"Serene and Savage Sea"

Trond narrowly escaped a storm experience, which he describes below.  

"On Memorial Day of 2000 a vicious, surprise Nor'easter came out of nowhere and attacked the Atlantic coastal waters off Cape Hatteras.  Five veteran, ocean cruising sailboats were innocently transiting the area at the time -  one as far offshore as 150 nautical miles  - and they were all expecting the forecasted,  somewhat unpleasant conditions of 25 knot winds out of the NW to NE, and some thunderstorms and rain associated with the passage of a moderate cold front.  

Instead, an unforeseen 'weather bomb' exploded over the area.  During a 6 hour period the weather deteriorated from innocuously calm  to  vicious,  survival conditions.   Shipboard barometer readings plunged as though suddenly unplugged, our own eventually dropping to a low of  987 mbar during the apparent peak of the storm in the mid-afternoon.  This is a very low value not at all atypical of a serious hurricane!   Our little boats were lashed by the Nor'easter's winds that gusted violently to hurricane force and shredded thick, Dacron sails like flimsy cotton dresses.  Chaotic, confused churning seas reaching over 30' pounded and tossed our fragile boats, which were eventually all knocked down, rolled, or otherwise beaten into submission and  disabled.  

I was aboard the 46 foot 'Cariad', a high performance, open ocean sailing yacht.   Headed for Annapolis, Maryland, from my home in South Florida, I and my two sailing friends Sue and Paolo found ourselves ambushed by the storm just a dozen or so miles off North Carolina's Outer Banks, trapped  midway between Cape Hatteras and Cape Henry, which were at least 12 hours away in either direction.  Completely exposed to the storm barreling down on us out of the Northeast, we had precious little sea-room.  We were being pushed towards certain death on either the Outer Banks or Cape Hatteras itself, and we had absolutely no hope of escaping into the safety of a harbor.  With malicious intent, the vicious storm scored a perfect bull's eye on our little boat. 

Sustaining substantial damage to sails, hull and rigging, 'Cariad' finally suffered a severe, punishing knockdown that inflicted a potentially fatal injury to Sue's head.  At this point we were all battered, bruised, injured, exhausted and hypothermic, and Sue's serious injury forced us to get her to a hospital quickly.  We radioed a "Mayday", waited for the Coast Guard to find our almost invisible white boat in a foamy white ocean, and eventually jumped into the Ocean so that we could be fished out to safety by the waiting Coast Guard helicopter.   I and my compatriots were flown to the nearest Hospital in North Carolina, where Sue's severe head injury was thoroughly examined and immediately treated - thankfully, without complication.   Paolo's broken fingers were x-rayed and set in a splint.  I suffered only hypothermia, like the others, and quickly found myself in the warm comfort and safety of a quiet motel room.

I have had a lifelong love of the Ocean - she has bestowed on me some of the most glorious and positive experiences of my life.  But, she can also be a deadly, malicious monster.   I both love and fear Her, and do my best to only experience her benevolent personality.

I wrote "Serene and Savage Sea" to try to capture some of the elements of my relationship with the Ocean, as well as a notable passage around Cape Hatteras -  the  Graveyard of the Atlantic - and, finally, the vicious 2000 Memorial Day Storm."

If you like, you can go below to listen to the piece in each of  its three movements.  You may prefer this option, if you have a slow internet connection.  Otherwise, here's the full version.

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The Three Movements - "Serene and Savage Sea"

Listen to the First Movement:  'Sailing Forth - A Sailor's Musings'

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Listen to the Second Movement:  'Cape Hatteras, Night Sky At Sea'

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Listen to the Third Movement:  'The Storm'

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