Dark 'N' stormy...

Melissa and I started the 2020 year by planning a trip to Key West and the southern parts of Florida for the beginning of February to see all of the Floridian National Parks: Dry Tortugas, Biscayne, and Everglades. The plan was to be staying on a sailboat hosted through Airbnb and sailing with our host/captain to a few reefs, sunken ships, and a sunset cruise for about five days. We loved our beautiful sunny drive from Miami down the Overseas Highway, counting the amount of crazy mailboxes we saw on our cruise (11 to 11 Dolphins and Manatees, 2 Flamingos, 1 Lighthouse, and 1 Lobster) it was a great start to the beginning of our “Snowbird” getaway. Once we arrived around 7pm we were picked up by our 60's something, tall, bearded, Hemmingway-esque, captain on the dinghy and were boated to the main sailboat, the ‘Halia'. It was a beautiful 45 foot sailboat with a nice wooden cabin, living quarters, hammock, everything you'd expect to spend a relaxing 5 days on the open water. We had a few Dark 'N' Stormy cocktails with our captain and decided to turn in early to get a great start the next day. Though there was rain and storms on the radar, we were told they shouldn't be too bad…

We were startled awake by the stern slamming down on the waves from the storm, thunder booming, lighting crashing, and rain pouring down upon the deck overhead. The stern also happened to be where our bed was located, up and down, we kept feeling the force of the waves. Melissa and I were, now, wide awake, we had only gotten about two and half hours of sleep, it was 11:30pm, and we’ve been awake since 4 am. Something in my gut told me to put my camera equipment into my underwater housing. As I tried to get up you could tell the wind was blowing relentlessly outside, the boat was at a tilt. As I packed my things back up you could see the lights of Key West out the porthole, although, the lights were spinning and the boat was spinning. Suddenly, a large crashing, smashing, metal grinding, shuddering feeling resonated throughout the boat and ourselves. Were we sinking? Did the mast fall? What the hell is going on? We jumped out of our bed and swung our cabin door open, our captain, was running for the stairs, yelling, "I have a problem!"

01 / 24

We scrambled...

up onto the deck, we were being hit by an unmanned triple-Decker yacht which was also moored in the harbor. The wind and waves had blown the boats together and our boat was losing. The railing was gone, metal from each boat flying in the air, loose from the collision, the fiberglass cracking below us from the other boat with the ferocity of the waves. As we yelled out to our captain, "What can we do?!" He yelled back to help push back the other boat, but to be safe. We were on it, we had to survive, this was our vacation, not our funeral. We got onto the deck trying to help our captain make the force of the waves less destructive while holding the yacht and pushing against it. Our captain struggled to get the bumpers between the boats, we had to get the timing right. With the bumpers tied between them the force of each wave was lessened, but we weren't out of it yet. The wind and waves were still moving us with such force, the helm of our boat and stern of the yacht were now coming together, our captain was trying to get out of it but the other boats mooring lines were tangled in our rudder, we couldn't move, we were entangled in this boat. Our host had us go back down into the cabin, he pulled up the Coast Guard on the radio and started hailing for help, they were responding, but asking lots of questions which our captain didn't have time for since we were trying to stop the boat from sinking. That's when Melissa sprung into action she grabbed the radio and spoke to the Coast Guard, allowing us to go back to the deck to continue fighting off this massive yacht. At one point they asked for our coordinates, which Melissa didn't have access too, but thankfully, like a voice from the heavens, a lovely woman on a neighboring boat helped provide all the necessary information.

After about 45 minutes of scrambling around on the boat the Coastguard showed up thanks to Melissa and our stranger savior’s directions. At this time the waves, wind, and our nerves had calmed a bit. The Coast Guard yelled out to our captain and asked if he needed help at this time, our host was angry, and a bit short with our new friends. In the eyes of our host, if they couldn't tow us, they couldn't help us. The Coast Guard ended up coming around a couple more times, checking on us as well as a few other boats that were also in distress. However, the final time they came around they were now also angry with our captain; they read him his rights and the fees he could face for hailing them in distress and then aggressively telling them to go away. They then yelled out to me, an exhausted, travel worn, wet, winded, sweaty, Michigander who in a two hour span learned more about boats than some learn in a lifetime. "You with the hat, do you want off this vessel?!” they yelled out to me. Melissa and I looked at each-other, I'm pretty sure we both said hell yeah, I called out, "Yes!" We got our belongings, said our farewells to our host, and wished him luck as the Coast Guard helped us into their boat. The three Guardsman were twenty-somethings tatted, military type folks, and super friendly. They asked if that was our relative we were staying with and we told them that we were vacationing and it was an Airbnb. They were very apologetic about the situation and explained where they could take us, with it now being 2am, and where we could find a hotel. They also then warned us that we were in a tornado watch and that there were more storms on the way. We got into their port and they took us to the gate and from there we walked another mile to our car. After calling seven different hotels we finally managed to find a refuge, the Marriott. The night clerk, a fellow Midwesterner from Chicago couldn't believe what we had been through and helped us get a room with late check out, shuttle passes, anything she could. After another 2 hours of calling family, and trying to settle our nerves we finally managed to fall asleep, hoping for better morning.

The next morning we were glad to be on dry land. We had talked to our host and he told us that in 30 years of living on a boat that our night was the most traumatic event he had ever been through, AND HE WAS IN HURRICANE IRMA! We know because we asked him when we were having our Dark ’N’ Stormy cocktails, how ironic. We still wanted to try and salvage the rest of our vacation since it was day one of ten... We called around to several hotels and found Ocean's Edge Resort, luckily they had a deal going on and I mentioned to the guy why we were in Key West and our whole fiasco. He hooked us up with a beautiful room and we managed to have an enjoyable time for the remaining 5 days in Key West. Although, not our planned sailing trip we did manage to sail around Key West (on foot/and car) to many great local venues. The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory was a great highlight the day after the boat crash, also Key West’s open container law was a very much welcomed law. We enjoyed walking around to the many different bars, shops and tourists spots, like Southern Most Point, Mile 0, Hemingway House, and taking the ferry to Dry Tortugas National Park.

Stay tuned for the rest of the adventure.

Ramble on T+M

......

01 / 17