You can read the whole story in my book - Chapter 3: "I Don't Want to Die Anymore". I am not going to re-write that story here as it would "bend" the publisher’s nose, but I can and will add to it.
Since then we've only spoken about that incident on two occasions. Once he asked me if I have ever had any nightmares about that day (we cheated death - in a BIG way). Fortunately, neither of us has had any nightmares. The other time he contacted me, he asked me how I would have managed to get us to shore, build a fire, and create shelter. Our lives were still in peril even if we did manage to make it to shore. Fortunately, we were picked up by the only boat for MILES around! Nonetheless, my friend still ponders and asks; “How would we have survived?”
Had that boat not picked us up when it did, my first course of action would have been to get back to the remains of the Lady Elizabeth - our sinking boat. As all three of us were piled in this small raft, we could still see about 5 feet of the bow of the Lady Elizabeth was still sticking straight up out of the water. The air that remained compressed in the nose of the boat was keeping it afloat. Getting to it would have bought us a little more time before it sank completely. Buying time sounds like a good thing to purchase at a time like this, don't you think? Once we reached the bow we could then quickly assess our odds, examine the current, and search for whatever was floating about that could help us in any way.
What would that be?
Rope floats, and it is useful. Coolers are flotation devices with food in them; we had 2 or 3 of them bobbing about. Any plastic or tarp that might be found could be used for shelter, and fuel barrels were also floating about - more flotation. We would have needed them if the current pushed us out in the Hinchenbrook Strait, not much of a chance making it out there though. The cold, wet night would get you long before the drowning.
HOW do you survive?
Your basic survival instincts take over - those primal ones - those that are buried deep in all of us but lost to most. The FIRST thing you do when you hit shore is to get to work, and I do mean WORK! Gather any kind of wood, poles, limbs, rocks, boat debris, spruce bows and anything else that can help you during the cold night you now face head-on and exposed! This work I am talking about accomplishes two important things during a critical time like this. First, it warms your body and keeps you warm as you busy about. Second, it helps take your recently wrenched mind off of that trauma. By working you are telling every part of your body that you have survived round one.
As always, I had a lighter inside a ziploc bag in my back pocket. That simple act - one that I have ALWAYS practiced - would make life comfortable for all of us. As with all shoreline timber, all readily available wood was damp and wet; nothing anywhere was dry. This does not mean it will not burn; it simply takes longer to get it going. If you search long enough you will find something that is dry enough to use for starter; perhaps under a deadfall, an old bear den, or some driftwood that is located high on the bank from last month's highest tide will work. If it's light, it will burn. If it’s heavy, then it’s too wet. Just stay busy and keep looking because you'll need wood all night long and into the next day to survive. Oh, it's going to be a fine and pleasant misery.
But we WOULD live to see another day!
Knight Island was the island we sank nearby. Even though we were only 50 yards offshore it would have been a battle in those 4-5' seas to get our tiny raft, with ‘poor boy’ oars, to the shore. The wind was quite stiff AND our position had us floating and bobbing at the mercy of the incoming tide which was taking us away from the island. On top of all that I was not sure that all three of us could have paddled that raft fast enough to overcome the tide AND the wind. That little raft was FULL and drafting water quite a bit. All of these elements combined to say - NO way.
This is all hypothetical of course since we were rescued. No one knows how it might have turned out, but the above description would have most certainly put me into my ‘Giving it Hell & All I’ve Got” version! Heck, by the time I got done with this ‘outpost’ no one would have wanted to leave! I've been in similar situations in Alaska before and I have found there is nothing more satisfying than having the Grim Reaper take a shot at you - and miss!
In every coastal fishing community in Alaska you'll find a memorial to those lost at sea. Three more names came very close to being added to that list - very close indeed!
People confront their mortality in two different ways; there are not a lot of options during these moments of trial.
Either you face it, think, or fight – or you simply perish! You MUST gain strength in the face of adversity.
Any Alaskan will tell you that Alaska’s cold waters kills a lot of people here annually. You don’t see folks out in our ocean waters the way you do in the Lower 48-oh NO. Our tides will raise the water 30 feet daily in most areas and it’s constantly on the move one way or the other. No, you don’t want trouble with Alaska waters, they are just to cold to remain in very long (5 Minutes) and survive.
Finally, there was one word in this story that I did not use or in any way refer to.
Know what it is?
PANIC!
It has NO place in a story like this!
And in the wild places of Alaska (which is most of the state), panic will KILL you!!
