A Week on a Capsized Ship.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVI, Issue 22, 22 November 1911, Page 42

A Week on a Capsized Ship.

By

GEORGE BLARDONE.

The story of the unique adventure which befell the crew of the schooner ‘"Martha” on the Bahama Banks. Very few skippers have been through such an experience as Captain Hull and saved their lives, let alone their vessels.

TO have one's schooner turn turtle in a squall, to live on the bottom of the capsized vessel for several •lays, to dive under her and bring np materials enough to construct a canvas boat, and, finally, to reach a haven of safety and eventually rescue your vessel, is the unique experience which ■befell Captain George E. Hall, master of the schooner “Martha,” well known in the Mexican Gulf ports of the United Mates. The “Martha is still in commission, none the worse from her experience, being under charter to the United States Lighthouse Board. It was while wait* « big for this charter, fresh from a voyage to Cuba, that Captain Hall told me the story of the adventure in question. The incident occurred in the summer of 1904. and I will recount it as nearly as possible in the captain's own words. It was on July 28th, 1904, that the schooner “.Martha,” under my command, find with a crew of three men, sailed from Tampa, Florida, bound to Caiberien, Cuba, with a cargo of lumber. We had an uneventful run down the Florida coast, through the harbour of Key West, across the Gulf Stream, over the pic turesque Cay Sal Hanks, where you can see the bottom through the misty green Waters of the Florida Straits, and so on to the port in question. We arrived there On August 7tli. and discharged without mishap. On August 12th we cleared and sailed lor Nipe Bay, near the eastern extremity of the island, where we were to load Spanish cedar logs for Tampa. We. were clear of Key Francis on the morning of the 13th, and the pilot left us. The rest of the day was spent beating against the easterly winds which prevail here, and as night drew on I hauled the Schooner up on a north-easterly course, standing for the Bahama Banks; I did not care to take a chance with the rock-bound Cuban coast in the night, as, yith the breeze, we had, it made an uncnnifoidalde lee. It was shortly before eight bells -when the soundings indicated that we wore on the edge of the bank, and I held steadily on the course, intending to run over the banks as far as possible, and so avoid the current in the old Channel. At daylight .1 turned in. having been up all night. The 4vind had died down to almost a calm by this time, and the weather was very line. It must have been three bells in the morning watch when 1 heard the cook giving the man at the wheel Lis cofl’eo. I called for a cup myself, and promptly went to sleep again. It was six bells when I was called by the 200 k. Tie declared there* was a squall making dow n on us, and 1 tumbled up on deck in short order. There was nothing but a little shower to windward, but over on our lee was an ugly looking cloud. Immediately I gave orders to take in the lighter sails, and when this was done I ordered the main* sail to Im? furled. This left us under the foresail and standing jib. As we 'were furling the mainsail the wind be* gan to sing through the rigging aloft, although there was hardly a breath of air on deck. It was a peculiar thing. I inntantly shouted out an order to let go the foresail halliards. The mon started to obey the order, but before they douLi lift a hand — swish!—the was on us. The . “ .Martha ’* heeled over instantly, and, light as she was. there was - nothing to hold her. In another instant she was bottom up. The thing happened all in a moment. Instinct made us leap for the weather rail, and as the vessel went over we doubled over her weather side find on to her bottom as it came up. The first thing 1 saw when I looked • round was the yawl, which was stowed on her port Slide, Moating bottom np. 'l'he, Tool, Fivineia, was an excellent and, realising that our live* might de-

pend on that boat, lie made for it, but the current was too strong, and, aided by this and the wind, the boat drew away from him and from us, who were clinging to the bottom of the shipwrecked schooner. Giving up the hopeless chase, Francis turned and managed to make his way ’back to the vessel. Hopes were dragging about, coming to the surface here and there, buffeted by’ the waves, and 1 seized one of these and threw it to him. He was nearly’ exhausted when he managed to catch the end of the rope and we hauled him

aboard. The squall was now upon ns in all its fury,' and our first care was to secure stub ropes as we could and draw them up over the bottom of the schooner ■ —mere raft it now was—to hold on.by, and so keep from being washed overboa rd. About this time articles began to float out of the cabin. My Panama hat, which I had purchased in Caiberien, was among the first to appear. Then other things that would float began to work out, and some of them we managed io secure. Presently it began to rain, and the wind and sea both steadied down under the influence of the semi-tropieal deluge. 1 cannot describe my feelings at this time. Here was the staunch little vessel that I bail assumed command of over two years before apparently a hopeless wreck. A short half-hour since she ha I been as trim a little schooner as ever sailed out of a Gulf port; and ] had a> feeling as if a cherished home was no more. Nor did our position on the bottom of the vessel appear very encouraging. We were lying like turtles on a log, without food or water, forty-live miles from land—the island of Andros, the largest of the Bahama, and uninhabited. As we lay, it bore to the north-east from our cafeulated position. The cook expressed all our feelings, 1 believe, when he remarked: —-

“Well, I guess we are sailing our last voyage now.” ft would never have done for me to apjiear to give up so easily, however, so I began telling the men that our position was not so bad as it might be, hoping to cheer them up, although I really did not see any hope for us. Soon some blankets came floating alongside, having worked up out of the cabin, and we secured them. They were wet and heavy, but as night wore on they served to keep the wind off, for we felt the void of the night breeze keenly. That night was the longest I have ever spent. As morning came on the sun rose bright and clear, with a moderate breeze blowing. Anxiously we searched the horizon, but no vessel was in sight anywhere. After a little whale, warmed by the sun, which aroused me to a sense, of action, I ordered the men to commence diving for the main hatch to see if we could not get into the vessel and so obtain some food. The water on the bank at this point was not more than twentyfour feet deep, and this had prevented the vessel from turning completely over. Anchored by her topmast, she lay partly on her side, and the upper side being full of air we could go in there and remain longer than if she had been full of water. Eventually I managed to make my way along to the cabin bulkhead

from the main hatch, and commenced the difficult task of getting a plank loose. J finally succeeded, working with my pocket-knife until I had made a small hole in the thin planking, and then, with a stick, prying the first plank out. The only things that 1 could lay my hands on, however, were a -box of raisins and a half-barrel of Hour—both well soaked with salt water. The tinned goods in the pantry had rolled down to the lower side of the schooner. Water-soaked Hour is not altogether delicate fare, but the raisins were not half bad, and we made a good feed off them. Another night came on with the moon at its zenith, and it Hooded ns with silvery rays as we lay upon our precarious roost, very hungry and still more thirsty. Luckily for us, however, being constantly in the water had assuaged our thirst somewhat, so we did not suffer as much as we might have done. When morning dawned again I told the; men that our one chance was to build a raft and attempt to reach Andros on it, and we therefore began the most strenuous diving that an unequipped diver ever attempted. We took turns at it, directing our efforts to the cabin through the hole I had made in the pantry-bulk-head. Wo were after some tools, especially the axe, for I had determined

to cut away sufficient plankiiw and .. M-eure material with which to build raft. Finally, the eook, Francis, l>, ou . b l up a saw, and directly after another man ■brought up the axe, while a third man aged to throw a ease of canned rnx.e beef through the hole in the bulkhead and so get it up to the surface \\ J thought the beef a great prize, but when we attempted to eat it our suffering from thirst became aeute. To relievd this we lay in the water for some littld time with only our heads stiekingout and this relieved us in no small measure’ We finished our raft that afternoon' •but when we tried it our hopes were sooii shattered, for it would not support end man, much less four. We were "reatlw disappointed, needless to say, and knocked off work for the rest' of the dav The men’s spirits sank as the hours wore on, and from moody silence they bewail grumbling and muttering. Things looked bad for us, and I had to shake off my ] c . thargy and arouse myself to think out some other plan which might lead toi our salvation. I began stirring about again, but I noticed that laek°of food and drink was beginning to tell on ineS 1 was rapidly becoming weaker. My firsfl thought now was to get fresh water, fori I feared that another twenty-four hour? would bring on delirium for some of ns and I knew’ what that would spell foi; the poor wretch who lost his senses, .Showers had fallen near us once or twied during the day—little summery affairs Characteristic of the latitudes we were, in at that season of the year—rbut none had passed over us. However, one might come at ony’ time, so l began preparin'* for it. ' 3

The sun dipped again into the west. It was Wednesday night—our third day. on the wreck. During the day we had brought up a piece of tarpaulin and an empty jug and pail.' I informed the men that in ease of a .squall we would try, and catch some water with the tarpaulin; using our jug and basin for receptacles, and that next morning we would begin diving again and try to ‘ cut loose tha .foresail (which was a stout piece of can-' vas) and with it eoiistiuet a 'canvasf boat. This put some life into them, and the coming up of a good rain-squall about nine o’clock allowed us to catch sufiicienti water to quench our thirst and lay aside a store for future use. It was not much, it is true, ibut it made, us happy.

The rain-squall,' however, brought us some trouble, for there was wind with it, and that raised a nasty sea. We lost some of our "clothes that we-had brought; up in the process of diving, and our nails, but we managed to save the tarpaulin, axe, saw, box of meat, and our halfbarrel of soggy flour,- although for al little while 1 thought the waves would wash them away and ourselves as well. In half an hour, however, the wind went; down, and we. ate some of the meat and managed to snatch a little sleep. * Thus refreshed, it was. with right good will that we turned to it, at daylight iib the attempt tp ent,away the foresail and 'bring it to the surface,. By'eight o'clock vve had retrieved the sail, and then f managed to fiii,d some more nails. ll« next broke up our raft and fashioned ;V box some fifteen feet long ami six feet wide at one end.by three feet wide as the other end. We succeeded in ripping lip planks suftk-ient for the bottom ot our boat from the cabin floor. A piece of canvas cut from the foresail made ;V cover for the frame. The half-barrel of Hour was converted into paste, and over, this second covering a third was placed. Some boards were split and nailed in the proper places for battens, ami then, with fear and trembling, "we lannehed the! boat. It floated buoyantly, and looked better to us than anything we had seen since Monday morning. Still, even at that, it was not much. The ends turned down instead of up, and. as the sides were little more than a. foot high, we had to build them up with boards and canvas. Finally, two places to row were arranged, and then all was ready for * start.

It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when we finished our home-made craft, but the tide was setting against us, so we lay down to sleep. I knew tin? chance, desperate though it seemed; would he our only one. The luiirieanej season was coming on. and it was hardly possible on that account that the native Bahama boats would be erm“ iug about. We were well out of tlm track of ships, and'might lie whe'o wi> were for months without being piekea up, My reckoning, I figured, was about correct, and I- trusted that it would I’ l ’, sufficiently so to allow us to raiso. land. ~ About nine o’clock the moon and the tide turned. Our prepara for a start were completed in a moments. We bad brought up stilus’ -

oara from th* hold. and. after loading pur scanty provisions and other belongjoss into our frail craft, we shoved her Xl! f U nd got under .vay. Two men would row awhile and then the third would lake H>e place of one of them, and »<• p‘. v we kept changing about, one man resting all the while. 1 did not close inv eye* after leaving the wreck, for I war the only “compass” we had, and Illte boat sagged off her course so easily that I 'had to watch her constantly, steering the white With a plank. When ilhe tide turned against us we anchored jn the shallow water, using a piece of rope to which was attached the iron J>atid from the foreboom, for it was no disc wearing ourselves out against the plrong tide. Friday came on. Our water supply was now exhausted, and I caught one Of the men drinking sea-water. 1 knew what that meant, so 1 threatened to tie ihim lip if he did so again. He promised 10 stick it out.<)n Friday afternoon the water began shoaling. I had made soundings about every hour, to ascertain if we were staying on the bank or if the water shoaled perceptibly, for I knew that would foretell land. Friday night came, and at daylight on Saturday the water had

shoaled from eleven feet the night before Ito eight feet. I had calculated on sighting land at daylight, and as the sun Kame up I made out a slight blur on the horizon ahead. I did not say anything fo the men for I did not wish to disappoint them, but as the light grew' stronger and the blur, remained I could keep still no longer, so I told them what 1 thought the blur was. They all instantly decided that it was land, and they commenced rowing quite hard, t Stopped this, making them go at the bars moderately, as I did not wish to take any chances Of anv of them giving out. Soon. however, under the moderate but steady strokes of our oars, we sighted ■the d; iy plainly. Ixjw it lay, with its iringe of green mangrove bushes looking like an emerald flatting in the field r»f bine waters. About noon we reached and, dragging ourselves ashore, beaded into the bushes to see if we could 'find water, for we had not tasted a drop since tli<. preceding morning. We panted water above everything else. Thd we were doomed to disappoint meiil. iVXe (lit some scrub palmettos to the •TooU, knowing that the. Florida palmetto bns a juicy bud, but these were shrivelb*d up and as dry as cotton. Beyond little cay was a. larger one, and to :lhis i\ve rowed. Here, the scrambling Jmnt for fresh water wa& renewed, but'*o no a . ail. Two of the men,, utterly CKhausttnl, and almost mad' with thirst bj this trine, gave up and. lay down to

sleep. Calling the cook to me, I plunged towards the centre of the ea.v. where the ground ap|>eared to he marshy. We •hunted fresh water holes for all we were worth, and late in the afternoon we found one where the water was good ami sweet. I never drank so in all my life. It made me a little dizzy, and, sitting down by the water hole. 1 sent Francis back with the bucket which we had brought along, filled to the brim for the men near the beach. That night we had a glowing campfire. We feasted on roast beef and plenty of water, and, our troubles of a week being over, we sank into the only real sleep we had had since our schooner made its unfortunate turnover. Captain Hall and his crew remained on the cay, which was one of the Bahama group, for several days. They were finally rescued by a Nassau schooner, and on their arrival at the port Captain Hall immediately communicated. with the owners by cable. In a short while a wrecking tug from the (States picked him up, and they ran clown to the point where the Martha had turned turtle. The schooner was righted towed back to the States, refitted, and is now again iu commission. Among

the hardy seafaring men of the gulf ports and the West Indies Captain Hall’s experience with the Martha is considered unique.