Sailing Students Save Sinking Fishermen

by Don Jordan,Palm Beach Post on 23 Mar 2007 T.J. Qualls, 16, had only 10 minutes left in his shift on the deck of the S/V Denis Sullivan when he caught sight of two signal flares burning skyward in the distance. Over the next few hours late Wednesday and early Thursday, 16 students from the Riviera Beach Maritime Academy in Florida USA would experience firsthand what many had only simulated in classrooms. Below the flares, a fishing boat carrying three men was slowly sinking.

The high school sophomore had been keeping night watch as most of his classmates slept below deck and the 137-foot schooner continued its slow passage toward the Florida Keys. The sky, the heaving waves, everything was dark. Only a splinter of moonlight gleamed above.

'I was like, that's not good - flares in the middle of the night,' said Qualls. 'I was just like, man, I got to go tell the captain about this.

'No games here.'

The trip was intended to be a 10-day jaunt through the Keys and the Dry Tortugas to learn to navigate, sail and perform marine research as part of the charter school's marine-based curriculum.

Those plans were put on hold when the Sullivan changed course to respond to the distress signal and came upon three men clinging to the debris of their overturned fishing boat about 11 miles southeast of Islamorada.

After making contact with the Coast Guard and relaying their position, crew members and students helped lower first mate Scott Hooper into the water. Despite the darkness, 6- to 8-foot waves and 20-knot winds, Hooper was able to bring two of the injured men aboard the Sullivan. The third was able to swim to the schooner, said Hugh Covert, the captain.

The students then helped comfort the men, who were freezing, in shock and 'slipping in and out of consciousness,' Covert said. 'It was fairly ugly.'

Sophomore Matt Rainey, 15, was awakened during the rescue, and a crew member called him on deck to help one of the fishermen. Rainey helped cover the shivering man with blankets.

'He seemed exhausted,' he said.

Rainey said he talked to the man about baseball and fishing to keep him awake.

About 15 minutes after the men were pulled from the water, 17-year-old Ben Greene awakened to the buzz of a Coast Guard helicopter above the ship.

He had been seasick and had fallen asleep in the ship's pilothouse.

'I actually had no clue what was going on,' Greene said. 'I thought someone fell overboard from our crew.'

Realizing that no one was manning the nearby navigation table, he took over, plotting and calling out locations to the ship's helmsman.

'I was just telling him the course of where to go and where not to go,' he said. 'Quite an interesting night, indeed.'

During the rescue, the Sullivan slammed into the submerged fishing boat, sustaining a foot-long gash in its hull. The students helped repair the hole, and the crew used reserve pumps provided by the Coast Guard to contain the flooding, Covert said.

The students 'did really, really well, and they were a big, big help,' Covert said Thursday from aboard the Sullivan. 'It was an activity where everybody had a job.'

There were no injuries to the students or the Sullivan's crew. The rescued fishermen were taken to Mariners Hospital in Tavernier.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson said Thursday that she did not know their names or condition.

The Coast Guard will interview the men and investigate the incident, Johnson said.

By Thursday afternoon the students were back to their regular duties on the ship. The Sullivan docked in Key West about 4:30 p.m. It will not leave port until its hull has been repaired.

The students were due to return to Riviera Beach next Thursday, but now it's uncertain how and when they will get back, academy President George Carter said.

Principal Gidget Greco, one of three school staff members on the ship, said her students learned a valuable life lesson in their short time at sea.

'I'm really proud of them,' Greco said. 'They kept calm. They stepped in and did what had to be done. It was impressive.'

....And what a story to take home to the family!