Water adventures told by those surviving them
Water adventures told by those surviving them
Even when their lives are at stake, ocean captains, adventurers and wildlife authorities cannot help but go back for more. And there are exciting stories to be told.
SAILBOAT VERSUS FREIGHTER
Life at Five Knots author Scott McPhee has sailed the world on Shadowfax, a 46-foot ketch. In four years after leaving Captiva, McPhee and Gretchen Falk sailed some 32,000 miles. One frightening experience was negotiating the Strait of Gibraltar, a dreaded 30-mile-long channel between Spain and Morocco. The strait is only 10 miles wide, with rocky mountains on either side that act as a funnel for high winds.
McPhee says that on the dark night he attempted passage, he counted 26 huge freighters, each the size of small cities, towering over him as they negotiated the pass. “We were not appearing on their radar,” he says, “so we tried to stay on the radio attempting contact. One massive freighter kept bearing down on us no matter which way we turned. They would not answer our calls. On deck, we threw spotlights up on our sails hoping they would see us. Moments later it squeaked by us―so close we could see the white wake hitting us against the black water.” A close call McPhee would not forget.
SURVIVING MITCH
Mick Gurley of New Moon Sailing in Captiva was captaining a charter to Key West. “We had a great sail down to Key West,” Gurley says. “But just 20 miles from our destination, suddenly we were in trouble.”
Hurricane Mitch had previously turned inland over Central America and weakened. Without warning, the Category 5 storm turned back toward the U.S. “My 35-foot sailboat,” he says, “was suddenly in the midst of 15-foot waves crashing over the boat. The winds were 50 miles per hour and howling. The rain pelted us and made it impossible to see. My only chance was to turn the boat straight into it and make for shore. It was a struggle to control the boat.” It took an agonizing 15 hours of fighting the storm to go that last 20 miles, he says. “I felt lucky to be alive and so relieved my clients were safe.”
SIZE MATTERS
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Officer Stuart Spoede often makes rescues. But an injured manatee can be tough. “We had five officers and one intern in a special boat [near Pine Island],” he says. As the crew struggled to get the manatee aboard, it panicked, hitting the intern with its tail, sending him flying into the water. “It’s easy to get injured with broken bones or lose your fingers if they get caught in the net and the animal turns,” he says. The crew got the manatee to Sarasota for medical care.
YOU NEVER KNOW
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Andy Garrett discovered a dolphin trapped in an Everglades mangrove lake. His crew took airboats, jumped overboard to get close. “We found ourselves in waist-high water,” he says, “but we were not alone. There were alligators in there. We had to keep a constant eye on them and, yes, we were scared.” Holding the gators at bay, the dolphin was rescued. “We never know,” he says, “where or what we will be responding to.”
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