The Captain and Swabby abandoned ship today, leaving me, the First Mate, alone. Morgan has returned home to pursue other interests and Scott had to return home to manage some business. It has been a great experience for all of us having Morgan aboard these last seven weeks. I know I will always remember sharing snorkeling with him and 8.2 knots of speed on a gorgeous day on the Hawk Channel.

We couldn't let Morgan leave without a little bit more excitement. Monday we woke up to beautiful sunshine and calm winds. It was forecast to be 82 before a norther came down in the late afternoon. It was also forecast to have high winds in the 30-35 knot range. This time, the weather man was right. We had a beautiful day and took care of a lot of chores onshore before heading back to the boat mid afternoon. About 4pm, Scott started working on installing a new AIS gadget in the cockpit, so, he was up and down the companionway for the next few hours. The winds came up around 5pm, but, we had the cockpit enclosure to protect us. The winds were as forecast, 30-35 knots. About 7:30, Scott was down below at the navigator's station, finishing up the wiring. We heard some yelling outside, but, couldn't quite make it out due to the high winds. We kept thinking someone was calling my name. About that same time, we heard a voice on the VHF radio call out, "May Day, May Day, Man Overboard in the harbor!!" We weren't sure where until they gave the mooring ball number: V3. The boat right behind us! Scott and Morgan got the dinghy in the water, I handed over life vests, search light and portable VHF radio and Scott set out. By the time, Scott made it to the neighboring boat, another nearby boat had launched their dinghy. A man was clinging to the side of the boat behind us and Scott stopped to help him. He said he was fine but his brother had drifted away in their dinghy. Scott took off to find the other man and the second rescuer (R2) came up to help Victim #1. About 100 yards behind their boat, Scott found the overturned dinghy with two people (husband and wife) clinging to the undersides. Scott grabbed their belts and hauled them aboard our dinghy and had to let their dinghy go. Meanwhile, R2 had gotten Victim #1 aboard his boat and came out to help Scott. He continued on and found the dinghy floating toward shore 1/2 mile away. Upon returning to the boat, Scott helped Victims 2 and 3 aboard as Rescuer #2 returned. R2 asked Scott if he was needed anymore. Scott asked if he had medical knowledge. R2 was a retired Navy medic! While R2 performed CPR on Vic2, Scott was on the radio with the Coast Guard. USCG showed up with four medics and took over and Scott and R2 returned home.

Praise God for: We NEVER have our VHF on at night; Scott "just happened" to have it on while he was working on the electronics. Our searchlight had been broken for a couple of years and Scott had, two days before, replaced the battery and got it working again. R2 was a Navy medic. Scott's prior police experience kept him calm during the crisis and enabled him to coordinate communications between rescue personnel. Scott's training in Sea Scouts and R2's quick response to handle this situation so that everyone was safe.

And now, everything is quiet again and all is well.