by: Capt. Jim Kalvin
Wow! Typing the “byline” for this month’s issue, I had to write “2020”! A new decade and a reason to look back and try to see where the time went. From my wheelhouse, I saw lots of stormy seas (literally) from Nantucket to South Florida and beyond. On one of those trips, I had to go overboard 160 miles off of New York to retrieve a down-rigger fish that had broken free of the outrigger, but was still attached to the vessel by cables. The fish was solid stainless steel, and I had to go down and hook the anchor windlass to it to haul it back up. Ever had that feeling that you’re a part of the food chain? I guess I mentally erased the water depth from that episode! Then I had one particular crossing from Louisiana to Corpus Christi, Texas in the largest following sea I had ever been in on a private vessel. We didn’t leave in those seas, mind you, they developed while we were en-route. This vessel was a 65’ Ocean Yacht, with no keel, and I was at the helm for 36 hrs. straight without the ability to use the auto-pilot. Talk about an upper arm and shoulder workout!
I got a free ride in a USCG chopper from 15 miles off of Charleston when the trawler I was on sank. Of course this was at 1:30AM. And another time in Newport News, VA I wound up between an in-bound aircraft carrier and an out-bound gasoline tanker. The vessel I was skippering had AIS, so they knew who we were, but it’s extremely sobering to have an Apache helo draw down on you and side-escort you until you have space to exit the “zone.” In this location, you’re supposed to maintain at least 600’ from any military vessel. But in places, the channel can be as narrow as 400’. So, the required separation was impossible given that the vessels in question are several hundred feet wide. And with military traffic ahead and astern, we were at the mercy of the traffic pattern.
And then there were the Bahamas trips. Wow. Such great memories now supplanted by the wrath of Hurricane Dorian. Still trying to get a grasp on the fact that the places we used to go are either gone, or unrecognizable and closed for the foreseeable future. What will the future look like? Who knows? But it will not be the quaint historic landscape that it used to be. Boy – don’t ever take anything for granted. It can be gone in the blink of an eye.
On that front, we’ve been working on a relief effort through Island Outreach, Inc. This is a long-standing tax-exempt organization that has been supplying material and spiritual aid to the out-island residents of the Bahamas for decades. Pastor Randy Crowe is based in New Smyrna Beach, and flies his own plane into the smaller communities that aren’t even on the map of the national and global relief orgs. His website is islandoutreach.com and his address is 106 Oakmont Lane, New Smyrna Beach, Florida 32168. Your donation to Island Outreach will go