Deep Blue Marine (DPBE)

[Capt.Billy]

True,
heres another account in the days of our treasure hunting life's
Yesterday we brought both boats back around to where we call port. Samana is where we base our operations out of. Usually this is a twelve hour ride. Not yesterday as we started out we were bucking a six to eight foot sea. Because we had so many moorings and anchors we place out in the Rio San Juan area it took three quarters of the day to retrieve all our gear. This is a must as we moor our ship(s) on the very hazardous north shore. So because of that we ran a little late getting under way.
About one thirty this morning we were rounding Cabo Cabron. This is a point that sticks out to the deepest edge of the islands north east side. Here we always encounter the windiest and roughest conditions. Here we were burying our out-riggers as each wave passed. I would judge the waves at about fifteen feet. As we rounded Cabo Cabron we were riding side seas. Meaning everything in the boat that wasn’t fastened down was on the move. Cupboards opened and spilling out all their contents. The whaler(tender) on the back deck broke its tie down lines and was a washed and in some case floating as the whole back deck was a washed as huge waves broke over the stern. We had just three people on our ship and another three on the Lady Laura and they too were being tossed around like a toy ship. Just when we were getting most things back and secure the engine died. Not good at all as we were only a mile from this Cape with huge waves breaking over the rocks. The moon was just coming up which didn’t help much as we could see what disaster was awaiting us down wind.
We are on an eighty foot ship and the Lady Laura only forty feet long. But as I watched the GPS I could see the wind was pushing us directly towards these rocky shores. Not a very nice feeling. We needed to figure out something and quick. A chore very dangerous but we had no choice and wasted no time calling the Lady Laura to come and assist us. I have Roberto who is a Dominican and an excellent mechanic. He was in the engine room trying his best to get this problem resolved. With very little time to manage this predicament I made the decision to have the Lady Laura take us in tow. So last night in huge waves we had the Lady Laura come close enough to our bow and throw us a line. Not much power to tow such a big boat but little by little I could see on the GPS we were being pulled away from a sure disaster. After getting three miles away from that coast I went down stairs to help Roberto. With fuel in his mouth from sucking on a hose that relieved the object that obstructed the fuel line and with a huge smile as he showed me the broken off piece of a plastic Tie-Wrap, that was the culprit obstructing the fuel line. He turned and pushed the starter button and that noise of that engine starting was as close as the best sound I could have ever heard.
When in rough seas this is always a problem as loose pieces of anything that ever may have found its way into the fuel tank has its best chance of making it to the pick-up tube. Same as when you have algae it always breaks free and clogs up the fuel filter. But anytime during that trip this would not have been such a big problem but not when were rounding a cape that juts out into the second deepest part of the ocean in the world and is bordered by one side with cliffs that reach up a thousand feet. This make for just the slightest of an un-easy feeling.
We tied the ship up at five AM this morning with a very tired but happy captain and crew.
So that’s how director Rawson spent his night.