Ghost Ships?

The Hanse 588 was 50 feet long, with enough room for ten people, not counting the crew. Somehow the idea of crossing the Atlantic came up in conversation and all agreed it was a go. The idea of doing this feat near the equator really did not feel right.

No one plans to fail; they fail to plan.

There were six of us no one had any experience in this type of sailing. All of us knew how to sail, but it was more along for a day or two in calm waters.

Saturday and Sunday were spent loading up the ship with all the supplies and what we thought we needed. No one bothered to contact the coast guard to check the ship out, let alone leave a map of our travels.

Jerry was the radio guy, he had licenses for amateur radio and marine radio. With a hobby in celestial navigation, he would be the ace in the hand.

Monday, we set sail, everything was good for a start. Heck, maybe I was wrong about these gut feelings. For the next two days, it was great. We headed south past Cuba.

That is when Jerry picked up the radio signal broadcast warning of severe storms that could be the formation of a hurricane. The seas here getting rough, winds were picking up. Nothing serious.

Dave was the cook, John, Henry, and Lee made up the crew. I was back up on the radio.

That night after dinner, the storm that we were warned about, came rolling in the ship swayed all over but dealt with the waves. Everyone slept. It was about 2:30 when the waves started coming in over the bow. Our ship was being tossed about like a ping pong ball. No one was in control of the ship and it was a matter of riding the storm out.

On Wednesday, the waters were extremely rough, high winds, the sails collapsed, we worked together, but watched as the winds began shredding our sail. The tie-down that was supposed to secure the boom broke, it swung wildly at Henry, Lee saw it tried to push Henry out of the way but they both were swept overboard.

Thursday the storm was at its worst, all we could do was stay in the cabin and hope for the best. The conversation focused on Henry and Lee, we all wondered if we could ever find them. With the waves crashing on the boat, we wondered if any of us would make it.

When Friday came, at first it appeared there was no change but as the day went on, the skies started to clear, the ocean was calming down, some rough waves but nothing like the previous night.

I am not a weatherman, but the storm changed direction. Like it had enough of playing with us. If the storm was trying to get a point across to us, on how insignificant we were, as far as I was concerned, it worked.

Friday afternoon we spent time doing damage control. Dave took care of the inside, the rest of us checked the damage to the boat. No sail, extensive damage to the boom, shattered windows, pump system malfunctioning the list was growing. We stopped and scanned the waters for any signs of Henry or Lee. Nothing could be seen.

Jerry worked the radio, but no one had any idea of where they were. The ship's GPS had no power a desperately needed location could not be given, even if they did contact anyone. They found one saving grace, the engine of the ship was intact and running perfectly, the fuel tank was full.

Dave, John, and I talked to Jerry.

“What’s up, guys?”

“Don’t you do that navigation thing, with that weird-looking scope?”

“It’s called a sextant, but I didn’t bring mine.”

“Is it possible to do it without it?”

“Yeah, I guess, never tried it before.”

“Well, we're lost, we have everything to gain and nothing to lose, how about giving it a try?”

“With a full tank of gas, we could make it home.”

“We don’t know where we are, let’s not waste it, maybe use it to get us into the shipping lanes.”

Everyone agreed. But no one was sure how to start.

It was around 4 p.m. in the afternoon John saw a seagull riding the air currents.

“Hey!! Jerry, check this out.” Pointing to the bird.

“Jerry, do you think we should follow him?”

“Who?”

“That bird, fool.”

“Jerry saw an opportunity.”

“Why not, we more to gain by not trying.”

He went back into the cabin on the back of a map, did his best to figure things out. We all helped with whatever Jerry needed. Jerry looked at his watch, the position of the sun, made some rough calculations. By his guess, the ship was about 30° to 35°north and 30° to 35° south of the equator by his guess they ended up in the horse latitudes.

This region was known for its subsiding dry air and high pressure that results in weak winds.

By vote, they decided to follow the seagull, but they would only travel for a half-hour at a time to try to make the best use of the fuel on hand.

Jerry would work the radios and everyone else took turns steering the ship.

The seagull flew west and disappeared into a fogbank.

The boat engine was shut down. It is time to eat something. I will see what we can come up with. Dave and John went to the kitchen area to see what they could come up with. Dinner would consist of tuna, peanut butter, and jelly sandwiches with bottled water.

Jerry asked, “Anyone want to guess how far we traveled?”

“I’m guessing 35 miles.”

“25 miles.”

“Hell, you got me.”

“Jerry, question.”

“Answer, Dave.”

“What about that fog bank coming in, does anyone have any ideas, on how to approach this?.”

I spoke up, “All I know is that with fog, usually there are no storms, but the real danger comes from being hit or getting hit by another boat, or a rock we don’t see. Jerry why don’t you get on the radio send a help signal and we all take turns on watch, so we don’t miss anything.”

All agreed. Whoever was on watch carried a flashlight for signaling, Jerry got on the air sending a distress signal, hoping a ship or aircraft would hear the call? The fog rolled in all suddenly seemed to get quiet.

At four in the morning, Jerry received a response.

“This Buccaneer Pirate, what is your emergency?”

“This is Out and About, we just went through a storm, there's damage to our ship, we've lost two friends. We are totally lost, can you give me your location?”

“Certainly, stand by.”

The signal was lost. Jerry slugged the table in anger.

All three of us ran in find out what happened.

“We had a ship contact; they were about to send me their location when we lost the signal.”

“Signal strength appeared to be strongest coming from the horizon, maybe if we scan the horizon maybe we can see the ship.

”

Everyone went topside, couldn't see much through the fog. But about an hour later the sun began to shine, Dave noticed a silhouette of a ship on the horizon. It looked like a pirate ship from long ago.

Dave screamed,” GUYS, come here quick, check this out!!!”

Dave pointed to the ship on the horizon.

“It looks like it's coming in our direction.”

All of us started to high-five each other.

“Wait, guys! Quiet down, I hear something.”

Jerry heard the radio cracking, he ran inside, we followed.

“Calling the Out and About, do you read me? This the Buccaneer Pirate calling, do you still need help?”

“This the Out and About to Buccaneer Pirate, we hear you loud and clear. All onboard are fine but we need a direction to get home, not sure if the ship will make it.”

“Out and About stand by.”

“You're near Cayenne, French Guiana, 4.937200, longitude-52.326000. If you head southwest, you should reach there. We have radioed ahead for you. Search and rescue are on the way, good luck. Buccaneer Pirate out.

About 20 minutes later a radio call from search and rescue came through. An American Aircraft carrier recievd a call the Cayene officals. They picked up the distress call and sent a helicopter to pick us up.

Onboard the ship we were happy, but sad for the loss of our friends. I asked the captain if there was any way to contact the Buccaneer Pirate to say, “Thank You?”

The captain answered, not sure what ship you are referring to, but the Buccaneer Pirate sailed these waters in 1777.