More Good Press for the Coast Guard

navy2010
Wed, 02 Nov 2005 02:25:08 +0000

Bossf51: years back, our “extended” families all got together every summer for a week of camping out on long island… all the brothers and sisters, the wives and husbands, kids and grandmothers…a few close friends sprinkled in for good measure…one particular year stands out very clearly- I think our kids were 8 and 6 respectively at the time…my sister had just lost her husband Charlie the Christmas before, widowed very young and a mother of 6 very active, very adventurous boys…ranging in age from 7 to 19. We were on the south fork of LI, on the potomic bay, enjoying a sunny afternoon on the beach, when her 15-year old son and his friend went out on their dad’s canoe (it was to have been his christmas gift from the boys)…no one paid them much mind, as the day was beautiful and the bay calm…and for awhile life was good…and then, as life does, things suddenly changed for the worse…30 mph wind gusts out of nowhere, menacing flat gray sky that rolled over in no time, and whitecaps in what is normally very protected water…in our haste to gather kids and things up from the beach, for a few moments we lost track of the kids in the canoe, thinking them heading back to shore…and then we suddenly realized that instead of getting closer to where we were, they were barely visable and very far out in the distance- and drifting even further away-until they seemed to be no bigger than a “dot” on the water…my sister was in a panic, while my brother immediately called the park rangers, who called the police, who called the harbor patrol, and before we knew it, the Coast Guard helicopter was overhead…it was with much relief that 40 minutes later we had 2 very scared, very upset, shivering wet boys back in our midst, delivered safe and sound.

When the wind picked up, they had lost first one paddle, and then the next, and were being dragged out into Montauk Bay by wind and tide…when the white caps hit, the boat capsized, and foolishly, they swam away from it thinking they could swim for shore…the Coast Guard later told us that they spotted the overturned canoe pretty quickly, but had a much harder time finding the boys…first one, and then a painstaking 10 minutes before the other one was found about a quarter of a mile away. We could hear everything going on as we anxiously waited on-shore, as there was an open line between the helicopter radio and park patrol on the beach…boat found, no kids…one survivor found…diver in the water…survivor aboard…then that eternal wait while they looked for our sister’s son…and the sobs that errupted when we heard “diver in the water” again…it is as vivid in my memory as if it happened yesterday.

Several things came to mind as we tried to comfort my sister on the beach…that if the water didn’t kill the kids, we certainly would…thank goodness they had lifevests on…how fast this had all happened…look away for just one minute…the ill-placed confidence that kids have as to their own “indestructability”…where was Charlie when we needed him (can’t God see that we need him more than Heaven does)…and thank God for the Coast Guard…
how well things turned out in the end; how disasterous it could have been…I don’t think my sister could have withstood another blow…and how grateful we were, and continue to be, to have such a responsive Coast Guard to be ever at the ready if help is needed.

Thank goodness, time has passed quite unremarkably ever since…we still meet for our annual camp-out, although the week is now an extended weekend, and there are a few more tents every year…our sister’s boys are in their 20’s and 30’s now, all alive and well, and 5 of the 6 devout boaters (and yes, they still have their dad’s canoe)…we see the USCG boats out all the time on the sound, and to this day that orange and blue stripe gives me such a sense of relief knowing they are there to help a boater in need…let alone all the other things they do…all this, on an ordinary summer day…they certainly made a difference in our lives!

Your son is joining a proud organization, and they have lots of fans and supporters on Long Island waters! We always knew they were great- it’s nice to see the word getting out to the rest of the country as well!