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Ocean ordeal: Friends recall fear, frigid waters
Tuesday, July 18, 2006 | No comments posted.
PORTLAND - Five hours after their boat sank in the chilly Pacific Ocean, Steve Harrison began to lose hope for himself and his two friends as darkness began to descend on the rolling waves.
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter had flown over several times without spotting them, and a fishing boat had come within 200 to 300 yards.
Harrison and skipper Bob Templin knew Elmer “Sandy” Killian would be the first to go. The color had left his face, and he was barely hanging onto the ice chest that had floated all three of the men 80 miles north of Newport, where they had begun the day.
“Sandy said,'Make sure you tell my wife and kids I love them,”' Harrison recalled. “Bob told Sandy, ‘You don't have to worry about that. If any of us survive, we'll make sure they know.”'
On Monday, Harrison and Templin talked about their ordeal at sea for the first time since they were pulled from the water Friday night.
The three men had left Newport about 5:30 a.m. Friday in Templin's 25-foot boat, the Cape Falcon, in search of some good tuna fishing. By about 11 a.m., they found themselves surrounded by tuna, hauling in seven of the big fish.
But in the early afternoon, Templin, a Portland pharmacist, discovered water in the compartment. He now believes the tuna blocked a hole where the bilge pump sucked in water, preventing the pump from doing its job.
He tried running the pump manually, but the water continued to come in and began tipping the stern into the ocean.
Harrison, 56, a retired house painter from Tide water, was reeling in a 35-pounder when Templin, 53, told the men they were taking on water. Harrison dropped his fishing pole and ran for the life jackets in the cabin. Templin continued bailing out the storage compartment. Killian, 61, a Waldport real estate agent, got on the radio in the cabin and called for help.
A wave swamped the boat, slamming the cabin door shut, trapping Harrison and Killian inside and pushing Templin overboard. Inside the cabin, the two men tried to push the door open, Harrison said.
“We didn't know if we were floating or sinking,” he said. “Sandy said, ‘I don't want to die inside this cabin. It's 800 feet of water, they'll never find me.”'
Templin, who had a child's life preserver that Harrison had thrown from the cabin earlier, watched from the water as the boat continued to sink. “My God, they are going to go down with the boat,” he recalled thinking.
Inside, the men removed the window and were immediately engulfed in a torrent of water. But as the water rose in the cabin, the pressure eased, and Harrison pushed Killian through the opening, and then swam free himself.
In the water, the two men found Templin clinging to an ice chest, and each took a side of the 99-quart cooler. Only Killian had a proper life jacket, also thrown to him by Harrison. Harrison wore a hunting vest.
“Sandy said, 'Hold on and wait. We got the SOS out. They'll be here,”' Harrison said.
But the Coast Guard didn't know the boat's exact location, only that it was in about 800 feet of water. Killian had been able to shout that much information into the radio before the boat went under.
The men have different memories of when the first helicopter flew over. Harrison thinks it was after four hours in the water, but Templin recalls it being more like two hours. Either way, disappointment swept over them when they realized they had not been spotted.
Harrison had a 9mm pistol he'd carried aboard to shoot the tuna once they were onboard. But firing rounds into the air when the helicopter passed overhead made no difference.
They tried flipping the white part of the ice chest up and down to signal SOS, but still nothing.
As darkness approached, Killian became nonresponsive, Templin said. “I think he had about 20 to 30 minutes,” he said.
But then Harrison saw another boat, which spotted the men and summoned the helicopter. And seven hours after the men radioed for help, they were lifted to safety. All three were flown to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport.
Killian remains in the hospital, from double pneumonia. Templin and Harrison were released after one night.
No one knows exactly how it was that the three were able to survive so long in the 65-degree water.
But they do plan to track down the skipper of the boat who spotted them - The Way To Go, Too.
“We owe that man our lives,” Harrison said.
---
Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter had flown over several times without spotting them, and a fishing boat had come within 200 to 300 yards.
Harrison and skipper Bob Templin knew Elmer “Sandy” Killian would be the first to go. The color had left his face, and he was barely hanging onto the ice chest that had floated all three of the men 80 miles north of Newport, where they had begun the day.
“Sandy said,'Make sure you tell my wife and kids I love them,”' Harrison recalled. “Bob told Sandy, ‘You don't have to worry about that. If any of us survive, we'll make sure they know.”'
On Monday, Harrison and Templin talked about their ordeal at sea for the first time since they were pulled from the water Friday night.
The three men had left Newport about 5:30 a.m. Friday in Templin's 25-foot boat, the Cape Falcon, in search of some good tuna fishing. By about 11 a.m., they found themselves surrounded by tuna, hauling in seven of the big fish.
But in the early afternoon, Templin, a Portland pharmacist, discovered water in the compartment. He now believes the tuna blocked a hole where the bilge pump sucked in water, preventing the pump from doing its job.
He tried running the pump manually, but the water continued to come in and began tipping the stern into the ocean.
Harrison, 56, a retired house painter from Tide water, was reeling in a 35-pounder when Templin, 53, told the men they were taking on water. Harrison dropped his fishing pole and ran for the life jackets in the cabin. Templin continued bailing out the storage compartment. Killian, 61, a Waldport real estate agent, got on the radio in the cabin and called for help.
A wave swamped the boat, slamming the cabin door shut, trapping Harrison and Killian inside and pushing Templin overboard. Inside the cabin, the two men tried to push the door open, Harrison said.
“We didn't know if we were floating or sinking,” he said. “Sandy said, ‘I don't want to die inside this cabin. It's 800 feet of water, they'll never find me.”'
Templin, who had a child's life preserver that Harrison had thrown from the cabin earlier, watched from the water as the boat continued to sink. “My God, they are going to go down with the boat,” he recalled thinking.
Inside, the men removed the window and were immediately engulfed in a torrent of water. But as the water rose in the cabin, the pressure eased, and Harrison pushed Killian through the opening, and then swam free himself.
In the water, the two men found Templin clinging to an ice chest, and each took a side of the 99-quart cooler. Only Killian had a proper life jacket, also thrown to him by Harrison. Harrison wore a hunting vest.
“Sandy said, 'Hold on and wait. We got the SOS out. They'll be here,”' Harrison said.
But the Coast Guard didn't know the boat's exact location, only that it was in about 800 feet of water. Killian had been able to shout that much information into the radio before the boat went under.
The men have different memories of when the first helicopter flew over. Harrison thinks it was after four hours in the water, but Templin recalls it being more like two hours. Either way, disappointment swept over them when they realized they had not been spotted.
Harrison had a 9mm pistol he'd carried aboard to shoot the tuna once they were onboard. But firing rounds into the air when the helicopter passed overhead made no difference.
They tried flipping the white part of the ice chest up and down to signal SOS, but still nothing.
As darkness approached, Killian became nonresponsive, Templin said. “I think he had about 20 to 30 minutes,” he said.
But then Harrison saw another boat, which spotted the men and summoned the helicopter. And seven hours after the men radioed for help, they were lifted to safety. All three were flown to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport.
Killian remains in the hospital, from double pneumonia. Templin and Harrison were released after one night.
No one knows exactly how it was that the three were able to survive so long in the 65-degree water.
But they do plan to track down the skipper of the boat who spotted them - The Way To Go, Too.
“We owe that man our lives,” Harrison said.
---
Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
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