by Sean Blaise
“Let me see.”
John took the wheel from Charlie. He instantly felt the pull of the wheel, as Beagle tried to head into the wind. It wasn’t a “little” weather helm, it was a lot. The weaker students wouldn’t be able to hold the wheel for long at all.
Weather helm was when a sailing ship wanted to constantly head into the wind on her own accord. It was caused by an uneven sail plan. The Beagle normally ran three jibs, at the furthest forward part of the ship. Even though the jibs were small in size, they had huge leverage over the ship because they were located so far forward from the pivot point of her keel.
The small jibs, easily counteracted the large mainsail on the stern, keeping the ship on an even helm and allowing her to track straight with little effort on. But due to the storm’s impact, John had removed the outer jib. So, even though they had reefed the mainsail, it was pushing the Beagle’s stern down wind and forcing her bow to turn upwind.
Luckily the rudder was in water, which was much denser than air, giving it plenty of power to counteract the weather helm with a little muscle power of the helmsman.
John walked forward and looked at his sail plan. Reefed main, staysail and one jib. The fisherman was well stowed. And they were still making ten knots.
Good, the sooner they got to shore the better, John thought.
John made his way back to his cabin and tried to get as much sleep as he could. He knew the storm would only get worse.
Chapter 52
Suddenly, while in a dead sleep, John was thrown hard across the tiny cabin from his bunk into the engineers. He smashed his ribs. Beagle was tilting over hard. John didn’t even grab for his pants. He flew out his cabin door in his boxers, grabbing only his knife.
John could barely climb the companionway to the helm due to the sideways angle of the ship. Beagle was knocked down!
John stepped out the companionway into a maelstrom. The wind was now colossal, whipping salt spray into John’s eyes. The rain was screaming sideways, hitting his skin like a million hot knives. John looked at Smith who was hanging off the steering wheel. Her students were all piled below her on the lower deck railing that was nearly submerged.
Beagle had stopped moving forward completely. Instead, she was sliding sideways, unable to lift herself due to the massive pressure of the wind on the sails. John looked up and couldn’t believe what he saw. The ‘fisherman’ sail was up!
John had not put it up. But he had no time to think about that now. Beagle continued her deadly heel, leaning over so far that the mainsail boom was now in the ocean entirely.
John knew instantly what he had to do. He put the knife in his mouth and pulled himself up like a rock climber to the high side of the ship. He was nearly vertical, looking down at Smith who was still hanging from the wheel.
John dragged himself forward. The wind was howling at over fifty knots trying with each gust to fling him into the ocean. Edging his way forward along the deck, he finally reached the mainmast. Then, he saw something that made his blood run cold.
The leeward stays on the mainmast were hanging loose now, wobbling in the wind bursts. Meaning the stays on the windward side were taking far too much strain.
Beagle was stuck, in a death spiral, as she kept dragging sideways, not righting herself. She couldn’t right herself because the ‘fisherman’ sail had her by the throat.
John grabbed the slippery mast and made his way to the ‘fisherman’s’ sheet. He felt the mast vibrating in his hand. It could go at any moment. The wind whipped higher, nearing hurricane force, and slammed him up against the mast. He pulled his Myerchin knife from his sheath and began to saw at the ‘fisherman’ sheet.
Another gust pounded into Beagle. Horrified, John realized he was now standing vertical on the cabin top, looking directly down into the Ocean. The ship was almost lost.
John sawed at the sheet with his knife. It was like a trap, holding a wild animal. He knew that its release would be explosive. His blade cut quickly through the line and it suddenly parted with a sharp-crack!
Beagle’s reaction to being released from the trap was violent. The ‘fisherman’ dumped its air pressure and lost its leverage which had been holding Beagle down. One hundred and fifty tons of lead in her keel obeyed gravity once more.
Beagle swung upright violently, throwing John from the mast into the windward stays, hitting his head hard. John saw stars, and he knew he was badly hurt. Beagle was now upright, but her sails were flogging to pieces. The ‘fisherman’ had already torn herself to shreds in the wind and was gone. He knew the rest of the sails would follow suit if they didn’t fill them quickly.
“Fall off!” John screamed at Smith. He couldn’t be sure she could even hear him over the wind, but he felt Beagle begin to do as he commanded. Suddenly, Beagle filled its sails again and took off at a breakneck pace.
John struggled to stand. He had to get back to Smith at the helm. John felt the back of his head and his hand came away covered in blood. A lot of blood. He looked back toward Smith and heard the most dreaded words ever spoken at sea.
“Man Overboard!!!” Smith screamed.
Chapter 53
John raced to the cockpit. Smith was on the helm but looking behind the ship. That’s when he saw it. A body was being dragged by their harness strap off the leeward side.
John grabbed the strap and pulled. That’s when he recognized the student it was attached to, Jack. The stainless-steel wire on deck was straining, attempting to hold him to the ship. John looked over the side and realized the harness was also killing him.
Beagle was heeled over again and crashing through the waves at ten knots. With each wave, Jack was smashed up against the side of the hull, before being dragged underwater again. His long strap had him virtually submarining alongside the ship. He was barely moving.
“Lubanzi!” John screamed, as his arms bulged trying to drag Jack back on board. He knew it would be impossible by himself.
“Smith head up into the wind!” John commanded, trying to slow the motion of the vessel through the water which would lessen the strain on the wire.
John saw Lubzani’s paw sized hands grab the strap alongside him and felt him pull. Jack was coming back toward the ship when another wave took him under.
Smith was turning the ship into the wind slowing the vessel's progress but not nearly enough. Each wave, now fifteen-foot tall, was surfing the Beagle forward as they passed beneath the ship, dragging Jack faster through the swells.
John was pulling with everything he had. He would not lose another student, could not lose another student. He could hear Lubanzi grunt, but the pressure of Jack dragging through the waves was too much for even both large men.
“Smith head all the way into the wind! Put us in irons!” John shouted over the wind.
If Smith could get the Beagle to head directly into wind, the forward progress of the ship would stop. That was their only real chance to get Jack back on board.
John could feel Beagle, turning into the wind. Jack was smashed against the hull again and John could see the blood pouring out of his nose. Staying clipped into the ship was killing him.
Jack was barely conscious. He looked like a prize fighter in the 11th round and was getting beaten to pieces. Jack looked up at John; he couldn’t take anymore. Jack, barely conscious now, decided he would rather take his chances in the sea than get beat to death.
John saw Jack reach up to the pelican hook on his harness. John knew what Jack was about to do and it would only make the situation more dire.
“No! Don’t!!!” John screamed at Jack.
Jack pulled the emergency release on his harness and instantly disappeared into the frothy ocean swell.
Chapter 54
It was all instinct now. John flung the life-ring off the side of the ship at Jack’s last position and shoved Smith aside. He swung the helm all the way hard to starboard and slammed the Beagle into a massive turn.
“Heaving to! Lubanzi side boat now!” Jo
hn’s voice boomed at Lubanzi. “Smith keep pointing at Jack.”
John shoved Beagle all the way through the tack without changing the jibs, which meant the jibs were now backwinded. It was the closest thing that a sailing ship had to a brake. Heaving to, was the only real way to slow Beagle and keep her in the general area of Jack.
John sheeted out his triple-reefed mainsail, to dump the sail's power and slow the ship even further. Barely able to see through the sheets of torrential rain pelting his eyes, he searched for the strobe light on Jack’s lifejacket. He could just barely make out the small light, flickering in and out of sight as the boy rode up and down the massive ocean swells.
John started up the Beagle’s motor, although he knew it would do little against the wind’s ferocious power. But once he got close, he might be able to use it to slow Beagle even further.
Suddenly, he realized he had punched the brake too early by heaving to. He needed more power to move Beagle forward and back toward Jack’s now fading light.
“Sheet in the main!” he screamed at Greg.
Greg took the winch handle and began forcing the Beagle’s mainsail sheet in. The result was instantaneous as it easily overpowered the backing jibs. Beagle once again increased her clip toward the now barely visible light on Jack’s jacket.
John shoved the engine throttle, full ahead and forced Beagle forward. He watched the jibs knowing that if the pressure became too great, they would tear. Once they were gone, and he no longer had his brake he would have no way to keep Beagle from passing Jack by. Silently, he begged them to hold on.
Lubanzi was struggling with the tie-down straps on the rescue boat, but finally, he got the dingy hoisted up on the davits and started. Beagle was leaning at a precarious 20-degree list to starboard. The monstrous waves were threatening to swamp the little rubber boat before they could safely launch it.
Lubanzi hung on to the rescue boat as the other students swung him out over the water’s edge. Just then, a massive swell crashed into the bow of the rescue boat, ripping the line on the bow davit from Rick’s hands.
The bow of the rescue boat dropped into the ocean while the stern stayed up. Lubanzi flew over the center console and into the bow of the dingy. Water rushed into the boat from the front being dropped while the stern davit still hadn’t been released.
“Drop it! Drop it the stern!” screamed Lubanzi as another wave crashed into the front of the rescue boat. One more wave and it would be lost.
Amanda smoked the stern davit line and the rescue boat crashed into the ocean finally level. Lubanzi broke free the hooks holding her in place, and he was finally free, as Beagle moved past him. The rescue boat was full of water and the gas tank was now floating in it. Lubanzi slid past the Beagle’s helm and looked at John.
“Go!” John screamed, pointing in the distance toward Jack’s last position. Lubanzi floored the rescue boat’s engine throttle and pushed the boat into the raging torrent.
Chapter 55
Lubanzi was blind. The pouring rain was flying sideways now, and the now fifteen-foot rollers were breaking at their crests. The wind was scrapping the tops off the waves like a German beer tender with a pint of frothy beer.
The water was finally flowing out of the dingy and the gas tank had stopped floating over the back deck. Lubanzi kept his eye on the rescue boat’s compass, maintaining his heading trying to go in the direction he had last seen Jacks' light. He turned to look to Beagle for direction, but she was moving on and past. He could barely make out Smith’s arm, pointing in the direction he was still heading.
Lubanzi timed each of his throttle thrusts with the slopes of the huge seas. He finally reached the top of one swell when he just caught a glimpse of Jack’s strobe before it was gone.
It seemed like a mirage. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but it was all he had. Lubanzi slammed the throttle down in the direction of the light.
Meanwhile, John was gaining too speed away from Lubanzi and Jack’s positions. A chord of terror struck his heart at the prospect of losing Lubanzi too.
“Sheet out the main, Rick! Smith, do not take your eyes of the rescue boat!”
Rick eased the main sheet, putting the boom back into the large passing swells. Beagle slowed to a crawl as John kept her motor in reverse. He was trying as hard as possible to stay in place so that Lubanzi could find his way back with or without Jack.
Lubanzi still couldn’t see anything. He turned and could barely make out Beagle. He felt a grip of terror around his throat. How far did he go before turning back? He shoved the thought aside. He had to find Jack. It wasn’t an option.
A flash of light caught his eye on the crest of the next wave and Lubanzi pushed the rescue boat up the wave. There was no illusion now, it was Jack. He slammed the little boat forward and almost regretted his haste as he rocketed down another wave and almost capsized the rescue boat. But the strobe light was brighter now.
Lubanzi surged forward until he could just make out Jack. There was no motion from him. Lubanzi pulled the boat up and felt the same terror he had felt when he had seen Jennifer. Jack was floating motionlessly. His inflatable lifejacket was keeping him upright while waves crashed over his face.
Lubanzi pulled the boat to a stop and grabbed for Jack’s jacket. With a single pull, Lubanzi pulled the boy into the boat. He checked Jack’s vitals. He wasn’t breathing.
Lubanzi started CPR immediately. The boy was cold to the touch. Lubanzi pumped hard on Jack’s chest like his own life depended on it. Nothing. Lubanzi gave him breaths and then returned to his compressions.
Lubanzi had no concept of how long he worked on Jack. But finally, Jack wretched up a huge mouthful of seawater. The boy coughed and coughed as more seawater came out of his lungs. Jack looked up at Lubanzi who had a huge smile on his face.
“Were you kissing me?” Jack croaked.
Lubanzi couldn’t believe Jack was alive. A wall of relief flooded him. Then suddenly, Lubanzi looked up at the sound of a crashing wave and realized he had made a fatal mistake in his desperation to work on Jack.
Lubanzi had stopped steering the rescue boat while giving CPR. In doing so, he had put the rescue boat broadside to the waves, where the rescue boat could easily capsize.
That’s exactly what happened. The wave caught the rescue boat perfectly and rolled it over, throwing Jack and Lubanzi back into the merciless ocean.
Chapter 56
Lubanzi was now under the upside-down rescue boat. His lifejacket had done its job and self-inflated which was keeping him wedged up inside the air pocket under the boat. He looked around in the dark for any sign of Jack but there was none.
Lubanzi grabbed one of the rescue boat tubes and tried to pull himself out from under the boat, when he felt the lifejacket harness line get stuck. He yanked at the pendant before he realized it was stuck around the gas tank line for the now-dead motor.
Struggling to pull it free, he felt another huge wave pick up rescue boat and slam it against his head. Lubanzi knew he had to get out from under the boat before the center console made of hard fiberglass caught him in the head and put him out for good.
Lubanzi yanked at the harness cord ripping the gas line free from the engine. With his harness clear, he grabbed the inflatable tube of the side of the rescue boat. He forced himself under the tube, fighting against the buoyancy of his lifejacket until he popped up on the outside of the overturned boat.
He looked around desperately for Jack, as saw nothing. He had lost the one advantage he had before while he was in the rescue boat, the ability to see from a higher vantage point. Now each wave crest was in his face. He needed to find Jack and fast.
Lubanzi grabbed ahold of the grab lines on the inflatable tube and put one leg into the line giving himself leverage. He then reached up and grabbed the hard V of the rescue boat's keel.
It was slick, and hard for him to get ahold of. But years of hard labor in Africa was now working to his advantage; he had enormous strength.
Reaching his other hand up, Lubanzi grabbed the keel with that one too. Using his foot wedged in the rope, he pulled himself onto the bottom of the now capsized boat.
Straddling the boat and now sitting on the bottom, he looked for Jack. Lubanzi still saw nothing. He knew it was a risk, but he couldn’t give up without trying. He planted his feet on each of the tubes of the upside-down boat and rose to his full height.
Lubanzi spotted Jack drifting away with each of the swells, moving faster than the rescue boat. Without thinking, he reached down and clipped his lifejacket strobe to the side of the rescue boat so he could find it again. Then he dove into the sea and after Jack.
Chapter 57
John felt it in his bones, right before it happened. The crack was palpable as the jib boom snapped in two. He watched as the Inner Jib shredded, a long tear forming in it before it was instantly torn over the side. Heaving to, was no longer possible. He had to take down the mainsail or risk going so fast that he would never find the rescue boat.
“Charlie, cut the main halyard! Get her down!”
Charlie lurched forward toward the mainmast as Beagle began to rocket forward once more. Without the backwinded jib braking her, she was off to the races once more.
Charlie ran on the leeward side toward the mast to get to the halyard. Just then, the main boom, which was hitting the swells swung suddenly toward the helm. It caught Charlie in the chest and flung him backwards into the deck. John looked up to see movement suddenly on the high side.
Amanda was running toward the mainmast slipping on the deck. She reached the mainsail halyard and smoked the line off the cleat.
“Sheet it in now and get the boom under control!” John screamed at Smith and Hanz. Rick pulled the sheet hard while Smith worked the mainsail winch. The main was coming down slowly.
The sail was pinned by the wind pressure and the mast slides were getting stuck under the pressure. John slammed the engine control forward and rounded Beagle up into the wind.
