A28
September 2006 WRITE TO BE HEARD
www.the-triton.com
The Triton
A shackle pin breaks and there is no replacement on board; 80,000-pound spectra line gets in both props and a bow thruster melts down. The event produced lessons in emergency preparedness.
‘It was about 0500 and, as we watched, the tender broke free ...’ By Capt. Tim Cook It started off as most normal trips do: off the dock about three hours later than expected and, of course, the crew still had little things left to do on shore, but time had run out and it was time to leave. As we got to Port Everglades from up the New River, we attached the tender for a long, straight through-run to New York for the summer season of cruising. The weather was fair and the crew was
saying how excited they were to spend 4th of July in “the harbor” with fireworks and fire rescue boats displaying an array of showers of sparks and water. There’s just a small party going on in NYC on that night of independence. We made it Cook through the first day and most of the first night before things
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started to get a little For every foot sporty. The seas I swam, the two were still on our tail boats separated but had grown to due to wind and 6-8 feet and were seas. As I came starting to come to the end of the out of the west, also. tow line I was still The wind had come 20 feet from the up to 25 knots but tender. The captain out of the south. had been watching We noticed that this and for some the tender was unknown reason starting to drift decided to put the off to port every boat in reverse to time slack would give me some slack get in the tow line. rather than turning It was obvious the toward me. outboards had Everybody turned to the side knows what even though the happens when you steering wheel was go in reverse with secured to the t-top. line in the water. It was about 0500 You guessed it and, as we watched, – right into both the tender broke wheels goes our free. As protocol only tow line. Our calls for, I hit the concern for the man overboard tender diminished button on the 6000i as now we had and went up top to bigger fish to fry. keep an eye while (The sun was up the captain turned now and we could the boat. We were keep a good eye on A tow line is only as good as its it.) able to see the weakest link. When a shackle pin, tender and started The chef was to circle it when the below, snaps, the line is done for. put in charge of chef and stew were watching it and I getting up and on asked the stew to deck to assist. grab me a mask I ran down, and fins and my pulled the tow line Leatherman. After in and realized several attempts that it was the at free diving shackle pin that down below to cut was attached to the line between the tender that the two wheels, had broken. I went I decided it was below to get out of too dangerous to my pajama bottoms continue in those and into my board shorts for a rescue sea conditions. When I surfaced, I came attempt. With no spare shackles on up to find there was absolutely no one board, we decided to try and attach the there watching me any longer. quick disconnect directly to the tender. While I had kept my head and When I came up, the tender was tongue in line up to this point, I no nowhere to be seen. This is when things longer could do so. I screamed at the started to get a little out of hand. The top of my tired lungs that the next time salon furnishings and some of the I or anyone else was left unattended contents of cupboards were sliding in the water, I personally was going from one side of the salon to the other, to kick some one’s head in. All of a not to mention every other room on sudden, here comes the chef and stew board. with the excuse that there were potted Forty-five minutes later, we found plants and expensive vases being the tender. The captain pulled within tossed around in the salon. I asked if 30 feet and I donned a life vest. With that was all my well being was worth the quick-release in hand, I jumped and they apologized. To add insult to overboard for a not-so-leisurely sunrise injury, the stew reported there was lots dip (165 miles offshore, mind you). The of smoke coming from the forward VIP stew fed line to me as I swam toward stateroom. the tender and the captain tried to So now not only were we detached keep the big boat out of the ditch by using the bow thruster. See TENDER, page A30