Come Alive Ch. 02

Sitting at the Bandit's inside chart table, Henry Taggart looked over the ship's instruments and compared their readouts to what he'd just encountered on a quick run topside. Writing in his logbook as he spoke, he was growing concerned: "Noon + 22 min. Wind now out of the northwest at 35, gusting to 50 knots, outside air temp 30 degrees Fahrenheit, sea temp 42 F, I'm guessing wave height at 8 to 10 feet with a few 12-foot growlers. Position now North 67 13 by East 12 21 12. Have to decide now whether to try for Reine and hope for a wind-shadow or change course and head for Bodø, which is the safer option if the weather deteriorates. BBC weather vague, Norwegian forecasts are for gale-force conditions and small craft warnings have been posted. Lots of small boats out, a couple of Maydays already, teaching Rolf radar navigation."

He heard Rolf yell-out 'Hang on!' and he just had time to look up, see a 15-foot wave breaking ahead and he grabbed the chart table and braced with his knees as Bandit lifted and rolled into the wave. He felt Rolf correcting, then Bandit was surfing down the back of the wave and he looked at his speed, grinning as it slipped into the 10-knot range.

"Boy, we're havin' fun now, ain't we, girl...?"

Another even taller wave loomed and Bandit plowed through this one, sending a wall of green water over the foredeck and Rolf grinning as he 'Woo-hoo'ed'. Taggart shook his head, ran out a quick course on the chart-plotter...

"Rolf?" he called out.

"Yessir?"

"Make your course 7-8 degrees."

"7-8, got it. So...Bodø?"

"Yup. I don't want to shoot that harbor entry in a gale."

"Okay," he yelled, just as Bandit climbed the face of another twelve footer.

"How you doin' up there?"

"Man...this is great!"

He looked at the boy and grinned, shot him a thumb's up. The kid was steering well, already a natural sailor, and he'd stopped worrying about him two days before. Still, the boy was new at this and he'd never sailed in a gale, so Henry remained the patient teacher and let the kid have at it.

He put the logbook up and slipped back into his heavy-weather jacket before he climbed back into the cockpit; Rolf was grinning but he looked cold. "Go below, get some coffee and warm up."

"Thanks."

"Good job, Rolf. Really good."

The boy beamed as he made his way below.

Taggart adjusted his course north a little, to 75 degrees, hoping to account for any unexpected drift approaching a lee shore, and noted they were now on a broad reach and that the Bandit was really screaming now, surfing waves and hitting a solid nine knots over the ground.

He heard something on the radio but lost it over the howl of a gust and bent down to turn up the volume...

"Mayday-mayday-mayday...this is Jonmeri three, taking on water and two people in the water..." Taggart noted Jonmeri's position then saw a red flare arc up into the sky just ahead. He pulled his binoculars out of their case on the binnacle and scanned the horizon but the wave action was too frenzied, then he picked up his radios mic...

"Jonmeri, this is Time Bandit. I have your flare and am a mile south of your position. Say again, you have people in the water?"

"Jonmeri, Jonmeri, we are sinking fast...will have four people in the water...life jackets, no raft...please hurry...repeat, please hurry!"

"Jonmeri, Time Bandit, try to shoot flares when you can. Will be there in about fifteen minutes."

Taggart put a man overboard marker on the chart plotter; the computer would begin to account for drift and adjust his course...

"Time Bandit, this is Coast Guard Bodø, please advise, do you have Jonmeri in sight?"

"Bodø, Bandit here, I saw their flare, have their position plotted, I am now point seven eight miles from their last known position..."

"Bandit, Bodø here, all our helicopters are engaged but we will send a boat to your sector."

"Bandit, understood we are the primary search vessel at this time. Will advise progress on ten-minute intervals."

"Bodø received."

When he looked up Rolf was by his side, already scanning with the binocular when another flare went up.

"Okay," he said, "I see people in the water."

"How's our heading?"

"Come left a little."

Taggart adjusted course and sheeted in the sails; bandit heeled a little as she bit into the wind and as they crested a wave he could see little yellow specks mixed in with the spray and spume.

"Big wave!" Rolf yelled, and Henry turned into the face, held on as they crested and began surfing down the backside...he watched in disbelief as their speed hit eleven knots...so he sheeted in the sails a bit more, trying to get every bit of speed he could from her.

"How will we get them on board in these waves?" Rolf asked.

"We furl the sails upwind of them, let the wind blow us down and we get lines to them, pull them to the platform."

"Is that what we use the MOB system for?"

Taggart nodded. "I'll handle that while you take the wheel."

Rolf shook his head. "I don't know, Henry. I'm not sure I know what to do?"

"Well, what makes you think I do? You just have to trust your instincts and follow them. Now...you take the wheel, steer to the left of their position in the water. I'm going to rig-up two extra lines..."

"Okay..."

"Rolf? You can do this."

"What about the sails?"

"Don't worry about those yet. I'll help you when the time comes..." Then he shook his head, picked up the mic. "Bodø, Bandit here, we have sighted people in the water. ETA five minutes."

"Bodø, people in the water received, five minutes out."

Taggart dashed aft and rigged lines, readied his two MOB canisters, then went back to the wheel. He could see two people clearly now and guessed they were about two hundred yards ahead, but no one else was visible...

"Okay, head up a little more. I'm going to roll up the main..."

Taggart pushed a button, rolled the mainsail into the mast and cleared the lines, saw they were almost abeam to the survivors in the water...

"Okay, turn dead into the wind!"

Rolf turned the wheel and Taggart rolled the storm jib onto the second fuller, tossing the excess line into bags attached to the wheelhouse so they wouldn't trip on them.

"Alright...Rolf?...just back down like we practiced...ride the wind...that's right...you're doing perfect...perfect...I'm going aft...keep it steady..."

He dashed aft and fired the first Man Overboard canister towards a woman in the water, the second at what looked like a small child...the woman looked lethargic, hypothermic, and there was a good chance she wouldn't be able to get the harness her chest...but the little girl just managed and he pulled her in quickly...

Bandit was riding the wind now and quickly passing the woman...who appeared comatose...

Taggart grabbed the girl and carried her to the cockpit, then looked at the lines in the water before he started the engine. "Rolf, head aft and pull in all the lines...don't want to wrap the prop..."

"Got it!"

He slipped the engine into forward and throttled into a wave, keeping an eye on the woman while he navigated the waves...

"Henry! Two more over there!"

He turned, saw where Rolf was pointing, and saw two people waving frantically.

"Rolf, come take the wheel!"

When the kid was at the wheel Henry looked at the woman in the water; she was face down now, near-death and he pushed the throttle to the stops...

"When we're abeam, I'm going in, am going to get her to the platform. You drop the throttle into neutral and come aft, help pull us aboard, and note a heading to the other two..."

"You're going to what?"

"I'll be tied to the boat...don't worry...I've done it before. Just get the prop into neutral so we don't hit her with it..."

He ran aft again but grabbed the boat hook just in case, and as they came to her he just managed to snag her and pull her to the platform. Rolf was there in an instant and helped pull her aboard, then they muscled her to the companionway...

"Try to get them below, put them in my cabin, turn the heat to high..." he said as he powered up and turned for the remaining two survivors.

"Bodø, this is Bandit, we have two on board, one unconscious and unresponsive, going for two more still in the water."

"Bodø, received, two still in the water, two onboard. We have medical personnel on our boat."

Henry saw a flash of yellow, then a flare went up and he tracked in on it; Rolf came up in tears.

"The woman, she is dead..." he wailed.

"Take the wheel! Two more, dead ahead."

He dashed below, went to the little girl; she was shivering but alive so he turned to the woman. She was cyanotic but her pupils reacted to light; he removed her jacket and felt for a pulse - and when he couldn't find one he started CPR. Two minutes later he felt a strong heartbeat and put the woman under the blankets on his bed and dashed back to the cockpit.

"There they are!" Rolf said, still upset but pointing out the people in the water.

"It's okay, Rolf...the woman isn't dead. I got her under the blankets, she's fine now. Same as before, okay? Get them abeam, the engine to neutral and I'll pull them in. You okay?"

"Okay. Got it," Rolf said, trying to smile again.

"You're doing great!" Henry said as he ran aft, clearing lines as he went. He heard the engine power down and looked up, saw a boy in the water, and tossed him a rope. The kid grabbed it and he pulled him in, hoisted the boy up onto the platform. Moments later a middle-aged man swam into view and he tossed the remaining line out, pulling this man to the platform and helping him climb up...

And the man hugged him, suddenly crying.

"It's okay. Your wife is below, so is your daughter. They're both fine..."

Rolf led them below while he got back on the helm, then the radio.

"Bodø, this is the Bandit with four survivors on board. CPR done on the female survivor and she responded."

"Bandit, this is Bodø...well done! If you don't need further assistance we need to divert all resources to a cruise ship that just out a mayday."

"Bodø, Bandit, no further assistance needed. We are inbound Bodø with survivors, signing off for now."

He set the sails and engaged the autopilot, then the Hydrovane before he dropped down to check on Rolf and the survivors; Rolf was making hot cocoa and the four survivors were huddled under blankets so he went topsides. He smiled, satisfied, remembered all the rescue training he'd suffered through in SeaScouts, and that one miserable night on his first Transpac...

'No time to pat yourself on the back,' he said to himself. 'We ain't home yet...'

There were rocks ahead on either side of the entrance channel, but his chart plotter made the exercise almost too easy. The Coast Guard gave him directions to their pier and he entered the course on the plotter, easing sail as the wind died down later that afternoon. They made the Coast Guard Base at seven that evening, exhausted and hungry, and Rolf was at the bow handling lines as he made his approach to their pier. Medical personnel were waiting there and, about fifty yards away he saw a throng of reporters and groaned. At least two camera crews were filming their approach, and then the survivors as they walked off, then the base commander stepped on board...

"Nice work, Bandits!" the commander said, the two camera crews dutifully recording the moment. "If you wouldn't mind, the press would like to have a briefing and we thought you should have a chance to tell your version..."

"Excuse me," Henry said, "but what's this all about?"

"Well, the man you rescued also happens to be a member of parliament."

"Oh, that's just dandy."

"Yes. So sorry, but you know how the press is..."

"No. I don't, really..."

+++++

Britt Bauer was at her mother's house when the news bulletin first appeared. They watched in slack-jawed horror as images of Henry Taggart and Rolf were sprayed all over the screen and, within seconds, Dina Bauer was on the telephone booking a flight to Bodø while Britt, almost in tears, called a for taxi. Within five minutes they were on the way to the airport.

+++++

Taggart woke up feeling refreshed - for the first time in days - and he stumbled out to the galley expecting to find blue skies and open seas. Instead, he found Time Bandit sandwiched between two huge Coast Guard ships - though the sky was indeed blue. Flags hung limply so he knew the storm had blown itself out, so he decided to crawl up to the cockpit to have his coffee.

But several news crews were lined up on the docks, waiting and ready to pounce, so when he appeared cameras began firing, their strobes annoying but far from troubling...until he realized he was in his underwear and a t-shirt.

"And a Good Morning to you all!" he said, hoisting his coffee in a grand morning salute. "Out doing a little bird photography this morning, are you? Well! Look, over there! A Crenelated Roseate Spoonbill, how rare, how very amazing! Quick, don't miss it! This is the opportunity of a lifetime!"

And all the cameras dutifully tracked to where Taggart had just been pointing. Shaking this head in disbelief he ducked below and put on his last pair of clean gym shorts and a fairly stinky polo shirt, then crawled back into the cockpit. "Now, what can I do for you gentlemen?" he asked, looking over the assembled reporters. "And lady, I see," he added wistfully.

Then came a barrage of shouted questions. The first one he could make out clearly had something to do with the minister's wife and performing CPR, so he held up his hand and nodded.

"You know, I feel almost certain she enjoyed the whole thing as much as I did."

Which silenced the reporters. For a few seconds, anyway, then the barrage resumed.

Then someone shouted, "How does it feel to be a national hero?"

"All in all, I think I'd rather be an Oscar Mayer Hot Dog."

Dead silence again - because no one got his little play on words - then: "Ah. No, really, I am not a hero. The real hero here is Rolf Bauer, but he's still below, recovering. And as soon as the hookers leave his room I'll have him come talk to you."

This one brought on a few head-scratches and head-shakes.

"You know," Rolf said from below, "I don't think they understand your humor."

"Why should they? I don't understand it, either."

The reporters had turned and were walking away when he noticed that the female reporter was holding firm, was standing resolutely firm, waiting for a serious answer.

"Yes?" Taggart said. "You want more? I have an endless supply ready and waiting..."

"May I come down. I have a hangover and don't feel like shouting."

"Here, here. Spoken like a true reporter. Please do. May I help your legs?" he said, staring at the woman's legs and high heels as she made her way down to the Bandit. "Uh, I mean..."

"Way to go, Henry!" Rolf said from the companionway steps.

"Get some clothes on, asshole."

He heard the kid laughing as he went forward and shook his head.

"Please, have a seat," he said as the drop-dead-gorgeous reporter walked over, her right hand out. He took it, then indicated a seat.

"I should have worn more practical shoes," the woman began...

"And I, for one, am so glad you didn't."

She laughed. "You are like a flyer from World War Two. What is that word?"

"Fearless? Courageous?"

"Irreverent, I think, is the word I'm looking for."

"Ah."

"So, what were you doing out there, yesterday?"

"Sailing, from Bergen to Reine?"

"Really? Why? The cruise ships are much more comfortable, I hear."

"Damn! Why didn't I think of that?"

"Someone told us you sailed over from America last month. True?"

"Guilty, your honor."

"Why do something like that? Especially at your age?"

"Because it's there, really."

"What made this rescue so difficult?"

"You mean, besides the howling gale, the freezing temperatures, the mountainous seas?" Taggart said as he scratched his chin, pretending to think. "Not much, really."

"What about the minister's wife?"

"We got her below, she appeared to be in cardiac arrest, we performed CPR and she responded. Not much more to it than that."

"You say 'we'...who performed CPR?"

"He did," Rolf said, stepping out into the cockpit. "I missed it."

"You didn't miss anything, kid. You did great. None of these people would be here if it wasn't for you and everything you did out there."

"Is this your son, Mr. Taggart?"

"Nope, the son of a dear friend of mine. He loves sailing and we thought it would be a good experience for him. And...here she is!"

Rolf looked up, saw his mother and grandmother being escorted across the base towards the Bandit and he groaned. "Oh, God...am I going to get it now!"

"Why?" the reporter asked. "You are a national hero now. Your mother can't be mad about that, can she?"

"My mother can get mad about anything...and if you know what's good for you you'll get out of here before my Grandmother gets here."

The reporter looked at Rolf, then at the advancing women and thought better of remaining on board; she took off, making her way back up the ladder...

"Goddam, woman, you do have great legs!"

She turned and grinned at Taggart, then disappeared.

"I haven't the courage to say anything like that to a woman," Rolf said.

"That's because you're smart, kid. Now, tell me about this grandmother of yours."

"Don't mess with her, Henry. She's a fire breathing dragon."

"Really? Ooh, we're about to have some real fun, Rolf..."

"No Henry! Please don't..."

Taggart looked at the boy, at the pleading terror in his eyes, and he wondered what that was all about...

The grandmother, he saw, had decent legs too, but the shoes, he thought, would have to go. Britt, on the other hand, looked radiant.

"We better go help the womenfolk down the ladder, kid."

'Hmm,' he thought. 'No luggage, so...they aren't staying long. Which means they're picking up the kid and leaving. This could be fun. Real fun.'

"Well, what a surprise?" he said as they got ready to climb aboard the Bandit.

"You can, perhaps, understand our surprise," the fire breathing grandmother began, "when we turned on the television and saw Rolf in the middle of a hurricane rescuing people that had been thrown into the sea?"

"Yes indeed," Henry tossed back, "and you should be very proud of him, too."

"I don't believe my daughter expected her son to be exposed to so much..."

"So much what? Life, perhaps? A real adventure, as opposed to, say, a video game?"

The dragon lady was now spitting poisoned daggers from her eyes. "Do you expect me to believe that Rolf wasn't exposed to great danger out there?"

"Oh, I can absolutely guarantee that he was. I cooked chili two nights ago, with beans, mind you, and our farts were genuinely colossal. And the point here, if I may, is that he was exposed to extremely high levels of methane gas..."

"You are being an ass, young man. We have come here to take him back home with us...!"

Henry looked from the fire breathing dragon to her daughter. "Britt? Care to chime in here?"

"Henry, this caught us both by surprise..."

"Do you want Rolf to leave with you now?"

"I don't know."

"Well," the dragon lady added, "I DO know and he IS coming with us!"

"Gee," Henry said, "does anyone here care about what Rolf has to say about this?"

"He is too young to..." the dragon lady started to reply, but Taggart cut her off...

"He is too young to what, Madam? To handle this boat in a storm, to help rescue four people about to drown, and then to help take care of these people until we could make port? I'm sorry, but do these sound like the actions of an emotionally or physically incapacitated individual? Because to me, they indicate the exact opposite. In point of fact, I think the two of you should be proud of Rolf, but even if you were you wouldn't be half as proud of him as I am."