A voyage not meant to be
By Jim Farrell
While anchored in South Puget Sound, I was rowing around Jarrell Cove, on Hartstene Island in my Zodiac “Doggie Daze”, I happened upon Bob Lemon and his S/V Raven and started up a conversation that led to this story…
into Jarrell Cove
… The romance of the sea draws us to her shores, and from there we can see others who have taken their dreams one-step further and who have gone the additional step to either find ways to crew on a vessel or, given time and money, buy one. Some, like Bob Lemon of Harstene Island, Washington, have taken it to the next level and built their own. Bob was one who found the dream following his 1970 move to the Pacific Northwest, where he relocated to after the shootings at Kent State, where he was going to school at the time.
In 1997, he launched the 28000 lb. 44’ sailing-vessel that he built from a Reliance hull. Being a mechanical –aeronautical engineer and builder, did not hinder him from building a ketch cutter rig and supplying her with a chart plotter, early GPS, Furno radar and other modern navigation equipment.
Following the launch of SV Spirit, Bob and his wife, Kristy, spent vacations and whatever time they could sailing to Barkley Sound, Desolation Sound and of course the San Juan’s. In 2001, they decided it was finally time to take the Hawaii plunge. Following Bob’s semi-retirement and Kristy’s taking a leave of absence from her job, off they went. On the way south, they encountered a mechanical problem and headed into Newport, Oregon for repairs. By the time the repairs were made, Kristy’s allotted time off would not allow them to proceed to Hawaii, so they turned around and headed for Desolation Sound for the remainder of the time left of her vacation.
The spirit of the sea called them as they still wanted to head for Hawaii again in 2002, and outfitted SV Spirit for yet another attempt. Upon sailing from Harstene Island in Puget Sound, they headed down the Washington and Oregon coast and headed into Newport again to refuel before continuing. Being rested and restocked, they set off to realize their dream.
Upon leaving Newport, they were somewhat disappointed with the deteriorating weather conditions. Winds were peaking about 40-45 knots, with seas running around 20’, however the period between them was long, making for a somewhat comfortable ride under bare poles. They had the advantage of a full keel and a strong Navico autopilot on the steering quadrant that had no tendency to broach. Their apprehension with the large seas (the largest they had been in) diminished somewhat as they settled into the storm’s rhythm. Then three hundred miles off Cape Mendocino as Spirit rose with a wave and plunged down into the trough, they hit something solid in the bottom of the trough!
Whatever it was did not matter, for Spirit started taking on water. Bob rushed below and tried to find where the hole was in the boat, but it was under too many cabinets, and he could not get to it. The bilge pump became overwhelmed with the rising water as it surged forward and back in the cabin, the engine then flooded, and the realization set in that they might lose the boat. Bob made the dreaded ‘Mayday’ call.
No one picked up the call for a bit, until Coast Guard station Los Angeles heard him and sent a helicopter up from Humboldt Bay who was able to pick up the signal. A C-130H was dispatched, with pumps, while the helicopter crew battled 60-knot head winds as they tried to make their way to the scene. By now, the two plus feet of water in the boat was forcing the bow down and having difficulty rising with the next wave. The C130H crew had dropped two pumps, but Bob could not turn Spirit to retrieve them for fear that she would broach.
To add to their problems, the helicopter from Humboldt Bay could not make their way to ‘Spirits’ location due to the amount of fuel needed to buck the headwind, hence requiring the Coast Guard to dispatch another helicopter from Astoria, but that added another half an hour to the rescue time. Bob now occupied himself with their safety and tried to focus on the task at hand.
Over the side went the 85 lb. life raft with its ¼-inch painter line. Normally not a problem in calm seas, but when the raft fills with 400 lbs. of water ballast, it becomes almost impossible to pull it back to the boat in 20’ plus seas. With water crashing into the boat and the real danger of broaching at the next wave, Bob struggled as the line cut into his hands to put the line around a winch and to bring it close to the stern where Kristy was hanging on, facing forward.
Since Kristy could not see the life raft rising and falling behind her, Bob said; “I brought the raft as close to the stern as I could without pulling it out of the water. I can only guess what she must have been feeling when I told her to fall backwards into the life raft that she could not see, without letting go with one hand to turn, mostly due to her float vest and inflated life jacket”.
“However, with winds gusting to 40 knots, big seas and the boat being tossed about (did I mention she couldn’t swim?) she followed instructions like a pro.” Bob said, “I have a very courageous first mate.” It’s as though she was thinking, “I’m anxious, I’m afraid, but just tell me what to do calmly, and I’ll do it.”
Kristi, although anxious throughout, never panicked and followed instructions without delay or comment. “I could not have asked for a better first mate,” Bob said as he continued, “She was a credit to the crew and boat. It wasn’t until she tumbled into the hatch of the life raft that her emotions came to the surface about losing the boat, but that was brief and controlled. She still had to tie the long trailing line (attached to the stern) to the life raft and, when the Coast Guard arrived, get from the raft to the rescue basket, so she stayed focused.”
With Kristy in the raft and two feet of rising water in the cabin, Bob’s timing for joining her depended on the arrival of Astoria’s helicopter. They had to be well aft of the boat, hence the reason for the long trailing line from the boat. They were in contact with the Coast Guard with their handheld radio and were told to be ready as the helicopter would be short on fuel and their time on the scene would be short. When the Coast Guard arrived, he entered the raft and cut the long line for more distance from the sinking ‘Spirit’ as the Coast Guard lowered the basket within ten feet of the then free floating life raft.
First Kristy went into the basket with no hesitation on her part, then Bob. As the basket bounced around with the wind swept waves, Bob became puzzled wondering why they weren’t being lifted up to the helicopter. Turning around to look at Kristy he saw the line coming from the helicopter had become wrapped around Kristy’s neck. Kristy hadn’t noticed the line was around her due to the foul weather gear and life vest. Once they released Kristy from the strangulating situation, the Coast Guard was able to extract them to the safety of the helicopter.
Bob further said; “On the trip to Humboldt Bay Coast Guard station, it started to sink (no pun intended) in. I was well aware that I had only insured Spirit for about one-third of her value. But I wasn’t thinking dollars as we left Spirit behind. It would be many days before we would discuss our experience. Kristi seemed to know my sense of loss and let me bring it up.”
“To this day, in the night, in the dark (when the demons come) I still fret over not putting a line on Kristi before she fell backwards into the life raft. That one thought caused me more anxiety than the whole experience,” he said, with sadness on his face as this writer interviewed him.
“Sometime later, as I was working on Raven, (our next boat) in the boatyard, I related our story to the fellow working next to me on his Crealock 37,” he continued. “Later that summer, the Crealock happened to visit our home anchorage in Jarrell Cove. We happened to be on the beach and hailed the Crealock and its owner. His wife came to the rail and shouted to Kristi, “you are the woman I aspire to be”! It’s an acknowledgement that’s well deserved, and she would be a credit as a first mate to any crew on any boat anywhere. However, she still has trepidation about long offshore trips, although we have been to Barkley Sound several times in Raven since our experience in Spirit.”
As I talked with Bob about his experience, I could see the pain in his eyes thinking back on what could have been the outcome of their adventure. Bob and Kristy survived their horrifying experience with only the clothes on their back and the ships papers. They survived because of the trust between them, proper equipment on the vessel, the fairly cool (given the circumstances) head of the skipper and of course the Coast Guard.
While gently bobbing alongside of ‘Raven’ in my Zodiac, listening to Bob revisit his ordeal, I thought of my own first mate, Becky, across the little bay aboard ‘Autumn Daze’, realizing how important it is to have trust in her, and she in me.