Nice ending to a scary story. Good save, and well done!

--Mike

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
Chuck's discussion about flares has reminded me of a little incident
we encountered Sunday evening while approaching Block Island, Rhode
Island from the south east.

For those who don't know, the south end of BI has very high cliffs
rising almost vertically from the open Atlantic. At the base of the
bluffs extending out for several hundred feet into the water is a
boulder field left over from thousands of years of wave erosion to the
shore line. It is a very scenic location but not very hospitable to
boats drifting with no power.

We were coming in from the east after a late afternoon run from
Marthas Vineyard. There were patches of fog and haze and visibility
was less than a mile. As we approached Block Island I could see a 20
something center console close to the cliffs and boulder field,
apparently fishing the tide rips. When we got closer however the boat
started waving a red flag and it became apparent they were trying to
get our attention. I turned toward them and got close enough to talk.
They were without power of any kind, no radio, and no cell service
because of the high shoreline behind them. Within minutes they would
be in the boulder field and surf line, five people onboard including a
couple of kids. I backed in as close as I dared and they were able to
throw us a line which Mrs B caught on the first try. We towed them
away from the cliffs and I headed west towards the harbor entrance at
5 kts while alerting USCG of the situation. I was hoping they could
meet us prior to the inlet and take the boat inside since I have no
insurance for towing, nor training or experience with that sort of
thing. USCG and SeaTow proceeded to get into a half hour discussion
about who should do the job, meanwhile it was now 7:00PM and getting
foggier. USCG finally decided they would take over the tow from us
and we met a mile south of the inlet. Mission accomplished on our
part.

There are at least several morals to the story. One is that the value
of visual distress signals should not be underestimated, even if it is
only a red flag. Even if they had a working radio, the close
proximity of the cliffs would probably have made it ineffective to the
north just as happened with their cell phone. There were few, if any,
boats to the south that day except us. Another point is the value of
a second engine, even if it is only a ten horse kicker. If we had not
happened along when we did, they would almost certainly have broken up
in the boulder field and surf. It's easy to imagine the result of
that. Even if they had been able to get to the beach alive and
uninjured, there's a high probability of spending the night there with
no one aware of their situation.

Be careful out there.