Drama at Sea and Excitment back Home . . .

---

Today is yet another day at sea. We have had so many this week.

Last week, I got an email from Jody (who is still on the Liberty) about some excitement they’d had over there. While on their way back to Florida, they picked up a distress signal and came across a boat that was stranded at sea. It was filled with Haitian refugees on their way to the US. Apparently they’d been adrift at sea for almost 2 weeks. A few people had died. So 44 (!!) refugees were pulled onboard the Liberty. They were given medical treatment in the infirmary. And then they were disembarked off the ship by the US Coast Guard closer to Florida. It was in the Miami news and everything. Pretty crazy stuff.

So today I had the mandatory safety training and competency test that you have to do when you sign onboard (I had to be excused last week for a conference call with the Miami office). And I was day dreaming during the training, thinking about this story of the Liberty and the rescue and wondering just how often that sort of thing actually happens.

An hour later, I’ve finished with the safety stuff and am in my club, hosting a karaoke afternoon. And our sound is cut off for a P.A. announcement calling the cruise director to the bridge. When the cruise director is called to the bridge, it’s almost always because the captain has some sort of detailed information needing passed on to the passengers. I wondered what was up and if it was going to be more bad weather news coming. About ten minutes later, we got a big long announcement.

The US Coast Guard had an aircraft that had spotted a distressed vessel at sea. There were three people onboard this overturned boat and they needed help. We were the closest vessel in the area. Because of international maritime laws, we were obliged to accept their request for assistance. So we were now headed off our course, towards the stranded vessel.

Over the next hour, we got occasional updates about how close we were, that the airplane was still circling above the stranded boat, etc.

About an hour later, I’m now finished in the club for the afternoon. So I head down into the crew area. The big long hallways running down the centre of the ship in crew areas is referred to as the I-95 (like the main highway running through Florida). Our I-95 is abuzz. The infirmary doors were wide open, our medical staff all standing by waiting to help. We’ve got deck crew gathered in the gangway areas. Security is all standing by. Everyone just waiting to jump in to save the day.

I went up to the crew deck, out at the front of the ship. Quite the little group of crew had gathered out there. And lining the upper decks were tons of passengers. Everyone gathered around to watch the rescue.

By the time we reached the stranded vessel, a US Coast Guard helicopter had also reached the area. We stayed far enough back that our wake wouldn’t further disturb them. The airplane was circling around above us. And out in the distance, you could see the smoking flares of the stranded ship. Hovering above them was the Coast Guard helicopter. They lowered a basket down to the boat and pulled the people up into the helicopter. Then a few moments later, the helicopter did a big swoop over the water and flew straight over the ship. People were cheering. So dramatic.

A few moments later, the cruise director came back over the speakers. The rescued people were all in good health and condition and would be taken by helicopter to land. We were officially released from assisting in the rescue operation.

So unlike the Liberty, we didn’t have stranded people onboard. But still, the whole process was pretty exciting while it was happening.

And speaking of exciting, there are some exciting developments back home. I’ve been spending the last couple days obsessively checking facebook pages waiting for news. And today is the big day. My best friend, Kristin, gave birth to her son today. So congratulations to Kristin and Rod. And welcome Cole. Two more weeks and Auntie Jeanette will be coming to visit!

---

Photos

The Rescue
The details are small - but you can see the plane flying above and the helicopter hovering over the boat.

Cole!!!
I already love this little man.