All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Manufactured in China
LITTLE BIGFOOT with colophon is a registered trademark of Blue Star Press, LLC
30 29 28 27 26 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The authorized representative in the EU for product safety and compliance is Authorised Rep Compliance Ltd., Ground Floor, 71 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin D02 P593, Ireland. www.arccompliance.com
Editor: Jill Saginario
Production editor: Peggy Gannon Designer: Tony Ong
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN: 978−1−63217−521−2
Sasquatch Books 1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 1025 Seattle, WA 98101
SasquatchBooks.com
THE TALE OF THE DIAMOND KNOT
THE WRECK
It was 1947, and America was at peace a er the long years of World War II. During the war, the ship Diamond Knot transported supplies for the war effort. Now she had a happier mission. She was carrying precious food for a hungry nation. On this voyage, she was bound for Seattle, loaded with seven million cans of Alaska salmon.
THE RESCUERS
The broken ships used their radios to call for help. Rescue tugboats stationed nearby hurried to assist. They found the ships stuck together and leaking badly. The tugs succeeded in pulling the ships apart,
The captains still believed they had a chance to save the Diamond Knot by pushing her onto a beach where workers could save some parts—and recover the tons of badly needed food inside.
With less than a day le before she reached Seattle’s port, a thick fog overtook the ship. The Diamond Knot made her way carefully through the night, listening for buoy bells and ship horns. It was an hour a er midnight when disaster struck. A larger ship, the Fenn Victory, appeared suddenly out of the fog. There was no time to change course, and the two ships collided.
and the Fenn Victory headed for the port without help. But the Diamond Knot was filling with water. Afraid that the ship might sink, the tugs rescued the crew.
But just before they could reach the nearby bay, the ship rolled on her side and sank to the bottom, taking her precious cargo with her into the deep. The helpless crews watched as she went down.
With the Diamond Knot sunk, there seemed to be little chance that the food supply would reach the hungry public.
But for salvors Art McCray and Fred Devine, no challenge was too tough. They were experts at recovering ships that were lost at sea. If they took the time to raise the ship, the cans would be ruined by the salty water. Instead, they decided to cut the ship apart so they could reach the cargo inside.
Deep sea divers went down, breathing air pumped through hoses. They used torches to cut the sides open.
The salvors’ plan was to lower a big hose to blast apart cargo boxes with high-pressure air. A second hose would suck the loose cans up like a giant vacuum cleaner. Time was running out, and they weren’t sure it would work.
They started the hose. In that first minute the pumps brought up 1,000 gallons of water—and with
Barges anchored over the wreck li ed the heavy sections of the hull using steam-powered cranes.
it 800 dented, clattering cans of salmon. Over the next few weeks, over 4 million cans were recovered. Together, the tugboats and salvors had saved 38 lives and millions of dollars’ worth of precious food. The wreck began as the greatest cargo loss in the history of western North America, but the workers turned a catastrophe into a triumph.
IN THIS BOOK we will look at some of the dangers of the sea and how seafarers respond to them. We will also take a peek inside the boats that are built to save lives and salvage ships. And we will pay tribute to the people who use their courage, skill, and ingenuity to turn disaster into victory.
RISKS AND REWARDS
Tonight is a big night for these crabbers. They are going out to set their crab traps—called pots—for the first time this season. But first they have a challenge to face. Leaving the safety of the port, they have to travel to the open sea to fish for crab. To get to the open sea, they need to cross a place known as “the bar.” Crossing the bar is one of the most dangerous things boats do.
Below decks are the engine room and fish holds. One of the holds is full of stored pots, and the other hold is full of frozen bait boxes. Once all the pots are set, these holds can be filled with salt water. The crab they catch will be put into the holds and kept alive until they can be sold in the port.
The bar is where the currents from the river mix with ocean waves. The mixing forces of current and waves make the seas very rough and difficult for boats to cross. But the crabbers have to cross the bar to get to crabbing grounds and then cross it again to get back home.
Crossing the bar with a heavy load of pots can be very risky, so the captain has to steer carefully to pass through safely.
The crew has already decided that the risks are worthwhile. If they catch enough crab, they will all earn enough money this season. But success starts with survival.
The boat will cross the bar many times this season, and each time they do, the danger will be on their minds.
DUNGENESS CRAB FISHING
Dungeness crab live in sandy areas of the seafloor along the Pacific Northwest coast. They are one of the most expensive and delicious kinds of Pacific seafood.
The boat will drop its pots into the water and wait a few days. Then the crew go back out and use their crab block to pull the pots up one by one. The crab go into a hold full of water, and fresh bait is put in each pot.
If there are lots of crab in the pots, the crew will empty the pots and drop them back down in the same area. If they aren’t satisfied with the catch, they stack the pots on the deck, move them to a different place, and try again.
The stacked pots aren’t tied down. They are stacked leaning inward at the edges, which is enough to keep them from falling off the boat unless there is bad weather.
Dungeness crab season is in the winter and early spring, when the crab have the most meat in their shells. This brings the best price for the crab, but it also means fishing in tough winter weather.
Crabbers work very hard. Sometimes the pots come up full, and they can see their efforts are paying off. Other times might be disappointing.
If the catch is good, the crew will celebrate together. They rely on each other through the long days and nights to keep up energy and to stay focused and safe. Still, on long trips they might get irritable, grumpy, cranky, grouchy, or even testy. But no matter what, they know that at the end of the trip, there is a deadly bar waiting for them that they have to cross together.
A Dungeness crab pot with a buoy line to li it to the boat.
WAVES, SURF, AND RIVER BARS
Waves on the ocean can be a challenge for boats, but when waves reach the shore, they transform into even more dangerous surf.
STORMS
SURF
Waves form when the wind rubs over the water, causing ripples that can build up until they become steep, rough waves.
SWELLS
When a storm is over, the waves don’t disappear. Instead, they gather up into gentle, long “swells.” These can be very high and travel thousands of miles, but boats can pass over them like gently rolling hills.
When those ocean swells reach sandy beaches they become “surf.” The underwater part of the wave touches the seafloor, slowing it down, while the top part keeps moving. At the beach it “breaks,” falling over forward in a powerful, foamy curl.
When the swells enter the mouth of a river or bay, they meet the river current flowing outward. The current pushes the waves together. This makes waves become unpredictable and wild.
For smaller vessels, getting turned sideways to the waves can roll them over. If a boat turns upside down, it has capsized.
Being caught from behind is also dangerous. A boat can be driven down into the water or flipped end over end. This is called broaching or pitchpoling.
Rolling and pitchpoling are very bad situations. If a captain makes a mistake in breaking waves, people are in serious danger because most rescue vessels could not safely reach them. But there are boats that are made to work in these places—and there are courageous crews to run them.
Boats are safest if they stay pointed directly into the waves, but the currents in the river bars swirl and shi , making it very difficult to steer straight.
Rolling
Pitchpoling
MOTOR LIFEBOAT
For people caught in wild waves, the motor lifeboat (MLB) is a welcome sight. Many bigger boats would be drowned by wild surf, but the 44' motor lifeboat is right at home here. These vessels, also known as “surf boats,” work in the most unpredictable kinds of waters—river bars
At the back of the boat is a space for rescued people to safely ride back to the port. Because of its shape, it is called the “turtleback.”
and surf zones. The driver steers straight into the breaking waves while the crew plucks frightened people from the water. This boat was operated by the US Coast Guard from the 1960s until 2010, and it is famous around the world for its seaworthiness.
Because the MLB works in shallow waters, the bottom is shaped with a deep finlike “skeg” to keep the propellers from being damaged by the seafloor.
The crew stays outside the boat for the entire patrol, which makes it easier for them to spot people who might need help.
Once a rescued person is aboard, they are taken into the stuffy, tightly enclosed turtleback for medical help.
Returning to safety, cold foamy water crashes around the crew on the deck.
The ride is rough. This boat was not built for comfort. It has one purpose: to bring people home alive.
RESCUE IN THE SURF ZONE
The lifeboat crew works as a team, steering the boat, pulling a person aboard, and hauling another person closer to the side.
For their own safety, crew members wear safety harnesses that they clip on to the railing of the lifeboat. They also wear water-resistant clothing, life jackets, and helmets.
Each of them has volunteered for this duty, aware of the risks that come with every patrol. Their motto is “so that others may live.”
THE 44' MLB
Boaters avoid rough areas because of the obvious danger. Still, even experienced navigators can get into trouble if their vessel is swept into a surf zone accidentally or they have to cross a dangerous river bar. Small vessels can be flipped or filled with water by a single wave. The people on board are in serious danger—especially if they are not wearing life jackets.
The 44' MLB was the workhorse of the US Coast Guard for nearly sixty years. During its time of service, this vessel type saved thousands of lives.
It was designed to be “self-righting”—able to turn itself upright even if it rolled over—and had a very shallow bottom so the crew could work close to a beach if necessary. Operating with a crew of only three or four people, a high steering station made it easy to see into the distance, and an exposed deck in the back called a “retrieval well” helped get survivors aboard easily.
The United States shared the design with other nations, and the 44' MLB was adopted by countries all over the world. When the Coast Guard retired the 44s, other countries bought many of the used lifeboats.
Lifelines (hanging loops of rope on the sides to help people climb aboard)
Turtleback
Steering station
Retrieval well
CALLING FOR HELP
VHF RADIO
Boats use VHF radio to communicate because you can make public broadcasts.
To call for help, the captain or crew uses channel 16, calling out “Mayday” three times. This message is understood all around the world to mean that a vessel is in danger.
FLARES
Many modern radios also have a distress call button. Holding the button down sends a distress signal with the location of the boat and its name. Other boats in range can see the location on their navigation screens.
If the boat is close enough to a cell phone tower on land, a 911 emergency operator can connect to the nearest Coast Guard station just as they would for a police or fire department.
Boats are required to carry flares that make smoke or a bright flame to signal for help in an emergency.
Smoke flares are easy for rescuers to see in the daytime. This is helpful because a small boat can be hard to spot from a distance.
EPIRB
Parachute flares send a rocket into the sky that can be seen from many miles away at night.
Handheld flares give off a bright light. Flares’ reflections on the water make them even more visible.
An EPIRB is an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. It has its own battery, allowing it to send a distress signal even if a vessel’s main radios lose power.
The EPIRB is attached to the outside of the boat in a holder that releases and activates it if the boat sinks. It can also be activated by hand.
The EPIRB sends a radio signal that is received by a satellite. The satellite then sends the EPIRB’s position to rescuers. Search-and-rescue vessels and helicopters can use their own equipment to track the EPIRB from a boat or from the air.
THE LIFESAVING SERVICE
The Lifesaving Service, founded in 1878, was the first US sea rescue service. The members were fishermen and sailors who volunteered to row out to distressed ships. Some stations kept their boats on horse-drawn carts so they could quickly reach a wreck. Rowing out through the surf was very, very hard work.
Some of the rowboats were self-righting. They had a buoyant layer of cork in the bottom and air cases in the ends that kept the rowboat afloat even if it was full of water. In 1915, the Lifesaving Service was joined with the US Revenue Cutter Service to form the US Coast Guard.
THE NATIONAL MOTOR LIFEBOAT SCHOOL
The National Motor Lifeboat school is located near Ilwaco, Washington, near the mouth of the Columbia River. Coast Guards have trained there to operate motor lifeboats in surf conditions since 1963. It is the only school of its kind in the world. Students spend time learning in the classroom, but they soon begin training in the wild surf conditions near the Columbia River Bar, which is known as one of the roughest river bars in the world.
Coast Guard crews stand ready to risk their lives to save others, but it is much better to prevent emergencies than to respond to them. In places such as the Columbia River, a navigator with local knowledge can avoid the worst hazards. But who can help ships arriving from far away to stay out of danger? For that, ships need to call for expert help from Pilot Boats (page 16).
SELF-RIGHTING BOATS
A self-righting vessel is one that turns itself upright if it is knocked over or rolled upside down. It can do this because the boat’s heaviest parts are on the bottom, while the upper parts are light and filled with air. The air vents are small and close automatically if the boat rolls. The 44' boat’s watertight “turtleback” acts like a buoy, helping to turn the boat right side up.
It is rare for a motor lifeboat to be rolled over. Being turned upside down by waves or surf would badly damage it, but it would flip itself right-side up quickly.
In a rollover, while the crew are safely harnessed to the outside of the boat, they have to hold their breath as the boat rights itself. They know this is a possibility and are trained to be ready in case it happens.
The US Coast Guard has 110 of these amazing boats. In forty years, only one was ever lost at sea.
THE NEW 47’ MLB
In 2003 the Coast Guard replaced the 44' MLB with the even tougher, faster 47' MLB. The new vessel is made of light, strong aluminum.
The 47' is also self-righting, but it is now designed to survive a rollover with all equipment intact. It can be steered from multiple places around the vessel. It has an enclosed wheelhouse, but the crew still operates the boat from the open station on top of the wheelhouse during patrols and rescues.
RESCUE HELICOPTER
Sometimes boats are just too slow. For rescues farther out to sea, or for medical emergencies, even the fastest boats could take hours to reach people who need help right away. But the Coast Guard’s MH60 Jayhawk helicopters cruise at over 100 miles an hour and are sturdy enough to fly in howling storms.
The rescue helicopter has a crew of four—the commander who pilots and plans the rescue, the copilot who handles communication, the flight mechanic to run the hoist and take care of the equipment, and the rescue swimmer. The helicopter crew communicates with the vessel by radio. If the vessel radio is not working, the helicopter crew will lower a handheld radio to the boat.
The aircra is jammed with equipment, including medical kits, a basket, and a litter for hoisting up survivors. It carries an emergency pump stored in a waterproof box that can be lowered to sinking boats so the boat crew can pump out seawater.
RESCUE SWIMMERS
Rescue swimmers do more than just swim. They train like elite athletes to work in any water conditions, but they can also be called to rescue people from mountains, floods, forest fires, or wherever someone is hurt and can’t be reached by land.
There’s a special one-person inflatable life ra for the rescue swimmer. The ra fits in a package about the size of a football. If the helicopter has mechanical problems or is too full of rescued people, it can leave the rescue swimmer in the water to be picked up later.
PILOT BOAT PEACOCK
Ship captains know how to stay safe at sea, but each port entrance has its own unique hazards. No one person can know the details of every place in the world. For tricky river bar crossings, the ship may call for assistance from a local expert called a pilot. Pilots spend their whole careers learning the currents and winds of the place where they work so they can prevent problems before they happen.
