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CHAPTER 1
Houston, Texas
CHAPTER 2
Kemah, Texas
CHAPTER 3
Kemah, Texas
CHAPTER 4
Galveston, Texas
CHAPTER 5
Seabrook, Texas
CHAPTER 6
Seabrook, Texas
CHAPTER 7
At Sea - Gulf of Mexico
CHAPTER 8
At Sea - Gulf of Mexico
CHAPTER 9
At Sea - Gulf of Mexico
CHAPTER 10
At Sea - Gulf of Mexico
CHAPTER 11
Port Fourchon, Louisiana
CHAPTER 12
Cut Off, Louisiana
CHAPTER 13
Cut Off, Louisiana
CHAPTER 14
Cut Off, Louisiana
CHAPTER 15
Houma, Louisiana
CHAPTER 16
Houma, Louisiana
CHAPTER 17
Houma, Louisiana
SPINDRIFT - CHAPTER 9
At Sea - Gulf of Mexico
March 27, 2003
"Dad! Look!" Silvie shouted, pointing out the window.
We all jumped up from our deep sleep, looked out and there in the black of night, looming over us, and right beside us was a massive pilar jutting out of the ocean deep. We were only seconds away from being bashed to pieces!
Dad jumped into the cockpit and scrambled to start the engine. "Make it start. Make it start. START! START!!!"
"David, cut loose the sea anchor! Just let it go!"
Amidst the rocking of our little sea horse David cuts loose nearly 600 feet of heavy anchor line, chain and sea anchor. By now we were all on deck, and as we SEE ourselves being unrelentlessly pushed ever closer to the most humongous oil rig to our relief our little engine starts, we put it into gear and leave the gray monster which only almost cost us our vessel and quite probably our lives. With each foot we put between us and that rig, our adrenilin returns to its normal level.
As the churning sound of its equipment, its generators and whatever was making those noises only subdued by the blowing of the wind and the sounds of the sea we begin to fully realize the miracle of Silvie, as dead tired as she was, should wake up just in time."I don't even remember waking up." She told us. "All I remember is standing there seeing that thing right beside us! Thats when I began shouting!"
Had we been beaten to pieces there, no one on that rig would have even felt it, nor heard our cries. We would have simply vanished into the ocean depths without anyone ever knowing what had happened to us. Vanished from the face of the ocean.
We spent the next 2 hours getting as far away from that rig as possible as we considered our options. We realized that we were by now dangerously low on fuel. We calculated it could take us a couple of weeks or more to make landfall if we continued in our present condition. We sent out a distress call which was picked up by the very oil rig we had almost been beat to pieces on: "The Ocean Confidence". We were by this time 400 miles from Seabrook and 180 from the nearest land, Louisiana.
The people on "The Ocean Confidence" were really nice and by and by informed us that if we could make it 6 or 8 miles to the northwest they would arrange a fuel transfer with a supply boat that was in the area. So, at 1:30 a.m. we set off on a heading of 280 degrees to join up with the "C-Commander". To make a long story short, for over three and a half hours we try unsuccessfully to come alongside this 240 foot boat to receive fuel, but the wind and the waves made it impossible. In fact we even hit their boat on two occasions doing considerable damage to our on deck fittings while leaving not even a scratch on theirs. The crew of the "C-Commander" demonstrated real dedication and a high degree of seamanship their captain never giving up on us. Finally it was a 100 foot line attached to a life ring was thrown out into the sea in front of us and after several attempts loosing our boat hook in the process we were able to fish it out and cleat it thus securing our boat to theirs. After a long and arduous struggle we were finally able at the break of day to take on several sealed five gallon buckets of diesel fuel. We fill our fuel tank. Just as we are ready to throw them back their line, and break lose again, to our surprise our engine won't start!
"It is out there at sea that you are really yourself."
Vito Dumas (1797-1859)