We left from Jack's Bay early
Just after the sun began
Its daily trek across the endless sky.
We floated our vessel across the rippling mirror
In spite of the countless utterances of caution
We had collected from various helpful sources.
Looking back now,
I wish we had listened to those
Off-hand words of warning.
We motored into the inlet and,
Wanting to work fast to escape the advancing tempest,
Hurriedly hauled our fishcatchers into the
Bottom of our floating receptacle.
Only a few fish were in
When I saw breaking whitecaps well
As if dark knights were in pursuit of us.
The whirling wind was whipping the heads of
The waves and sending them into a turbulent swirl.
The water and the sky were black like night
And the bruised clouds hung low
Over the bleeding sky.
Fear leaped into my throat and made me
Feel mad with consternation.
I had been in storms before
But nothing I had ever seen
Could be equated with the rancor that was about
To be bestowed upon us.
My sire had immediately cut the nets
When he saw the chaos
That was nearing to engulf us.
The engine started and we were thrown into
A test of wills between us and the water.
Waves leaped the side of the boat
And came over the bow.
We tried to reach the relative shelter,
Lee of the point,
But the boiling, enraged sea caught us,
Throwing us from our vessel.
I threw Dad a lifejacket
And managed to get one arm in mine
Before the boat went belly up
And we were left clutching seaweed
Where once a solid boat had been.
I could not glimpse our salvation anywhere
And was prepared to meet my creator,
When I noticed the raft being tossed and turned in the waves.
It had not completely sunk.
We swam mightily,
Across miles of churning water,
But we didn't easily get to safety.
The boat stayed just out of our reach,
A sweet candy taunting a ravenous child.
We finally made it to the boat
And climbed on top of the capsized vessel.
We kicked our water-logged boots off
And held to the craft
Like a transgressor clings to existence
To escape Hades for a few more seconds.
The swells washed us off numerous times
Until ultimately the wintry frostiness of the demon
Began permeating into Father's vitality.
His expression turned ashen
And he wanted me to forsake him.
I could not.
I pinned him to the launch with the bow line
While I found a position on the motor
And allowed my taut muscles to slacken.
Great gusts from the biting gale
Came to nip at my fingers
And steal my breath from me
While the pouring rain
Pierced my skin.
The world became black
And time escaped me for a few moments.
When I awoke, the coming crests were so immense
That our small craft was striking rocks on the underside.
Walls of water yearned to pulverize us
And make our eternal dwelling the bottom of the sea
And its icy depths.
I could have swum to shore
And preserved at least one of our genealogy,
But Dad could never make it,
And I vowed to never let him perish
If it were in my power.
Hypothermia began to penetrate
My progenitor's frail hold on life
And stole his breath
He was a corpse,
Gray and lifeless in the surf.
I had to get him out of the penetrating cold.
Suddenly, a swirl sent us toward an island
And its safe shore.
The hand of a higher force
Decided to help us
And not let us be another sacrifice to the fiend.
Maybe the devil had already caught
A bigger fish than us
And was even now feasting upon his kill.
Dad said to go,
But I once again refused and resolves
To stay with him until the swan sang its mournful eulogy.
I noticed a wave-roamer on the beach
And people moving within
A small shack
I began shouting;
My voice was lost among
The thunderous roar of the rampant waves.
I used my life preserver as a flag
To get the occupant's attention,
But no one noticed.
Suddenly, the wind pulled
A piece of tarpaper
Off the roof of the small shack.
Four people came out;
John Lufkins was among them.
When he saw us,
He began running toward the beach
And the vessel anchored there.
He came for us by himself,
A lone warrior doing battle
With the angry sea for our lives.
He made a pass at us,
But the boat spun around —
A mad top in the hands
Of an insane child.
The sea was toying with us,
Taunting us with the promise
Of safety and life
That would come if John's
Boat could get close.
He finally got by us
And pulled my dead weight
Into the boat.
While a relentless wave came
And took my Dad further away.
We couldn't get near again,
So we rammed the rescue raft
Into Dad's retreating ride
And pulled him in
Where he slithered to the bottom
Like a snake.
His face was expressionless
And I was scared.
Fifteen feet from shore
We hit a rock
And the propeller-power stopped.
Would the sea let us get
This close to safety
Before swallowing us whole
In its powerful grip?
I was loathe to lose the lives
I had fought so hard to preserve.
I was tiring,
Hope seeping from me,
But I refused to yield.
My mind was broken and in a haze when
Suddenly, my strong hands
Lifted of their own accord
And wrenched the sea-faring vessel to shore.
I fell on the knees in the wet sand
And gave thanks to the spirit
Protecting us when we'd made our trip through hell.
We were wrapped in blankets
And made warm with heat trappers.
The night passed quickly
While the storm wore itself down,
The lake returned calm;
However, we would never forget
What loft anger and rage
Lurks just beneath
That deceptively tranquil surface.
Tears of happiness
From our incredulous families
Who had feared Mother Nature's power
Met us in the next morning.
The Coast Guard was also there.
They related to us that our boat was found
Near the site where the Edmund Fitzgerald had sunk,
Our boat paid homage
To a great ship as it sank —
Its passengers and crew
Swallowed by the sea.
Were our lives spared because
Of the massive horde
The sea had already consumed?
Had it eaten its fill
And left us for another day?
Whatever the reasons
For our unexpected salvation,
I would never feel comfortable
On the waters again.
The sea had taught me a lesson
That fateful day —
A lesson I would not soon forget.
