Hermann said. The five slowest boats, plus Fraulein Betta, closed ranks. One of those five was the big trimaran. With lots of space, and lots of sail, very luxurious, it simply wasn’t very fast.
Without the satellite weather information, the six boats ran into a very bad storm. It wasn’t big, but it was severe. Normally the group of boats could have avoided it, but not without outside weather information.
Two of the boats had serious trouble during the storm. One lost its main sail, and the other lost her rudder. The storm passed and the sea calmed. The four boats still maneuverable sailed up to the other two and the captains had a conference. An attempt would be made to repair the rudder on the one damaged boat. If it couldn’t be repaired, the boat would be abandoned, and all the supplies left and the passengers and crew would move to the other five boats. The one without a mast would be towed by the Fraulein Betta, the boat most capable of doing so.
Unfortunately they had to go to that plan. There was just no way to fix the rudder. The boat would be uncontrollable. The changes made, the group was ready to sail away when the captain of the Mercury Express decided to try and transfer the fuel from the boat being left to his own tanks.
The other captains tried to talk him out of it, but he was determined to get the fuel. It was a major error in judgment. As the other boats circled nearby, the Mercury Express was maneuvered up to and secured to the damaged boat again. A pump was rigged, and the fuel transfer was started. It didn’t go well. The swells weren’t particularly high, but they were enough to make keeping the boats together difficult. Impossible actually.
A deck cleat pulled loose and the boats started to pivot around the other point of attachment. The fuel line pulled loose from the fuel intake on the receiving boat, but the pump on the disabled boat continued to work, dumping gallon after gallon of diesel fuel into the water, after showering the Mercury Express with fuel.
Diesel isn’t particularly explosive, but it will burn, given a suitable ignition source. It wasn’t clear what set it off, but the diesel ignited, enveloping both boats in flames. The passengers and crew of the Mercury Express began jumping into the water, trying to get away from the flames on the boat. Several dove right into the flaming diesel.
Jay didn’t think when he saw one of the children struggling in the water. He dove in and swam toward the girl. By the time he got close, the floating, burning diesel had drifted around her, trapping her inside a ring of fire.
Though he tried to dodge a floating pool of the diesel that hadn’t caught fire yet, Jay wasn’t quick enough and the left sleeve of his shirt picked up some of the diesel. Ignoring it, Jay dove under the flaming ring of fire around the girl and came up beside her.
She was hysterical, and grabbed Jay, trying to climb up out of the water on top of him. He managed to get her in a control hold, the way he’d been trained at the pool during rescue training he’d taken. He put his hand over the girl’s mouth and nose, and dove down again, to get outside the ring of fire.
But the girl was amazingly strong from the adrenaline coursing through her body and she kicked free of Jay and surfaced. The wind knocked from his lungs, Jay had to surface, too. The girl was just outside the circle of fire and Antonio was there to get her to Fraulein Betta. Jay wasn’t as lucky. Just a few inches more and he would have been clear, but his left arm, the shirt sleeve soaked with diesel, came up in the flames.
He jerked his arm down as soon as he felt the heat on his arm, and drowned out the fire. He swam over to Fraulein Betta and helped Antonio get the girl aboard. There were three other people in the water and Jay swam back.
The boats were separating in the wind, the last line holding them together having burned in two. There
Without the satellite weather information, the six boats ran into a very bad storm. It wasn’t big, but it was severe. Normally the group of boats could have avoided it, but not without outside weather information.
Two of the boats had serious trouble during the storm. One lost its main sail, and the other lost her rudder. The storm passed and the sea calmed. The four boats still maneuverable sailed up to the other two and the captains had a conference. An attempt would be made to repair the rudder on the one damaged boat. If it couldn’t be repaired, the boat would be abandoned, and all the supplies left and the passengers and crew would move to the other five boats. The one without a mast would be towed by the Fraulein Betta, the boat most capable of doing so.
Unfortunately they had to go to that plan. There was just no way to fix the rudder. The boat would be uncontrollable. The changes made, the group was ready to sail away when the captain of the Mercury Express decided to try and transfer the fuel from the boat being left to his own tanks.
The other captains tried to talk him out of it, but he was determined to get the fuel. It was a major error in judgment. As the other boats circled nearby, the Mercury Express was maneuvered up to and secured to the damaged boat again. A pump was rigged, and the fuel transfer was started. It didn’t go well. The swells weren’t particularly high, but they were enough to make keeping the boats together difficult. Impossible actually.
A deck cleat pulled loose and the boats started to pivot around the other point of attachment. The fuel line pulled loose from the fuel intake on the receiving boat, but the pump on the disabled boat continued to work, dumping gallon after gallon of diesel fuel into the water, after showering the Mercury Express with fuel.
Diesel isn’t particularly explosive, but it will burn, given a suitable ignition source. It wasn’t clear what set it off, but the diesel ignited, enveloping both boats in flames. The passengers and crew of the Mercury Express began jumping into the water, trying to get away from the flames on the boat. Several dove right into the flaming diesel.
Jay didn’t think when he saw one of the children struggling in the water. He dove in and swam toward the girl. By the time he got close, the floating, burning diesel had drifted around her, trapping her inside a ring of fire.
Though he tried to dodge a floating pool of the diesel that hadn’t caught fire yet, Jay wasn’t quick enough and the left sleeve of his shirt picked up some of the diesel. Ignoring it, Jay dove under the flaming ring of fire around the girl and came up beside her.
She was hysterical, and grabbed Jay, trying to climb up out of the water on top of him. He managed to get her in a control hold, the way he’d been trained at the pool during rescue training he’d taken. He put his hand over the girl’s mouth and nose, and dove down again, to get outside the ring of fire.
But the girl was amazingly strong from the adrenaline coursing through her body and she kicked free of Jay and surfaced. The wind knocked from his lungs, Jay had to surface, too. The girl was just outside the circle of fire and Antonio was there to get her to Fraulein Betta. Jay wasn’t as lucky. Just a few inches more and he would have been clear, but his left arm, the shirt sleeve soaked with diesel, came up in the flames.
He jerked his arm down as soon as he felt the heat on his arm, and drowned out the fire. He swam over to Fraulein Betta and helped Antonio get the girl aboard. There were three other people in the water and Jay swam back.
The boats were separating in the wind, the last line holding them together having burned in two. There
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