Yesterday we headed to Silverdale. We needed supplies and an Amazon locker order. Plus I was still on the hunt for replacement medications from the rental car break in last week (911 call #1) while we were at the memorial dinner for Dave’s Uncle. We departed Poulsbo after crazy dude in a dingy threatened us (911 call #2). and hence didn’t pick them up from the CVS there. Having been in Silverdale before, we knew that the outside of the dock can be noisy with the waves slapping the side of the boat. So after Dave practiced a “no thruster” docking on the outside pier, we moved the boat around to the inside where it was quieter as it was forecast to be windy.
Sure enough, the winds kicked up even stronger than forecast. Blowing 25 knots out of the South – which means that the bay at Silverdale has a long fetch – so the waves eventually built up to 1 to 2 feet and were breaking over the dock.
None the less, a group of teen agers were having a get together on the dock. Some in swimsuits. (Remember what it was like to think showing off the summer bikini was more important than freezing to death? Yeah, me neither.)
There was a 26 foot sea ray at anchor about 300 feet off the dock. He was getting tossed about pretty good. Early in the day an oar off his dingy let loose. One of the teenagers dove off the dock and swam a fair distance to retrieve it. When she swam back, she realized she couldn’t climb back onto the dock. Her friends had to pull her up – having then scratched her legs up on the barnacles and muscles growing on the floats underneath. Then some smaller kids grabbed the oar and took it back to shore. Not wanting the oar to disappear, and knowing the guy was going to have a heck of a time rowing his dingy with a single oar, Dave put our dingy in the water and took the oar back out to him. At this point he spotted a sign that said “owner is deaf”. As he also did not speak, but just made happy hand gestures to say thanks to him for returning the oar, Dave concluded he is also mute.
A couple of hours later when the storm had gotten worse, the guy’s dingy breaks loose and comes down the bay. Dave spots it and we both head out to rescue it. I was able to grab it on the outer dock and hold it off the dock so it wouldn’t get bashed up. Dave by then was in the dingy and we debated what to do but Dave felt he wouldn’t be successful trying to return it with the waves as high and sloshy as they were.
At this point, the group of teenagers comes running over to see if they could help. I was having a heck of a time holding onto the dingy so I asked a few of them for help. Though I quickly realized they were fighting me as they were trying to pull the dingy up to the dock, whereas I was trying to hold it off. And their fingers were gripping the dingy in a way that someone’s hand was sure to get smashed between the dingy and the dock. So with a few corrections we were able to slowly move the dingy around the outer dock. At one point the waves pushed the dingy to nearly 90 degrees it was blowing so hard. We got it around to the inner slip and were able to get it tied up where it would blow away from the dock and be safe until Dave could return it. The boat owner watched this whole exercise from his deck. The kids were quite proud of their rescue and I’m sure it was the highlight of their week.
An hour or so after that, Dave decides that the guy’s boat is sinking. Earlier in the morning, the owner had been standing on the swim platform painting the boat name on the transom. That swim platform was now underwater. Dave flies out in his dingy again, but can’t get the guy’s attention. No idea if he is ok, or even realizes his boat is taking on water. So we call 911. Despite my explaining that we think its sinking slowly, we got pretty much everyone and their brother from Kitsap emergency responders. We could hear the sirens before I even hung up the phone. (Fun fact, Kitsap runs off Zetron’s 911 equipment – so Dave sold it to them.)
First guy on scene was a police officer, who had just gone off shift. He’s the resource officer at the local high school. Thought he would drop by and see what’s what. He goes right to the end of the dock and starts yelling to see if he can get the boat owner’s attention. I roll my eyes and head out to explain the owner is deaf. By this point though, we can see the guy bailing water out.
Shortly thereafter two fire and rescue team members show up. They were chatty about our travels and boat adventures while they waited for their team to unload their rescue boat onto the boat ramp nearby. The rescue boat is super cool. Has three underwater wheels that retract. So they can roll it down any ramp or even the beach to put it in the water wherever they want. Fortunately someone on the team knew sign language and hopped aboard. After some more bailing, they convince him to exit the boat and go back to the shore with them. The rescue guys explain that by policy they are not allowed to tow the guy’s boat. So completely unclear at this juncture what happens to the guy’s boat – which by then it was obvious he lived aboard. The police and fire guys then just walked away.
Dave and I debate what to do. It was low tide, so it would be after dark by the time we could tow the boat to the beach. And by then its going to sink. We’re fairly irritated that the guy’s house is sinking and no one seems to be willing to do anything about it. Not to mention the problems with the gas and oil that will leak out creating a mess. And the hazard to navigation so near the docks that will be created.
Amazingly at this point, we hear the Coast Guard call for help. The “any boats in the area willing to assist” type call. Dave rolls his eyes and gets on the radio to explain that fire and rescue teams are already here and took the owner off the boat. Yep. Great coordination right there.
The boat owner and another guy come walking back down the dock and stand staring at the sinking boat. Turns out the guy – Timothy – was sitting in his truck at the dock when he saw all the excitement. A somewhat mentally disabled man himself, he felt the need to also help. He had a buddy that ran a boat rescue operation. So he had rung up his buddy to come assist. Moments before the rescue boat shows up, the Coast Guard cutter pulls in.
A conversation takes place between the Coast Guard and the rescue boat, and the Coast Guard takes off after a few minutes. The rescue boat then puts a pump in the engine room of the sinking boat and pumps the water out. They found the hole – a 1” hole (likely a through hole for a drain pipe to connect to) under the swim platform. Without whatever hose should have been connected, the big waves likely slapped water through until the boat sank to where that hole was underwater. The rescue guys stuffed some clothing in the hole to try and close it up a bit.
Dave offers to take the boat owner out to his boat in our dingy. The boat owner turns to me and hands me his wallet and cell phone. Clearly the only possessions he had taken off the boat with him. And he didn’t want to risk them. It shocked me for a second – strangers don’t typically hand you their wallet – but then I realized after the whole day’s events, having witnessed us rescue his oar, then the dingy, then call 911 to help him when he was sinking we had earned a basic level of trust.
The rescue boat then tows the sinking boat to the Silverdale dock. But the dockmaster, having seen all the activity, came and sternly told us that the sinking boat was not permitted to stay. If he so much as put a line on the dock, they would immediately impound the boat. I argued that it was an emergency, as we now knew the boat engine wouldn’t even start – the water having gotten up over the carburetor – so engine rebuild was likely going to be needed. But the dock master said that made it even worse because they would consider the boat derelict and have it confiscated immediately. So there we all are, lined up on the dock holding onto the boat railing because we aren’t allowed to tie it up.
At this point the debate over what to do ensues. As the debate went on, I retrieved our “orange cone”. A device specifically designed to close up boat holes, and they stuffed it in the hole instead of the clothing. I was annoyed with myself for not having stocked the boat with underwater epoxy – which would have been better. We had it aboard the sailboat, but it didn’t make it’s way onto Sea Star 7. (Being corrected!)
The rescue guys knew the owners at the nearby Bridgeview marina – and they agreed to take him in. That was a 30 minute trip across the bay. Dave agreed to follow them over in case they needed a second tug boat to push the disabled boat into a slip. First he went and put on jeans, socks, gloves, and a sweatshirt as it was going to be a cold ride. He grabbed the handheld radio and handheld spot light in case he wasn’t back before dark.
As they headed out, the boat owner scribbled a name and phone number on a piece of paper. Melissa gave Kathleen a call. She turned out to be his Mom. Melissa started with “he’s ok and the boat is ok”, before telling her what was happening. Turns out his name is Erick. Kathleen was happy to pay for a few days at the marina for him to get situated. Erick has a girlfriend who was off the boat when all the excitement happened. She had a car and was off working on their resumes at the library as they both need new jobs. Erick had been working at a beachfront restaurant and taking his dingy to shore, but for some reason this became impractical and so they need new jobs.
I’ll check in with her in a few days to make sure everything turned out ok when they tried to fix the boat.
