Ship's Logs and Trip Diaries 

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Tropical Storm Arlene 2005

June 6 - 10, 2005:  Tropical Storm Arlene

My email to friends and family after our ordeal:

After checking the weather one last time, we left Key West Monday at 8:00 am.  The weather looked perfect for the next several days, except for the lack of wind.  We motor sailed all thru Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wed. morning, I wrote in my ships log that it was perfect except for lack of wind.  With only 1 ft seas, I was able to cook at sea, our surroundings were beautiful and we were really enjoying the crossing.  Tuesday evening we were about 20 miles off of the SW coast of Cuba right on target.  When we pulled the weather fax it showed a tropical depression building over the Yuctan peninsula.  We discussed our options...keep going toward Isla and hope the storm doesn't move faster than predicted or turn around and head back toward Key West?  We decided it was better to be cautious and we turned the boat around and headed back to Key West.

Unfortunately, the winds turned and we could not make Key West (heading a sailboat directly into the wind and waves is not fun and on our boat, going to wind is almost impossible).  We thought about Cuba, but the charts aren't very good and our insurance doesn't cover us there.  We decided to run for the Dry Tortugas. 

My log reads:  "Won't make Key West.  Can't make Cuba.  Our first storm at sea starts tomorrow.  Terrified.  I never want to do this again."

We went thru several small squalls and building seas, but it wasn't too bad (about 20 knot winds and about 4' seas).  However, we were moving very slowly and still fighting the winds and waves to get the direction we wanted to go.  We were only 6 miles from the Dry Tortugas when we lost our mast (for non sail boaters, that means our mast snapped in half and we lost all of our sails).  We were both tucked up under the dodger to try and stay out of the rain when the boom came slamming down on top of it.  It's a good thing we had a strong dodger or we could have been crushed.  Thane had to cut away the jib, but was able to lash the top of the mast and the boom onto the boat.  This was about 8:00 pm on Wed.  We kept trying to make the Dry Tortugas, but could only make about 1/2 knot motoring into the wind and waves.  We were beginning to run very low on fuel. 

We finally made the decision not to continue into the Dry Tortugas.  We felt it would be a lot more dangerous to be in the reef if we ran out of fuel or lost the engine.  We could possibly end up on the reef and put a hole the boat and the life raft if we had to launch it. 

We decided to call for help and a foreign tanker picked up the call and contacted the Coast Guard.  The Coast Guard contacted the Loggerhead Lighthouse and they began monitoring our situation and relaying to the Coast Guard.  It was pitch black out, the waves were building to at least 10' and we had no navigation lights to let passing tankers/freighters know we were there.  Loggerhead Lighthouse was contacted by a fishing trawler named Sandbar that was also trying to make it into the Dry Tortugas.  They said they would try and tow us in.  By the time they reached us, the Coast Guard Cutter Key Biscayne was only about an hour or so away so it was decided they should just sit with us and monitor their radar to make sure no other ship ran over us.  They stayed with us until the Coast Guard arrived at about 2:30 am.  If you ever read this ... thank you Sandbar. 

Oh, I forgot about the Coast Guard plane that came and spotted us and kept us posted on the Cutters arrival.

The Key Biscayne launched their rescue boat so they could get us off our boat and onto theirs, but it had mechanical difficulties and they had to go and rescue their boat.  After successfully getting their rescue boat back aboard their cutter, they decided to try and throw us a tow line.  Winds were probably about 40 knots by now and the seas about 12-16'. 

Thane climbed out onto the bow of the boat (not his favorite thing to do in 4' seas much less 16'!).  I stuck my body out the forward hatch with the spotlight to shed some light on the situation.  The Coast Guard tossed the line and Thane started pulling it in.  Unfortunately, the line became caught in the Key Biscayne's propeller and started pulling our boat into theirs.  They are a 110' Cutter and in the rolling waves, Thane was eye to eye with their waterline they were so high above us.  We kind of bumped boats and at that point they cut the line and decided they would have to call another boat in that had a working rescue boat.

The Key Biscayne stayed with us all night and checked in with us every 15 minutes to make sure we were okay and verify our position (it's dark, we have no lights, they keep losing us on radar).  The Coast Guard Cutter Drummond arrived on scene at 10:30 the next morning.  By this time, we were drifting toward Mobile, Alabama right in line with the eye of the storm.  Winds were 55 knots and seas 16'.  It was too dangerous for them to try and launch their rescue boat.   Key Biscayne left the scene and Drummond kept regular contact with us to make sure we were okay and not taking on any water. 

During all this time on the boat, Thane and I were kind of lethargic.  The boat was doing everything but rolling over.  We would ride up the 16' wave and then it would just drop us.  It sounded like a bomb hitting the boat.  We laid on the settees and held on.  Sometimes you'd drop so hard and fast that it would throw you about 1' in the air!   We hadn't really been eating or drinking much since the run back to the Dry Tortugas started so that may have contributed to our lethargy.  Plus we were kind of scared.... 

At about 8:00 pm that night the CG Cutter Drummond called and said they have 3 options:  A) They were going to launch their rescue boat and try to get us off the boat B) If they were unsuccessful they were going to have us launch our life raft or C) Have us jump into the water and pick us up from there (my least favorite option).

It was completely amazing.  There were 4 young men in the rescue boat.  By timing the wave action, they were able to come along side and put 2 of the young men on our boat.  Then they would back off and time the waves again.  They then came back along side and first picked me up and then came back again for Thane.

The 2 young men stayed aboard our boat and readied it for towing.  When we reached the Drummond in the rescue boat, they took us down below to the galley area.  Thane had not worn wet weather gear so he was soaked and they provided him with the outfit they provide the Cuban refugees when they pick them up ... they are see thru by the way and I believe he really regretted not having any undies on!  Anyway, they fed us, gave us blankets, and kept us company. 

While we were down below, they somehow managed to get a tow line attached to our boat and they then towed our boat 120 miles back to Key West.

These guys were awesome.  We were so impressed with the crew and the Commanding Officer, Lt. Kathy Felger, a small woman about 5'4" and about 34 years old!  She was amazing and it was obvious she had built a very tight crew.  

We finally arrived back in Key West, a smaller CG Cutter picked us up off the Drummond and moved us back to our boat before releasing the tow line.  Our engine fired up and we were able to get the boat anchored. 

We are now awaiting news from our insurance company.  Not sure at all what's going to happen. 

We have a wonderful friend that provided us with airline tickets so that we can go to see Abby graduate from boot camp on July 1.  We are then flying to Dallas and will be in Texas until the 11th.  Hopefully we will be able to see a lot of you guys.  We are feeling especially lonely here in Key West. 

During our ordeal, we really realized how blessed we are with family and friends and we really, really started missing everyone. 

Love to you all.  Tami

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