Posted on 05/23/2006 4:02:06 PM PDT by csvset
NORFOLK — Two Dutch sailors, foundering for three days in the storm-churned North Atlantic with torn sails, a failing engine and sinking boat, were rescued by the cruiser Vella Gulf 1,300 miles due east of Boston, the Navy said Tuesday.
And the Navy coxswain operating Vella Gulf’s 24-foot rigid hull inflatable rescue boat, plowing through 20-foot seas and high winds, is being hailed as a hero for getting his crew of five and the stranded sailors safely back aboard the Norfolk-based ship on Monday.
Capt. Stephen F. Davis Jr., the cruiser’s commanding officer, said by satellite telephone from sea Tuesday that he received a call about 10:30 a.m. the day before from a merchant ship asking him to help with the rescue.
The Coast Guard Rescue Coordinating Center Norfolk had received a distress call and asked nearby ships for aid.
The men, identified as Robert Dirven, 47, the owner, and Johan Aarden, 50, left Connecticut on May 17 en route to the Azores when they ran into unexpected weather.
Dirven said by telephone the storm ripped four sails when the boat hit 55-knot winds, then lost all the rigging, had an engine that didn’t work properly and had failing bilge pumps.
He and Aarden were dehydrated, had food and water, but had trouble consuming it. While they were tied by harness to the boat, Dirven had fallen down a ladder and apparently cracked a rib. They hadn’t slept in four days, including a day before they became disabled.
“We turned our ship back at best speed for 62 miles” to reach the stricken vessel, Davis said.
The Vella Gulf left Norfolk on May 17 for operations in the Baltic Sea and is expected to return in July.
“The challenge at the time was the winds and the seas. They were awfully high, 10 to 20-foot seas and 25 knots of wind,” Davis said.
When they reached the scene three hours later, “they were clearly in trouble,” he said. “They were hanging on for dear life and had had a rough three days.”
The waves were big enough that the mast of the 41-foot sloop would disappear in the troughs.
“That was the point of safety I was most concerned about, putting my sailors in a small boat to go over and make a rescue in those kind of seas,” he said.
The law of the sea has always been “you do what you can to save mariners in distress.
“There was no way we could have left them afloat here and there was nobody else around,” Davis said.
But his sailors “did a superb job and the coxswain in particular was able to keep the boat safely headed in the right direction and we were able to get them over here without getting anyone hurt,” he said.
“I had to calm myself down a bit,” Petty Officer 2nd Class Aaron Haight, said as he described by telephone Tuesday how he throttled the boat up one wave crest, then surf back down the other side.
“I had never done that before, riding up the waves and coasting down,” he said. “Had to make sure our boat was not overtaken by the swells.”
It took just 10 to 15 minutes to get the men off the sailboat and into the rescue boat, said Ensign Greg Page, the officer in charge of the cfraft. “In training, no, we wouldn’t have launched in those conditions, but the situation called for us to render assistance and that is what we did.”
They were able to go along the side the sailboat and the two men jumped aboard.
Later, when the seas calmed, a second crew went back to the slowly sinking sailboat to retrieve some electronic gear and personal affects, then scuttled it in 2,000 fathoms of water where it won’t be a hazard to navigation.
Dirven valued his boat at $150,000.
The two rescued men were playing Monopoly games, eating American food and simply enjoying the rest of their ride to Europe, Davis said.They’ll remain aboard until the Vella Gulf reaches Sweden next week.
“We’re happy to have them aboard,” Davis said. Others in the rescue crew were Chief Petty Officer Steve Fortner, Petty Officer 2nd Class Greg Moon, Chief Chauncey Warrior. Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Smally was aboard for the second trip to the boat.
Reach Jack Dorsey at (757)446-2284 or jack.dorsey@pilotonline.com
A job well done by the crew of the Vella Gulf.
US Navy rescue at sea ping.
Navy to the rescue
The US Navy has made two very good friends in Holland. God Speed Swabbies, and stay dry! I salute your bravery and your efforts.
Bet these guys said Dankuwel!
A rescue team from the Navy cruiser Vella Gulf approaches a vessel in the stormy Atlantic on which two Dutch sailors had been foundering for three days. Photo by Capt. Stephen F. Davis, Jr. / U.S. Navy
Two Dutch sailors whose boat had been stranded in the stormy Atlantic Ocean being brough aboard the Navy cruiser Vella Gulf after their rescue. Photo by Capt. Stephen F. Davis, Jr. / U.S. Navy
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