Any Port in a Storm: Chapter 4

Ash's Story

The moment our lips parted and I saw the towering bank of steel gray storm clouds I knew we were in trouble.  A lone dead palm tree was no kind of shelter.  Our only hope was to get home to Rose as quickly as possible.

“We have to go!”

With a tremble in his voice Tony relied.  “That's going to be a problem.”

I turned to look and at first I didn't see anything except the tree and the dinghy.  It quickly hit me.  I didn't see ANYTHING except the tree and the dinghy!  Fear gripped my heart.

“Where is it!?”

Tony pointed and I was finally able to spot the white speck that was our floating home base way off in the distance.

“Oh no!”

Tony looked over his shoulder and I heard him gasp as he saw the approaching storm.  He took my hand in a firm grip.  “Come on, we have to try.”

High stepping our way through the water was hurried our dinghy and got in.  I was already untying the line as I heard Tony starting the engine.  With quiet efficiency I push off against the tree to get us out of the shallows as my husband lowers the outboard and steers us for Rose.  The tiny engine had a shrill buzz as Tony pushed it for all it was worth.

I didn't think having a more horsepower was at all silly then as we crawled our way over the increasingly choppy waves.

I dug out the VHF handheld radio we kept in the dinghy and with shaking hands I tried to contact the Captain.

“Kyle?  Kyle?  Can you hear me?  Kyle?  There's a storm coming and we're a long way off.  Come back toward the island!  Can you hear me?  Kyle?  KYLE?”

KKKRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrr

The terrifying sound of a second, louder, roll of thunder shook me to my core.

“KYLE!  Answer me!”

Tony's Story

I had the 3hp engine wide open as we made our way as fast as possible toward the yacht.  I could hear the fear in Ash's voice as she desperately tried to raise Kyle on the radio.  I felt the fear too but did my best to keep it contained.  Panic was not going to help us.

Initially I thought our Captain might have been trying to strand us and steal the boat but as I kept my eyes laser focused on our destination I could see Rose was bobbing directionless with her sails down.  She was adrift.

I wondered just what the hell Kyle was doing.  There would be no way he could miss that thunder.  Had he fallen asleep?  Had he kept drinking and passed out?  As I remembered those haunted lifeless eyes of his, the weary defeated eyes of a man at the end of his rope, I wondered if it might be something even worse.

“Kyle?  Kyle?  Please answer Kyle.”  Ash continued to plead with him to answer.

Glancing back over my shoulder I could see the streaking wall of rain sweeping over the ocean and bearing down on us.  Massive dark storm clouds filled the sky.  The wind was picking up by the second and the waves were becoming an issue for our little boat.  I did the only thing I could.  I kept us pointed at Rose, full speed ahead.

Full speed ahead...what a joke.  After fifteen minutes we were barely any closer than when we'd started.  I had long since lost sight of the palm tree behind us so I knew we were moving but it felt like we were standing still.  Both of us had to hang on tight now as the boat began slapping down hard as we repeatedly crested over the ever growing waves.  Despite the rough jolts Ash held the radio tight and continued to call home, but nobody was answering.

Sharp winds buffeted our backs and cool drops of rain began to hit our skin.  The sky darkened.  Again and again the thunder roared ever closer.  I watched as the wind caught Ash's feather light diaphanous shawl and carried it away.

Onward I pushed, I had no other option.

It was about then I started to become concerned for the yacht itself.  It was rocking and swaying at the mercy of the elements.  Rose was rudderless, sideways to the wind, and taking the powerful waves along her broadside.  Her mast waved back and forth like some wonky metronome.  The higher waves caused me to lose sight of her completely.  With the full fury of the storm bearing down on us quickly I knew if Kyle didn't take the helm Rose may be lost.

Kyle didn't take the helm.  Rose was lost.

The last I saw my parent's yacht was during a bright flash of lightning just as Rose was finally capsizing.  

“Noooooo!” Ash wailed over the wind.

Even if we could have done anything we were still hopelessly distant from her and our wimpy motor was effectively powerless in fighting the hard slapping waves.  I tried to keep our bearing pointed in the right direction but even this was soon too much for the struggling engine.

With no options left to chase my only thoughts turned to survival.  

Ash was already one step ahead of me.  She had pulled out the life jackets, put one on, and had tied the our bow rope to her jacket.  Killing the engine I crawled forward and put on my own life preserver.  Ash was tying onto it even as I did so.

Clutching together we curled up as one in the most central and lowest point we could.

Mother nature let loose her fury on us like I'd never seen before.

Ash's Story

All hope seemed lost.  The yacht was gone and the raging storm was upon us.

We were two scared and huddled people somewhere in the vast expanse of the South Pacific.

The hours that followed was a terrifying and soul scarring blur.  The wind and rain were deafening.  Even held together as we were we had to scream to be heard.  Not that there was anything to say.  I told Anthony that I loved him.  Love was a word we didn't use often, I don't know why that was, but I felt I had to say it then.  Tony held onto me tighter but remained grimly silent.

Jagged flashes of lightning tore the sky and bone shaking claps of thunder boomed.  The rain came down so hard you would have sworn it was shot from a rifle.  The dinghy rocked and shook as we would climb one side of a wave then tumble down the other until at last it flipped.

I took a lung full of water and when the life jacket brought me to the surface I was coughing and sputtering for air.  My nose and throat and lungs burned with salt water.  Every time I would catch my breath though another wave would slam down over us.  

With a fight in us fueled by the raw instinct for survival we tried desperately to hang on to the dinghy, to hang on to each other...to hang on to life!