The wreck of Wonderstruck

Friday night we were involved in a boat accident.  First of all let me just say that I am so grateful that we are all ok and no one got hurt.

Here is what happened:

We spent the day driving from Savannah to Brunswick.  The last bridge just before we went into Brunswick is the Torras Causeway that goes from Brunswick to St Simon’s Island.  We arrived at the bridge 1 hr before high tide.  We slowly approached the bridge and noticed that there was a crane to the right of the channel, and there were no markers to indicate bridge height posted as you enter the channel.  So we decided to be on the safe side and turned around, went around the corner and anchored.  We spent several hours at anchor.  It was calm and clear, there were dolphin everywhere.  I made dinner, the kids started a Harry Potter movie.  It was a lovely evening, a perfect Family Fun Friday, and we were in excited anticipation of returning home.

Finally around 1930 when it was just over 2 hours past high tide we decided to take another look at the bridge.  The depth where we had anchored had gone from 20 to 17 feet.  We noticed on the bridge that instead of just 2 1/2 cross beams showing there were 5 beams showing, so we knew that the tide had gone down several feet under the bridge as well.  Really, for us to feel comfortable under a bridge with our VHF antennas we liked to have 67 feet (they are supposed to be a minimum at 65 feet at high tide).  So it seemed the bridge was plenty high.  We approached the bridge very slowly.  We had decided I would look out, and if I had any doubts then Kim would back out of the bridge entrance and we would anchor longer.  We have done that before on other bridges. We weren’t in a hurry.  Kim very slowly approached the bridge, going at bare steerage way.  I was watching the antennae and mast as we approached the bridge and decided it didn’t look right.  We might have been ok, but like I said, if one of us isn’t sure we don’t take any chances.  So I told Kim to back up.   Kim started backing out of the bridge.  The current turned us to starboard, so we weren’t backing out straight.  As Kim was trying to correct for that suddenly the boat came to a complete stop.  I heard the most awful noise, and then saw smoke pouring from the starboard engine compartment.  I killed the engine with the emergency shut off.  The boat wasn’t moving at all.  Kim ran downstairs and saw we were taking on water.  I followed and lifted up the engine lid and the water was already to the top of our diesel engine under the aft bunk.   There was no way we were going to be able to plug this hole.  We had the kids get dressed and put on PFDs, Kim grabbed a radio and called the Coast Guard for help.

I grabbed my phone to call Sea Tow.  But our new membership cards had been mailed to Mt Dora, along with the stickers with their phone number.  Then I remembered they had sent me an email welcoming us back to Sea Tow.  I grabbed my iPad and did an email search, not there.  I grabbed Kim’s iPad and did an email search, not there.  Kim was on the radio running around, grabbing our ditch bag, directing the kids.  There were alarms shrieking in the background (the bilge high water alarms).  Then I remembered that I had taken a screen shot of that email.  Which device? We have 3 computers and 2 iPads on the boat.  I grabbed one of the computers and started looking through the photos and actually found the screen shot.  I called Sea Tow and got a dispatcher in an office who was NOT in a hurry.  While I was on the phone with her the Coast Guard arrived and fortunately they used their radio to get hold of a Sea Tow Captain to come and help.

 

The first thing the Coast Guard did when they arrived was get the kids and Brooke on their boat.  In fact they drove up and said “hand over the kids”.  Kim stopped what she was doing and said, “Where are you taking them?”  Her first thought was that the Coast Guard was going to drive off with our kids and we didn’t know where they were going.  Fortunately they weren’t going anywhere, just alongside our boat in safety.  The other Coast Guard guys got on our boat and grabbed a pump to start pumping water out of the boat. They said we were taking on 200 gallons of water/ minute. First the pump was missing a gasket so they were using a towel to contain the water spewing from the exhaust hose.  Then I found the gasket on the transom so they were able to stop and fix the pump.  Then the pump kept dying on them. At one point they got a bag of tools, disassembled the pump and the put it back together again to keep it going.  One of the Coast Guard guys looked over the side of the boat and saw what the problem was, we were impaled by an I-Beam going perpendicular from the crane into the channel. The picture shows the vertical I-Beam next to our boat.  Just under the water is the metal beam that you can see going towards our boat.  It is actually a couple of feet under the water and under our boat.  We have a 4.5 foot draft, but as the tide was going down we could see this beam better and better and in fact ended up suspended on it before we were pulled off.

While the Coast Guard had the kids and we were waiting on Sea Tow Kim and I salvaged what we could.   We had already put our computers, iPads, and cameras in a waterproof bag and on the Coast Guard boat.  Kim had had each child pack a single backpack of items.  Aislin somehow had managed to fit all of her stuffed animals (including Pink Pig) in one little backpack–she called it her Mary Poppins backpack.  Ben had put survival equipment–his multitool and knife, a flashlight, his hat and sunglasses, and his iPod in his backpack.  I ran down to the kids’ side of the boat which was still dry and grabbed them each a change of clothing and put it in a dirty laundry sack and threw that on the Coast Guard boat too.  Then we still had some time so I ran up front.  From the top of the boat somehow I managed to wiggle myself (wearing a PFD) down into the hatch over my bed which is on the front starboard side.  The water level was gradually going forward in the boat as it was getting higher.    I started grabbing stuff from my cabin and dumping out my hatch across the top of the boat and down Aislin’s hatch onto her bed to save it.  I was able to rescue my guitar, Kim’s prayer beads and wedding ring, some journals, some of our clothing.  In hindsight I wish I had rescued more, but at the time I didn’t know how much time I would have so I was prioritizing, not grabbing everything I could.

FINALLY Sea Tow arrived with 3 additional pumps.  By now the boat was listing quite a bit to its starboard side as it took on more water.  Once their pumps were up and running they were able to start making headway in getting the water out and righting the boat.  After several hours they felt like it was floating enough to tie up to it and pull it under the bridge to a beach on the other side.  We all got in the Coast Guard boat, the Sea Tow guys tied up alongside Wonderstruck and we saw and heard it come off that I-Beam. Unfortunately the current was strong they could not pull the boat laterally with their thrusters, so it was dragged along the bulkhead under the bridge, gouging the fiberglass the entire length of the boat.  But I guess when you have a hole in your boat that is the least of your problems.  They got the boat onto a beach and called a diver who was able to apply a patch underwater.  The diver said it was a 10 inch hole near the bottom of the keel with an additional 10 inch gouge that was seeping.  It was patched on the inside and out.  It stayed on the beach all night and the next morning it was floating well enough to be towed around the corner to a marina.

 

I’ve been asked how the kids did during this event. The kids did great.  When we hit the I-Beam and it made that horrible noise they both came running out of the salon to the cockpit, so they knew as soon as we did that there was something very wrong.  Although you could tell they were scared and anxious they listened well and quickly obeyed everything Kim and I told them to do.  Once they were on the Coast Guard boat they started calming down and went from their initial fear to boredom.  They had to remain seated in the Coast Guard boat and were not allowed to get up for three hours.  It was late at night and they were absolutely exhausted.  Brooke just laid down on the Coast Guard boat.  She would pant every once in a while but I think that was just because she hadn’t got to potty since 6:00 am.

Once Wonderstruck and we were ashore we were greeted by our good friends Bill and Sylvia from Eos who had brought our van from the Brunswick Marina and watched the rescue process.  We had to fill out paperwork with Law Enforcement and Sea Tow, but then Sylvia took the kids and me and Brooke to go find a hotel. Kim stayed behind to finish up with the various officers and rescue operations.  Sylvia offered for us to stay on her boat, but it would be hard to get Brooke on and off her monohull, so I thought a hotel would be best.   I lost my phone in the process of evacuating, and Sylvia didn’t have a smart phone, so we had to find a hotel the old-fashioned way, by driving from one to the other. On the way we stopped at Walgreens so I could buy toiletries,  Then we would pull up to a hotel, I would run in, “Do you take dogs? Do you have a room? ok and run back out.  We drove from hotel to hotel.  Finally we found a Ramada that said they had a room and would take a dog.  Sylvia dropped us off and went to go pick up Kim.

Picture this.  The kids and I had been up since 6:00 am.  We had been sweating all day, had been completely soaked in rain in the afternoon.  We were filthy, stinky, exhausted.  Our “luggage” consisted of a Walgreens bag of toiletries, the kids’ backpacks, 2 dry bags, an old Publix reusable bag, and Brooke’s squirrel.  We loaded our things onto a luggage cart and went up the elevator to the room.  It was dirty. Beds not made.  We went back downstairs and requested another room. We went to the second room and as soon as we went in the door Aislin screamed because three little roaches ran out in front of us.  We turned around, went back downstairs and I requested a refund.  We walked back outside the hotel.  It was now 1:00 am and I had no car, no phone, and I’m using Kim’s wallet and ID  (I couldn’t find mine).  The kids and I divided all our things to carry and started walking to the next hotel to find a place to sleep.  On the way Aislin asked, “If this hotel doesn’t have any rooms are we going to have to sleep on the streets tonight?”

Fortunately the Comfort Inn nearby did have a room for us.  I settled the kids in, they were exhausted and quickly fell asleep.  Then I realized, how am I going to let Kim know I’m at a different hotel?  I don’t have a cell phone.  I tried using the hotel phone in the room to call Sylvia or Kim but it wouldn’t let me place a long distance phone call.  I paced back and forth.  Then I remembered, I can text her from my iPad.  So I pulled out the iPad with its 7% battery power (we had forgotten all the chargers and cords on the boat) and was able to send a quick text message to Kim so she could come to the right hotel.  She arrived safely at 2:30 am.

 

 

Per Coast Guard records here is the timeline of events:
1955-Coast Guard received initial distress call
2006-Coast Guard asset arrived on scene
2106-Seatow arrived on scene
2230-Seatow took S/V Wonderstruck in tow and beached it just south of the Mackay River boat ramp

Things we did right:

1. Placed distress call quickly

2. Had everyone in PFDs

3.  Had ditch bag with flashlight, handheld VHF radio, basic survival equipment ready to go.

4. We stayed calm and directed the children from one task to another so they could be calm and focused.

Things we should have done differently:

1.  Called the Sea Tow captain on the radio instead of wasting time trying to find the dispatch number and talking to the dispatcher on a cell phone

2.   We should have had a list of things that can’t be put stored in a ditch bag because they are in use but to be grabbed quickly like computer back up hard drives, chargers, and the official paperwork for the boat (all our file folders got soaked and ruined)

3.  When I was salvaging things I should have been doing a supermarket sweep and grabbing everything from the middle of the boat to the forward staying just ahead of the water instead of trying to prioritize most expensive/ sentimental.   I ended up with more time than I had originally thought but by then it was too late.

My Gratitude list:

1.  We are all safe.

2.  This accident happened close to a Coast Guard station and a Sea Tow boat so they could respond quickly.

3.  This accident happened close to Brunswick Land Marina where we have friends and a vehicle.

4. The boat, although damaged, is fixable.

5.  The things on the boat that were ruined are just that– things.  Although I am sad that the Mother’s Day and Birthday cards that the kids made me were ruined, and all the paperwork and owner’s manuals were ruined, they are still just things.  My family is safe.

6. I am blessed with amazing people in my life that are  loving, supportive, and giving.

7. There is nobody I would rather be on a sinking boat with than Kim Krueger Kelley.  Fortunately I am married to her.