So quick recap-
Went on a three hour cruise, hahaha, and got ship wrecked; well just stuck in waist deep water.
OK, so at this point Craig and I are floating in the middle of the Chesapeake day and we have no clue why or how to get out. After the initial call to the coast guard we began to discuss our situation with the operator on the other end of the radio. After ensuring them that no one was hurt, we began trying to piece together a possible location. Based on our description of the night and the location of our radio single, they believed that they knew where we were.
It was going to take a while for them to get out to us, and as we prepared to sign off we were asked if there was anything they could do for us. There was. We had missed calling my wife and now it had been about an hour since we should have called. I asked the operator if they could call Emily and let her know I was alive and uninjured. At this request I received a slight chuckle and the man said “don’t worry sir, she has already called and we have her on the phone now!” Well atleast she followed through on the safety instructions I asked of her.
After about an hour we received a radio call and were told the coast guard ship was in our area and was looking for us. We were instructed to grab our flash light and begin flashing the light on and off. After a few attempts, and no sign of the ship, the coast guard decided to try and flash us. Within the first few minutes we spotted the flashlight and informed the ship we could see them. Again we were asked to reply and after 30 minutes they still couldn’t find us. A few attempts later they located us! Finally we could get out of here.
Not so fast. Because of where we were they were unable to come in and get us. Had the ship approached us, they too would have been stuck and unable to pull us out. We now had two options: first we could wait out the night and get a tow from Tow Boat US, or we could get a helicopter ride off our boat and home. Haha- so you mean the coast guard who couldn’t find me, was now going to fly a helicopter in and pick me up? Since Craig and I were not hurt, and we didn’t trust the guard at this point, we opted to sleep the rest of the night and get out of the predicament in the morning.
Craig wrapped himself in a sleeping bag, and I in a tent, and we slept until about 7 am. When we woke up, we noticed the tide had come in and gone back out, and we had now moved from our original spot up against the bank of a beach. After having a meal replacement shake, we hadn’t eaten in 14 hours, I hopped out and took a little walk around the bank. Soon we received a call from the Tow Boat and within minutes saw him coming our way.
After arriving on scene, the captain let us know that he was as close as he could get and we were going to have to float a tow line down the current and attach it to our boat. We tried and we tried, and it wasn’t going to work out. No problem, just hop in the water and swim to the tow line, in April! The water was COLD. Craig let me know he would “Jump on this grenade” since I jumped in the night before.
Two minutes later we were pulled away from the bank and asked to crank our engine. It started on the very first turn of the key. We followed the Tow Boat to the closest ramp and began to fill out the paperwork. Turns out we were an hour from where we wanted to be. We knew we were about an hour from home, and had we been on the right path we would have made it just fine. Instead we had drifted north and were in Hampton and not near Little Creek at all. We went inside the little bait store and plugged Craig’s phone in. After a little charge I called Emily. First thing I said “Please don’t be mad”.
Well she came and picked us up, took us to lunch, picked up the trailer and drove us back out to get the boat. Craig and Emily talked, and while I am alive and able to write this today, I was not allowed to speak and she was pretty mad. I am happy to say it didn’t last and she is finally no longer mad at me. But they may only be because we sold the boat this year and so I can’t go on any adventures. But hey, I have a few of those without the boat!