1968 - 19,560
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The boat was riddled with leaks. Tied up to the dock it was taking on water. Although outwardly it seemed seaworthy, it was badly in need of repair. Sufficient life-saving equipment was not on board nor was the crew trained in handling emergencies. A person cast into the cold winter water could expect to drown outright or after a short period of hypothermia. And the captain and the crew were aware of these circumstances as they put out to sea.
Much time and energy is spent counting money. A business counts and then considers the results. If the count was small, then they ponder ways to make more. If the count was big, then they call a meeting, and ponder ways to make more. The difference is only that a large business hires someone to do the counting. Charter boat operation is like any other enterprise. The owner of the boat knows the closer he fills his boat to capacity the more he maximizes his profit. The captain knows that he stays captain as long as it is profitable. And the crew know that their pay depends on casting off from the dock. The clients have made their arrangements, set aside the day, told their friends about the great time they are going to have, paid the bill, packed their duffel, gotten up at an ungodly hour, and driven to the marina in expectation of boarding. There is little incentive to stop the process once it has begun.
The brochures promised an unforgettable seafaring experience amidst the splendor of the Channel Islands on newly renovated craft and with a crew whose primary responsibility is passenger safety and comfort. Dolphins will accompany the adventurers out to one of the picturesque areas where the groupers and garibaldis and lin cod and halibut are waiting to make the acquaintance of the eager fisherman. Inexperienced at deep sea fishing? First time out on the high seas? Want to make it a trip for the whole family? We cater to first timers and children. You will have the run of the boat. Our expert crew can help you make this a trip you won't forget.
The boat crept away from the dock in the early morning. Some of the passengers had spent the night in the berths below. Most had arrived hours before dawn as anxious shadows. The coffee began to perc in the galley above deck as the ship wafted through the harbor.
Captain Namara welcomed the passengers, "Ahoy there. You've boarded the finest fishing vessel in the fleet. It's been recently overhauled from stem to stern. We're outfitted with reserve boats every bit as fit as the craft itself. You'll find our crew to be as helpful as they are competent. If there's anything you need, the crew and I are always available. So get ready to have a wonderful trip."
And down below the waterline, the creaks and groans signaled the pressure points where the water was breaking through. Although never acknowledged by the Captain and crew, they were not new sounds. It was not a new vessel. Only the black block lettering on the stern was new and even that had not been completed. People name their crafts for luck or for the beauty in the name or after a loved one or sometimes after an event. This boat was named after all of the above. The Johnson Co. had won big betting on the New York Jets and in tribute they planned to name the boat after Joe Willie. Unfortunately, the letterer took drunk after only three letters and before he could draw out the "ATH" so the vessel left port with an unfinished name on its stern.
The boat labored through the open ocean to a spot about a mile off the Santa Cruz Island where it gently bobbed up and down in the rolling sea. The skies were pale with a thick cover which cast the sea as a metal grey but the wind was still and it was not an unpleasant morning.
"It's a good day for fishing." The mate who was helping bait the hooks and tutor the inexperienced was optimistic. "We'll be getting lots of hits. Keep those lines in the water."
The boat had been sitting in the same water for over an hour and the lines were coming up empty. The 75 or 80 people that hung over the sides who were looking for a catch were beginning to get restless. They wanted a new spot. The crew called for patience and more time.
A keen observer might have noticed an uneasy movement by the crew, a quickening of their step as they strode to the lower decks. The galley cook was on the radio. The engineer covered in grime. "The Captain says we need a little longer at this anchor," the mate said.
The lines went back in the water and came up empty. They were baited again, cast down into the drink, and reeled in once more coming up empty again.
"Our engines are giving us a bit of trouble," the crewman spoke casually. "Hang tight, keep those lines wet, and bear with us while we get things patched up. Nothing to worry about."
The mate walked the deck mingling with the fishermen. He had a jocular way about him and it was easy to tell why he was sent out to engage the passengers. "The Captain has his ways. Many times I've questioned the wisdom of the Old Man only to be proven wrong. We have to give him his due. I bet he's consulting the radar now. When the time comes to move get ready to reel up, you don't want to be caught dilly dallying. The anchor will be hoisted and we'll be gone."
As the world becomes more complex and our knowledge of it less secure, we are more willing to defer to those who have experience apart from ours. It is not a uniformity of spirit that marks such deference. We question or accept depending on who is giving us the information no matter how grave and portending that information may be. For instance: When the tire salesman tells you your car needs tires, struts, new ball joints, brakes, and a wheel alignment, you say, "Later, man. Give me the tires." Even though your life depends on the integrity of your car, you know that tire salesmen are more worried about selling you things you don't need than safety. And when the State Department classifies a particular country as evil and deserving of our enmity, we say, "I always knew they were treacherous little bastards." Because the State Department only has our best interest at heart we don't bother questioning they're appraisal. How could they be motivated by career opportunities or political winds? More importantly, what could it cost the average citizen to label a nation of people "evil"? If the prospect of an automobile wreck due to faulty suspension is remote, just think how distant the ramifications of mislabeling a population "foe". So it was with the passengers on board. Since everyone was in the same boat and the need to keep that boat afloat was so apparent, it was assumed everyone's priorities would be the same. However, beyond the overriding concern of maintaining the stability of the vessel, concerns begin to quickly diverge. The fisherman who promised his wife dinner is irritated at the thought of all the fish he's losing by staying in the same unyielding spot, the passenger with his kids is deeply worried about the operation of the safety equipment, the young group of teenagers out for a lark see every misfortune as an opportunity for adventure, the crewman puts on blinders and focuses on the need to do his duty, the Captain must save his boat at all costs, and the home office upon reception of any bad news will be busy writing off the loss of the ship while negotiating away any liability.
On the mate's next pass around the vessel, the fishermen confronting him appeared anxious. The crewman eventually disclosed that the engine room was flooded. But he added, "It occurs from time to time. I've been on board other ships when the same thing happened but much worse. Our engineer is firing up the pump. He should have it suctioned out in no time at all. And when he does the captain will take us to one of his secret locations. He knows things about fishing that aren't in any book. Sometimes it seems he thinks like a fish. He's right this moment pouring over the charts he keeps locked away in his cabin, the ones he won't even let me look at." The mate disappeared back into the cabin.
It wasn't long before the passengers began to talk among themselves. Innuendo became rumor. The flooded engine room became a gaping hole in the hull, the absence of Captain Namara a sign that the crew was in a panic, each roll of the ship a reason to gauge the swimming distance to the islands, the entire episode a prelude to a shipwreck, a disaster at sea.
On the horizon another vessel was seen. Some of the passengers desperately waved their hats or their jackets. Some called out, although it was obvious the vessel was too far away to be hailed. The vessel sailed out of sight.
The fishing lines were drying out. Passengers were beginning to form clusters at the stern and around the galley hatches to the decks below which were locked from the inside. When the first mate emerged he was immediately beset by questions.
"What's going on?"
"You're responsible for our safety and I've got kids on board and I demand to know what the problem is?"
"Don't you think we'd better prepare the lifeboats?"
No one mentioned sinking but it was on everyone's mind. The mate's voice never betrayed the peril. Perhaps he was immune to feelings of panic either by constitution or by experience.
The mate demanded quiet before he spoke. He carried authority in his voice and it helped propel his argument. "I can assure you that while you are on my watch, you have nothing to be concerned about. A situation has developed but we are responding to it. We've sealed off the lower decks to prevent further flooding." And again he went below.
The disposition of a sinking ship is not always sudden. A boat can fill rapidly and drop to the bottom like it was pushed off a cliff or it can linger in an agonizing death slowly taking on water until it quietly slips below the waves or it can swamp and trap enough air to stay afloat like a dead fish. The ship began to list to one side and there was commotion among the fishermen.
The crewman called for the lifeboat to be lowered. The wench was turned. The lifeboat untarped. The first probe along its beam revealed it unfit as a backup craft. Its planks were rotten and broke through with little effort.
"We're going down!" someone yelled.
The captain and crew were on deck taking control. They cautioned against jumping to hasty conclusions. They managed to subdue the passengers by alleviating their panic and assessing the situation in the most optimistic of terms. In short, they contrived to wring a little more time from the passengers, if not from the ship. They appointed some of the more vocal passengers to hand out the orange and yellow life-jackets. Since there weren't enough jackets to go around, this required decision making on the part of the newly appointed. It is an effective way of co-opting vocal opponents into the process to make them part of the command.
Seawater began to lap at the gunwales.
"Radio for help! Alert the Coast Guard! Send out the SOS!"
Most disaster contingencies involve the use of communication equipment. A prudent captain makes sure his equipment is on board and is in working order as he leaves the dock. Unfortunately, that's usually as far as it goes. Even prescient planners know there is a limit to preparedness so when the radio came up dead the captain and the crew passed it off as one more stroke of foul luck. Of course, few things go belly up without prior indications but the crew had grown accustomed to giving the radio a wrap on the side as a kick start for so long that they began to assume that sequence was the standard operating procedure.
The captain ordered the first mate to tell the passengers that help is on the way. "Someone should be here any minute. In the meantime, secure the safety equipment." Just what that last order entailed, no one was quite sure.
It was fortunate that a Coast Guard vessel was on routine patrol out by the Islands and wandered into the area. The Captain had determined that not only were the passengers weighting the ship but in the event that it did go down, it was best to get them away from its wake. However, it was somewhat unfortunate that the crew ordered the passengers into the water right before the Coast Guard ship arrived on the scene.
In total, a man died from a heart attack and two people were missing.
In the inquiry, the Captain said that the rescuers had acted too quickly. If they hadn't intervened, he would have been able to save the ship. The engineer maintained that he almost had the bilge pump going. The only dissenting perspective came from the affable crewman who had acted as the liaison between Captain Namara and the passengers. At the inquiry he maintained that better safety controls should have been in place and more care should have been taken with regards to overloading. Since overloading wasn't a factor in the sinking his testimony was discredited. He was not able to get another berth on any of the local fishing vessels. No one wanted to hire him so he eventually moved north.
Although the charter company had a list of past infractions and warnings, they were not fined, mainly, because they had already put the business up for sale. New owners promised new methods of operations. The port authorities wanted the matter resolved and out of the public's eye. It was bad for business.
The captain and crew went on to command other ships. If the captain referred to the fate of their former boat, it was to commend his crew in their noble attempt to save the craft and to suggest that help should have been more punctual and that if those who were missing had stayed closer to the ship, then they would not have been lost.
It was an event that would have been a slight note to us had it not been for one glaring verity. Snake's father was aboard the boat. He died from a heart attack during the sinking. It was no more than a few months later that Snake's mother also passed away. We never broached the subject with Snake. It was too private. Damon believed the official accounts. He had never been very good in math and despite his ability to come up with great mounds of bullshit himself, he was not very good at detecting it in other people. Frankly, it may have been because I had a more larcenous heart than Damon's, I was always more willing to be underhanded, and that deficiency in character on my part made me wary of pronouncements by other people. To me, things don't always add up the way they should. Official accounts are given to protect the officials giving the accounts.
When we paddle into the surf we take no one with us. Most good surfing beaches have no lifeguards. We expect to be left to our own skill and savvy. And if we fail to adequately gauge the power of the waves, then it is our failure alone. But when a person takes command he takes responsibility for those effected by his orders. And when that command results in failure and loss then that failure is compounded if the events are not given full analysis because repetition is only as far away as the next voyage.