed the situation much the same as we did and told us we were free to go, to stop babysitting these people. We finally left them, with Captain cursing them under his breath, exclaiming he'd put them in jail for a false mayday call...I shared his sympathies. What a complete waste of time...there were still sails (that were not shredded) and at least half of the jib/jenny sheet to get to shore with, they just gave up hope. Quit. It is assumed that the Coast Guard left them to float around some more, having them call a private tow service (since the Coast Guard does not tow) to get them to land.
All I can think is: "These people don't deserve a boat" and "what a misappropriation of government funds for these sods."
In other news, the Mackinac Bridge is quite something to see...even if it was shrouded in dense fog. A feat of engineering to be sure.
Spellbound, a 41 foot sailboat(!), was hailing the nearest Coast Guard station (Ste. St. Marie) and trying to give their coordinates for rescue. The radio operator aboard the Spellbound, however, could not use the radio properly it seemed and for the next 20 minutes, the Coast Guard kept asking for them. Finally, a younger voice aboard the Spellbound arrived and in 5 minutes, we had the coordinates, off someone's cellphone. They were only 6 nm away, the Captain was awoken and he gave the order to break course and see if we could help. As we made our way over there we heard information given to the Coast Guard. Things like: we're taking on water, the engines are out (reason for distress), we have no sails, we're hypothermic, send a helicopter, and had been adrift for ~14 hours. Upon arrival we learned more, like: not taking on water (unless raining --- weirrrrdddd), sails were present, just lost rigging during the bad storms that had been taking place the last...week, and they were up and walking around (not hypothermic at all, just 'cold and wet'---there was no foul weather gear in sight...it had been raining for a week, I repeat, a week). The Captain, a navy veteran, did not seem overly impressed by this mayday call and proceeded to interrogate the Spellbound's 2 man crew (what looked like a grandfather and grandson) about the situation. The words, not really in distress were frequently said during this discussion. We had plenty of time, too, as the Coast Guard was not to arrive for about an hour. By the time they arrived, half the crew had woken to see want the increase and decrease in speed during their sleep meant and it had become a circus. This was made official when the rescue Helo came and started circling awaiting instruction. I thought, "Just go back to base now - save your fuel." They waited 10 more minutes for the boat to arrive. They assessed the situation much the same as we did and told us we were free to go, to stop babysitting these people. We finally left them, with Captain cursing them under his breath, exclaiming he'd put them in jail for a false mayday call...I shared his sympathies. What a complete waste of time...there were still sails (that were not shredded) and at least half of the jib/jenny sheet to get to shore with, they just gave up hope. Quit. It is assumed that the Coast Guard left them to float around some more, having them call a private tow service (since the Coast Guard does not tow) to get them to land.
All I can think is: "These people don't deserve a boat" and "what a misappropriation of government funds for these sods."
In other news, the Mackinac Bridge is quite something to see...even if it was shrouded in dense fog. A feat of engineering to be sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment