0856 An announcement is made over the 1MC, “This is the Captain. We have received word of a sailing vessel in distress. We are currently 18nm from its last known position. Once we get closer I will make another announcement for the crew to head to Bridge for lookouts.” Needless to say, a second announcement was not needed because shortly all crew had made their way to the Bridge. Communication was limited so we did not know much information about the vessel’s characteristics or condition. At first we were told S/V Miss Kitty had lost propulsion and was an unmasted sailing vessel. Scanning the water, it did not bode well that Miss Kitty seemed no where in sight. About an hour later we received word from the Coast Guard that our search position had been updated. Immediately, we brought all generators online and made best speed 23nm South East to the new position. In reality it ended up being the best case scenario for a distress situation – She was found! The weather was calm, too. Miss Kitty ended up being a catamaran registered from St. John Island, Virgin Islands, en route to Washington, DC. The man’s name was Eugene. He was sailing the voyage alone and did not know how to fix his engine after it broke down. After a few hours he decided to call the Coast Guard for help. Luckily, one of the NAVO personnel knew enough Spanish to communicate through VHF with Eugene and determine the engine’s problem. It was determined that his fuel filter was clogged and had lost all suction, and he did not have a new one on board to replace it. Once we got approval we launched our Life Boat and sent our Engineers over to help. Before we knew it the Engineers grabbed tools, and the Cheif Engineer Steve, Third Assistant Engineer Aaron, and QMED Daniel all embarked the Life Boat. The Second Mate Al, and OSs Terrance and John also went along to operate the Boat. I remained on the Bridge at the helm steering. In that moment, I appreciated that I had spent extra time learning the steering system on board, and doing my turns in manual. I was not in the action, but it was the best place for me. It took all of us. The Engineers climbed aboard Miss Kitty and took several hours of trial and error, but they got it! Eventually they were able to construct a replacement out of what was available and bypass the fuel safeties. This fix would not last but was enough to get him to his closest point of land, The Bahamas only about a day away. Miss Kitty came along side and dropped off our Engineers and we pulled up our Life Boat. We gave him some fuel to finish his journey and sent him on his way. Eugene was grateful for our help, and we were happy to help him. It is a day I will never forget. As the sunset that night, it gave us all alot to ponder. It was later revealed that had we not been in the area, it would have taken the Coast Guard nearly three days to reach the man due to being so far out at sea.
Guess what?!!! We got published! The Maury got a spot light by both the Military Sealift Command Newspaper and the August American Maritime Officer’s Newspaper – August issue.
Stay Salty!
-Emily
Modern Mariner 