Rescue!

Yesterday, during a lovely brunch cruise with a group from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, we noticed a good sized pleasure boat drifting in the channel just north of I-95. A swimmer was in the water with a raft a fair distance away from the boat. Since the boat was blocking the channel, Captain Steve chose to go around behind it. As we approached a woman stood up in the boat and waved both arms, and the swimmer was also waving. The woman yelled that they needed help! Apparently the swimmer, her husband, had drifted away from the boat and couldn't get back. And the wife didn't know how to start the boat.

The Lantern Queen crew went into "man overboard" mode. As Capt. Steve maneuvered the boat toward the swimmer, we lowered the gangway and "scooped" the swimmer up, along with his raft. As the swimmer came aboard to much cheering from our passengers, Capt. Steve moved the Lantern Queen toward the pleasure boat. Capt. Steve's plan was to allow the swimmer to step from our gangway onto his own boat. However, the swimmer jumped off the gangway into the water between the Lantern Queen and his boat, planning on climbing the swim ladder to his boat.

We're so happy that this story has a happy ending! But there are several lessons for all of us!
1. Life jackets, life jackets, life jackets! Particularly in a river known for it's treacherous currents. (In this case the fellow DID have a nice raft, with lines running through grommets around the edges - good to hang on to.)
2. The more people who know how to operate the boat the better. (And this lady had the good sense to NOT try to start the boat for the first time - it could have been tragic.)
3. The more people who know how to operate the boats' radio the better. (We have no idea if this boat was even equipped with a radio - but there had been no distress call.)
4. Swimming in the channel is a recipe for disaster.
5. Never, ever, for any reason, jump into water between boats or between a boat and a bulkhead, etc. It's a very good way to get squished to death!

Finally, once again, having ongoing training and practice in place pays off. For the crew of the Lantern Queen this was business as usual, because we do "man overboard drills" so often. One of our passengers remarked that we were able to keep to our schedule, even with the unanticipated rescue. As Carroll says at the beginning of every cruise, "Our captain can get this boat turned around and get back to you within 2 minutes." And he did.