One HAPPY Ending
In sailing, as in life, not all stories have pleasant conclusions. So it’s always uplifting to tell a tale that does. Which returns us to the ongoing saga of cruising sailors Joy and Jim Carey, and of their 45-foot sailboat Kelaerin, and an ending straight out of a Hollywood movie.
In last month’s issue, we related what turned out to be just the opening, terrifying stanza of the Careys’ amazing odyssey (see “The Last Wave,” August/september; cruising world.com/rogue-wave-rescueat-sea). To briefly recount, in mid-june, the couple were off the coast of Washington state and a single day away from completing a 17-year circumnavigation aboard Kelaerin when they were clobbered and rolled by a roaring sea in the dead of night. Just hours later, they were airlifted off their stricken boat by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter. As they were whisked to safety, they reckoned their brief, fleeting glimpse of crippled Kelaerin would be their final one. Um, not so fast there, guys. Five weeks to the day after they’d abandoned their boat, on July 22, Joy’s phone rang. The Careys were in their RV near Mount Baker, wondering what to do next with their lives. They hadn’t quite come to terms with the notion that Kelaerin was lost forever. Maybe they’d drive down the coast and check in with harbormasters along the way to see if anyone had heard anything, anything at all.
Joy answered the call. Jim said, “She kept saying, ‘Oh my god, oh my god.’ Then she started crying. The first thing I thought was one of our kids had an accident or something.” But no. “It’s the Coast Guard,” Joy said, finally. “They found our boat.” It took her another two hours to catch her breath.
Kelaerin had apparently continued her epic wanderings, drifting her way southward some 500 miles down the coast, and was 44 miles off Fort Bragg, California, when a coastie cutter on a routine patrol had stumbled across her and towed her in. The Careys fired up their RV and followed her down.
The boat was a mess. But there, on her stern, was the small cooler with cash, hard drives and other valuables that Joy had gathered before jumping ship but was left behind in the frantic commotion. And there were other surprises. When Jim flipped on the chart plotter, it was evident that the boat had power for several days after they’d left her; her southbound track was clearly visible, recorded before the batteries died. Plus, the shower sump apparently kept working a while too; the water level down below topped off right in line with the sump’s box. Even in the Careys’ absence, Kelaerin fought the good fight.
A fellow cruising couple from San Diego, longtime friends, showed up with tools and smiles and helped muck out the boat’s ravaged interior, a huge morale boost. “It turned the project, something that was overwhelming, into something that was manageable,” said Jim. Next, with the aid of a crane on a fishing pier, the seized and waterlogged engine was pulled and taken to a nearby diesel shop for a rebuild. Progress.
Once the engine’s back in, the Careys plan to head south to San Francisco Bay to finish putting the systems together and painting the boat. The commercial fishing community in Fort Bragg has been amazingly supportive – Kelaerin could hardly have washed up in a better place – but it will be easier to finish the work in the Bay Area. Then what? The Careys’ original plan had been to sell the boat after their circumnavigation, perhaps move on to a trawler. Those plans are on hold. Indefinitely.
Joy said, “Well, we’re not that far from Mexico. We never did get to see much of the Sea of Cortez. We’re kind of in that mindset. And I think that’s the way to go. I wouldn’t mind spending quite a bit of time in the Sea of Cortez.
“I think we had some PTSD from that rollover. Jim was jumping every time a door slammed. I was waking up in the middle of the night, unable to go back to sleep. That’s kind of gone. We’re just working hard now, like we’ve always done. We’ve always worked hard on boats. Seems like that’s our life. So, we’ll continue on.”
Well, well, well. And thus the story of Jim and Joy Carey comes full circle. They’re survivors. And so is their beloved yacht. She’ll be all fixed soon, and bound for spicy tacos, cold cervezas, sandy beaches and gorgeous sunsets.
I told you the ending was happy.