Abandoning the Rescue Mission

Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of A againgainst the Odds ad free right now Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app A listener note, Against the odds uses dramatizations that are based on true events, some elements, including dialogue may be invented, but everything is based on research. Doyle hits the water hard Or rather, the water hits him It's so cold that it knocks the wind out of him. evenven wearing an insulated survival suit, he can feel his fingers and toes going numb his momentum carries him under the waves. It's just after seven PM on january thirtieth, nineteen ninety eight Well past dark here, sixty miles off the coast of Alaska Bob is part of a group of five fishermen ship the Laconti, is sinking in the midst of the worst storm he's ever seen The Laconti had no life raft on board, so Bob and his crewmates were forced to abandon ships They ropeed themselves together to make sure they're not separated and jumped into the ocean It is churning with waves the size of five story buildings Sop surfaces sputtering looks around in the darkness for the Laconti. He knows they have to swim clear of her sinks If they don't, they could be sucked down with the ship. He spins around, treading water until he spots her. The old schcoooner is now lying on her side half submerged. Her lights are still on, casting an eerie greenish yellow glow across the waves Oh! Then a wave slams into Bob and his crewmates from behind. Bob feels helpless against the force of it. It's like he's being hit by a speeding truck. and it's propelling him forward right into the Lacanti's overturned hull. Watch out! Bob bounces off the wooden hull force back underwater. He holds his breath until his lungs feel like they're about to explode. He's spinning inside the wave, unsure which way is up or down Then his head pops up above the waves. Despite the bitter cold wind and the stinging sleet, fresh air never tasted so good He hears Captain Mark Morley's voice from about ten feet away, the length of rope between each man. Everyone, sound off Giggy. I'm here Mike here Dave. Dave Sound off. Damnit. I'm here Bob Bob Bob doesn't answer, because in that moment, he realizes he's lost something The emergency radio beacon, or EPER. The last wave must have torn the flashlight sized device from his grasp Bop! Damn it! Sound off I'm here capap, but I can't find the Iperb. Then the Eperb strobe light flashes and he sees it. It's floating just a few feet away, attached to a length of rope. But that rope has gotten tangled with a Laconti's rigging. I see it. Bob starts swimming towards the Eper, but it's a struggle Because they're all roped together, he's essentially pulling the other four men behind him. Everyone, swim with me. Bob paddles desperately, feeling the tug of the rope around his waist. He knows that in a storm this bad, without the Iper, the Coast Guard might never find them Just when the rope is tautght and he can swim no farther, he's able to grab the eperb and pull it free. I've got it. Morley shouts over the storm. Good. Now tie that damn thing to yourself before you lose it again. Then Giggy Moore calls out. Look, boy There she goes Bob turns and sees the last few feet of the Lac Conti's hull, bobbing above the waves. Then slowly, without a sound, it sinks The men can only watch as her lights disappear into the depths, leaving them alone in the cold, storm tossed sea With a Spark Cash plus card from Capital O, you earn unlimited two percent cash back on every purchase. and you get big purchasing power. So your business can spend more and earn more I heard a rumor that the CIA poisoned my granddad. Gordon Banks, the world's number one goalkeeper. It happened in Mexico, supposedly, at the World Cup in nineteen seventy. Sounds crazy? I'm an investigative journalist on the hunt for evidence. We needed to do some extraordinary things to counter these Sovians This is Foul playay, an unbelievable tale of sports, spies, and family secrets Listen now wherever you get your podcasts or early and ad free on Audible original I'm Mike Corey, and this is againainst the Odds On january thirtieth, nineteen ninety eight, a fishing vessel called the Laconti sank far off the coast of southeastern Alaska middle of a massive storm Its five man crew was forced to abandon ship in neoprene survival suits with flotation collars The suits would keep them warm and dry up to a point. up with water temperatures hovering around forty degrees Fahrenheit and waves up to sixty feet tall, it was only a matter of time before they would start succumbing to the elements Their only hope of rescue was a Coast Guard air station in Sitka, one hundred and fifty miles away Ironically, one of the five fishermen, Bob Doyle, had served at that station less than a year before He'd been kicked out of the Coast Guard for drinking and missing work. after a devastating divorce. Now, Bob and his crewmates would have to hang on. until a rescue helicopter could somehow pluck them out of the water Winds gusting over seventy miles per hour This is episode two Rue wave Lieutenant Bill Addocks steps into the hangar of the Coast Guard Air station in Sitka. Dressed in his blue flight suit, he strides over to his pilot, Lieutenant Dan Molen. talking with a mechanic next to one of the station's three helicopters. Hey, Dan Ready for some preflight checks Yep, let's do it. They climb into the cockpit and begin running through their checklists, making sure every instrument is working on their H sixty J Hawk helicopter It's a procedure each man has performed hundreds of times Before joining the Coast Guard, Addicts flew helicopters in the Marine Corps for twelve years Molen cut his teeth in the Navy, flying night missions off aircraft carriers. So Addx is feeling calm and focused. Tonight's mission, as far as he knows, should just be another day at the office They'll be flying into a big offshore storm front to check on an eperb signal The Coast Guard picked it up about forty five minutes ago on Fair Weather Ground, one hundred and fifty miles to the northwest Because the storm hasn't reached land yet, details on its size and strength are sketchy Here at the base, winds are topping out at just thirty miles per hour freeze by Alaska standards Their helicopter, the H sixty Jahawk, is a seven ton flying tank twin engines sporting nearly two thousand horsepower each. There iss not much Mother Nature can throw at it that it can't handle Tonight, Addx is serving as mission commommander and navigator. while Molin is pilot. They're also joined by a rescue swimmer. Rich sandsone and a flight mechanic, Sean Witherspoon whose main job is to operate the winch for the rescue basket. SandSone and Witherspoons sit in the back and communicate with the cockpit via headset Addict hears Sam Sone's voice in his ear now. Anyone wantna bet this is another false alarm Adds knows what he means. More often than not, eperbs are activated by accident. Coast Guard rescuers usually arrive on scene only to find a crew of fishermen busy at work obblivious to the alarm Sometimes, they find an eperb floating by itself, accidentally dropped overboard We've got to take each call seriously. I'm not taking that bet Rich Stan, hey How are we looking Ready for takeff Okay Let's take her out Mole then taxies the Jayhawk out of the hangar and onto a short runway. Rain streaks the windshield Once they're sure all their navigation systems look good, Molden fires up the main rotor lifts the Jay Hawk a few feet off the ground and guns the enginance In seconds, the helicopter is rising into the sky. leaving the air station behind. Almost immediately, a stiff crosswind blows them sideways. Molden skillfully levels them out again But it's clear that conditions are going to be a lot windier than they anticipated As they fly away from shore, the driving rain turns to sleet and snow Limiting visibility to a few hundred yards Fortunately, they can navigate by GPS Jayahawk is equipped with powerful floodlights The crew also has nightbishing goggles. They head west out of Ska Sound, then turn north around a cape and out towards open sea As soon as they're past the mountain that guards the cave, they're hammered by even stronger windings Atdicts watches Mlden wrestle with the controls, trying to keep the helicopter level and on course. Stay on this heading dan. I'm trying Molvin twists the helicopter this way and that, trying to stabilize it. Finally, he catches a tailwind and the jayhawk takes off like a buucking Bronco. Addx looks down at the wind spepeed indicator page and his eyes go wide, it reads forty knots. then forty five Gage keeps climbing all the way to seventy five. That's over eighty miles per hour. And these aren't gusts. These are sustained winds Addict's first thought is that the gauge must be broken callalls out to Molden. What's our true air spepeed right now? You're not going believe it Ding two hundred and twenty five knots. Adicts whistles. That's over two hundred and fifty miles per hour Much faster than the Jayhawk can fly on its own. That eighty mile per hour tailwind means they'll reach fair weather ground in record time about fifteen minutes. But if this eperb signal is real and not a false alarm How were they going to rescue anyone with the wind blowing this hard Ka squeezes his mouth and eyes closed as another monster wave barrels into them He feels himself caught in its curl, spinning helplessly head over heels Other bodies crash into his elbows and feet and heads, jabbing into his ribs. He wishes they had used a longer rope to tie themselves together comes up gasping for air and cries out. A, I'm sick of this. This sucks. A fresh wave seems to batter them every few seconds. They can't have been in the water longer than fifteen minutes, but already it feels like an eternity From somewhere behind him, he hears Giggy Mooor call out. Hey guys Dave's not doing so good Mike shouts back angrily. Join the club. None of us are doing good No, his collar, it didn't inflate. I think his suit's taking on water Mike turns and sees Giggy holding up David Hanlin from behind. Even before the abandoned ship, Hanlin was already weak from seasickness. Without the inflatable collar on his survival suit, he's struggling to keep his head above water In the flash of the eperb strobe, Mike can see Hanlan's skin has a bluish tint Sorry, Yigy. I didn Another breaking wave drives them all under again Mike closes his eyes He knows from years of fishing that if you get too much salt water in your eyes, they can swell shut. But this time, when he resurfaces and opens his eyes, everything stays black I can't see. Jesus. I can't see. I'm blind. For a moment, Mike panics. Has the ocean water blinded him already? But then he hears someone laughing. You're not blind, dumbass. Your hair is just covering your face Mike reaches up and wipes his long hair out of his eyes. The first thing he sees is a grinning Bob Doyle. Honest to God. If we do make it through this, I'm cutting your hair a damn hippie For a little while, they trade insults which actually starts to make Mike feel a bit better. And then, another wave carries them under wonders how much longer they'll have to hang on before rescue comes Lieutenant Bill Addos tries to type commands into the Jay Hawk helicopter's onboard computer. But it's bucking so much that his fingers keep missing the buttons. It's a little after eight PM and they've just arrived at the last known location of the ePb. Addx is trying to program the helicopter's autopilot system to fly in a standard search pattern But it's taking him forever with all this turbulence Pilot Dan Moldin has them flying about three hundred feet above sea level over fair weather ground. He's slowed down as much as he can. They still have an eighty mile an hour tailwind. Normally, they could see the ocean from this height But even with their night vision goggles, it's pitch black outside the cockpit windows The goggles can only enhance ambient light, and right now There isn't any It's just driving snow, Sleet Yes. Addx checks his direction findinder an instrument designed to home in on the ePB signal He sees that it's lighting up Okay, we gotta hit. Where We just flew right over it. turnurn us around. But in this ferocious wind, that's easier said than done. The Mld then jams the stick over as far as it'll go, and the helicopter begins to turn. But now the wind is shoving it sideways, blowing them even farther away from the signal Addx yells instinctively Turn! turn! I'm trying. Adds can see sweat trickling from under Molden's helmet, but finally, he gets the helicopter turned squarely into the wind and begins creeping back towards the signal When they're close, Addx speaks again over the headset I can't see anything from this altitude. Can you take us down to two hundred taking us down. When they're at two hundred feet, Addx switches on the Jayhawk's powerful floodlight. Now through curtains of snow, hail, and sleet, he can faintly make out the ocean below him. sees astonishes him. Huge waves churn past below them, fast moving mount Adx guesses that the biggest ones are sixty feet tall, maybe more. Occasionally, they crash into each other, sending sprays so high into the air it's practically clipping the bottom of the helicopter. Somewhere down there is the Eper He should be able to spot its strobe light from this altitude So far He sees no trace of it Whatever ship it might have come from. Bob Bob Help me. Bob Doyle ganks on the rope line holding the men together Following the sound of Captain Mark Morley's voice Between the darkness and the height of the waves, he keeps losing sight of the others Finally, he sees the skipper calls out weekly You gotta help people My suit, It's taking all water. I can't feel my legs Bob swims over to the captain and wraps his arms around him from behind, trying to prop him up. The way Giggy Mork has been holding up Dave Hanlein. The skipper is shaking uncontrollably Hey, donon' worry, Skip. I got you. Okay Then a massive wave slams down on them, shoving both men underwater. Bob holds his breath. Then he pops back to the surface and grabs hold of Morley again. He's coughing up seawater. Bob looks around and can't see the others. He shouts over the wind and waves Sound off. Mike, here. Giggy, here Headl look Hanlon A sound off. Giggy is handling with you. I lost him in that wave Dave Where the hell are you? Damnit Dape Heay All the men join in shouting Dave Hanlin's name. Even the weakened Morley cries it out, but there's no response Then, in the flash of the eperb strobe, Bob sees something. One of the buoy balls they tied to each end of their rope has come loose and is floating away realizes that it's the ball that was closest to Hanlin Giggy sees the ball too and starts swimming toward it, but each time he gets close, the current pulls the ball away. And if Hanlin is still attached to it, they haven't seen him surface for several minutes In the end, all they can do is watch as the buoy ball is swept away in the waves Dave Hanlon along with it. Lieutenant Bill Addoxs stares through his night vision goggles at the chaotic sea below They're homing in on the ePperb signal, but pilot Dan Molin can only inch forward into the Gale Force headwinds. Occasionally, they hit turbulence, and the helicopter rises or plummets a hundred feet in an instant Addx feels his stomach lurch with each sudden change in altitude. They've turned off their so called night sun floodlight because it was bouncing off the snow and sleet Glare was blinding Molvin Now addicts can barely see anything except for the occasional white cap of an especially large wave. But then something catches his eye. There, I see a flash. Where? Forward and left, ten degrees Molden follows the directions and Addx sees another stroke flash. He's sure now that it's the eperb, but he can't yet tell if there's anything else down there For all he knows, it's just floating alone, accidentally dropped from some passing ship. But then in the next flash, he sees shapes in the water At first, he can't tell what he's seeing. It just looks like a bunch of faintly glowing lines. Then It hits him. There's people in the water. Are you sure? I see the glow tape on their survival suits. It lookooks like four, many five. Over his headset, Addx tells the flight mechanic Sean Witherspoon, to get the rescue basket ready. He's never attempted a water rescue in conditions this extreme And he's guessing no one on his crew has either But gotot to try. Bob Doyle props up Mark Morley as they ride over the crest of another wave Bob can tell from the weight that the captain's suit is definitely taking on water His shivering has gotten worse, and he's slipping in and out of consciousness. Bob slaps Morley's cheek to try to keep him awake. M Mark, Mark. stay with me. Stay with me, bud Mark's eyes fly open. They're not focused on anything More, more Where are you? Bob remembers that Tomora is Mark's fiancee. He met her and her daughter, when Mark took them all whale watching. His heart breaks for the Ctain s not your m. But you're gonna see her again soon, okay? I promise But now Mark begins sobbing. She's four months preressure We're gonna see my kidpa. Hey, you'll see him. You just gotta hang on, Mark. Coses will be here any minute. But he's not sure he believes it himself. His thoughts flash to his own children, and he wonders if he'll ever get to watch them grow up another way the is of knocking them underwater. When they resurface, Mark's face is a picture of anguish. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I never should have brought you guys here Mark, come on man. Don't talk like that. No, no, no. It's true. It's true. I'm the skipper. This is not my fault From somewhere in the darkness, Bob hears Mike DeCapua call out. don't give up on us. Helppss almost here. Giggie Mork joins Mike in shouting words of encouragement, but Morley looks weak and defeated. Bob realizes he might not be able to hang on much longer. And then he hears something barely audible over the thundering waves roar of engines, he squints upward through the driving sleat then points guysys, look. Everyone cranames their heads and they see it. A blinking light, faint, but getting closer That's an a hundred sixty jhawk. That's the Coast Guard's finest. We're gonna get out of here soon guys. Hold on. Over here They found us. They found The arrival of the helicopter lifts everyone's spirits. Even Morley perks up. Bob feels a surge of relief. Now they have a fighting chance But Bob doesn't tell the others what he's thinking. From his days in the Coast Guard, he knows that in a sea this turbulent, it could take the rescuers hours to get them out of the water. They're still a long way from being saved Flight mechanic Sean Witherspoon braces himself, then slides open the jayhawk's side door. As soon as he does, wind blown sleep jabs his face like a thousand tiny needles. Every fiber in his body wants to recoil from the cold, but he wills himself to duck his head out of the door so he can look down ese surging waves below. Yeah, I see them. Two people maybe more. He hears Lieutenant Bill Addock's voice in his headset. We count four. drop a DMB and a flare to mark their position. Roger, A DMB is a data marker buoy, essentially a backup in case they lose both the ePB signal and visual contact with the survivors While Witherspoon tosses it out, rescue swimmer Rich Sandstone speaks up. mister Addocks, should I prepare to deploy? Hell no, Rich. If we send you out in a sea state like that, we might not get you back After the marker buoy, Witherspoon drops one of the Jay Hawk's five water activated flares The wind catches it almost instantly and he can't even see where it comes down. Addx orders him to drop another one, and this time it gets close enough to the survivors that they can proceed with the rescue basket. Witherspoon grunts with effort as he hauls the basket into position and clips it to the hoist cable The basket is made of stainless steel, open on both ends, about four feet long and two feet wide, just big enough for one person to comfortably sit inside it. Witherspoon feels himself sweating under his flight suit as he slides the forty pound basket to the edge of the open helicopter door. Ready to hoist. Okay, Sean. Pull my hoist. Witherspoon shoves the basket out of the door. Baskets away But instead of dropping straight down, the basket sails backwards, parallel to the helicopter. The wind is catching it, sending it dangerously close to the Jayhawk's tail rotor If the hoist cable gets snagged in the rotor blades, they'll crash for sure. Frantically, Witherspoon hauls the basket back in. Clearly, this isn't going to be a typical basket deployment. Witherspoon needs to try something else. He addresses the pilot, Dan Molvin. Dan, take us forward two hundred. two hundred feet. Are you sure? Yeah, the basket, it's flapping around like a kite in this wind. We gotta get up wind of the survivors Witherspoon waits until the survivors are well behind them. Then he picks up the heavy basket and hurls it out of the door with all of his might. As soon as that's done, he begins playing out the hoist cable as fast as it'll go. The motorized winch does most of the work of lowering the basket and raising it again, but for Witherspoon, it's still a workout He has to sling the cable over his shoulder, so it won't hit the edge of the door frame, which would cause a defray. Then by gripping the cable, he can exert some control over where the basket comes down. It's a skill he's honed over hundreds of hours of training and live rescues, requiring a combination of delicate touch And a brute straff Witherspoon notes with satisfaction that the basket is now well clear of the helicopter's tail rotor. He keeps playing out the cable until he sees a splash. Basket is in the water. But just seconds later, a huge wave catches the basket and sweeps it out of sight. The cable goes taut, and the winch mechanism screeches Damn it Rich Sansone, the rescue swimmer calls out. Need help, Sean? No, I got it. We need you on Altimeter and Cs Operating the rescue basket hoist is supposed to be a one person job. SansSone has other responsibilities, and Witherspoon doesn't want to break protocol by asking for help. Besides, he can bench press three hundred pounds, even when the winch is malfunctioning or maxed out, he should be able to haul in the basket on his own But he's never felt resistance like this. It's like the entire ocean is fighting him. Finally, with all of his strength, he pulls the basket free of the water. But when he looks for the survivors, he sees they've been swept another hundred yards away Reel in the basket and Try again With sweat now pouring down his face, Witherspoon retrieves the basket, then calls out instructions to mold them to get them in position for the next toss Witherspoon is already exhausted, but he refuses to give up until all of those men are out of the water. Mike dee Capawa watches with growing frustration as the rescue basket whips around above their heads, flapping in the wind like a torn sail By now, he's lost count of how many times the Coast Guard rescuers have attempted to drop it Half of the time, it hits the water hundreds of feet from the fishermen. Other times, they can't even get it lowered all the way before they have to reel it back in Mike calls out to Bob Doyle. Hey, Bob, what the hell is wrong with these coasty friends of yours Don't they know what they're doing? I know, but this wind this wind is crazy. They're doing the best they can The basket flaps around some more, then amazingly, it starts heading straight toward them. Bob shouts. Everyone, be careful, okay This thing is heavier than it looks. If it hits you in the head, it's gonna kill you. Let it hit the water first The men paddle furiously to get out of the basket's path. It lands right next to them for just a split second, but then it bounces off the ocean's surface like a skipping stone across a pond. Moments later, it's out of reach Mike snarls in frustration. U U This is freaking insane. They're never gonna get us this way. Again, he hears Bob's voice. We just have to be patient. Okaykay? They know what they're doing Mike takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself He's not used to feeling this way. so helpless and terrified All of his life, Mike has never been afraid of danger. He ran away from home when he was thirteen, desperate not to end up like his father who was stuck in a dead end factory job. He traveled the country by hopping freight trains, did some jail time for burglary, and won and lost his fair share of barfights He's lived in the moment with no fear and no regrets That's what he loves about fishing. When he's coiling line and hauling in a catch, he's not thinking about anything else He's completely present But now that he's floating here amid sixty foot waves, staring death in the face finds himself looking back at his life and wishing 've done so many things differently He wishes he'd drunk less. He wishes he'd been better to his ex wife. Above all, he wishes he'd kept in touch with his daughters. How long has it been since he's seen them? een years. tries to imagine them grown up But he can't picture it And then another wave sweeps him under, and all Mike can think about is holding his breath Jayhawk, Lieutenant Bill Ads hears rescue swimmer Rich Sandstone's voice over his headset mister Ads with a spoon needs a break. He's pretty rung out. Coffee, Dan, take us up to three hundred and fifty feet. We need to regroup. They've been attempting to rescue the men in the water for over an hour now. but so far, they haven't been able to get the basket anywhere near them for more than a few seconds. Between the wind and the waves, it's beginning to feel impossible They need to try something different. He turns to pilot Dan Molvin We need to fly lower. I'd say eighty feet. We'll never be able to get the basket close otherwise. Molan shakes his head. I don't know, Bill. It sounds dangerous. You've seen how big some of these waves are. I know, but look, if you're not comfortable, I understand. Why don't I take the controls then? When he was a Marine Corps helicopter pilot, Addx flew plenty of low altitude night missions. So, Molden agrees. Addx will fly the jayhawk from the co pilot seat. Addx relays the plan to Sean Witherspoon and Rich Sanssoone then takes the helicopter down. He can see the waves looming dangerously close to the Jayhawk's underside, but when they get too close, Sansstone warns him using the altimeter, and he's able to pull it up in time The first basket drop is their closest yet. Still, not close enough for the men to reach it, but Addx is encouraged. At this lower altitude, Witherspoon is able to work more quickly, giving them more cracks at hitting a bull'seye Finally, on their fifth attempt, Addx hears Witherspoon over his head say The basket is in the water. Gotta be within fifteen feet damnit. I lost them Addx scans the water through his night vision goggles. No, I'm not seeing them either. But there is one of our flares, so they gotta be close. Addx tracks the path of the flare as it rides up the face of a wave. The green glowing light rises and rises and then disappears. It must have burnt out. He's about to tell Witherspoon to deploy another one when Sandstone's voice comes screeching through his headset Altitude. Altitude. U, U, up. Then Ax realizes what's really happening, He leans forward and looks up to the top of the windshield and sees the flare. twenty feet above them. It's at the top of a massive roue wave. and it's about to come crashing down right on top of them Doyle The Guard helicopter is now below them and his crewmates are getting swept up the face of a monster wave. It must be at least a hundred feet tall. And it feels like it's about to send them hurtling down smack into the helicopter's rotor blades. They'd be sliced to pieces. right before the chopper gets crushed like a beer can He hears the other men screaming, but finds that he can't make a sound. Everything seems to be happening in slow motion. From this angle, he can see right into the jayhawk's cockpit. He can make out the pilot' helmets, but not their faces. He wonders if he knows them from his Coast Guard days The helicopter disappears behind the wave. Bob realizes he and the other men have been carried over the crest and are now careening down the wave's backside Thundering crash, the wave breaks. Bob looks around and is amazed to see that they're all still together, still tied to their rope. Then he hears Mike Dakapua shout. Where is the chopper? Bob looks around, and sure enough, the jayhawk is gone. He hopes the wave didn't swallow it. He hates to think that anyone from Sitka Air Station could die trying to rescue him Also, he realizes if the helicopter really did crash, then their chances of being rescued have likely crashed with it Lieutenant Bill Addocks pulls back as hard as he can on the collective stick, trying to bring the nose of the jayhawk down. But it's no use. As soon as the rogue wave broke, they found themselves caught in a ferocious updraft, which pits the helicopter back on its tail like a rearing horse Now they're being blown backwards in a hurricane Force headwind. Dan Molvin yells something from the seat next to him. Level us out. I'm trying! Finally, the wind dies down, and Addicts regains control. He checks their marker buoy signal and is shocked to see they've been blown roughly four thousand feet from the survivors Almost a mile Over his headset, Addicts hears rescue swimmer Rich Sansone What the hell was that? You guys almost got us killed Hey Senseone, takeake it easy. That's an order Once everyone's gathered themselves, adddicts take stock of their situation It's not looking good. Sansstone reports that when they were blown backwards, the rescue basket was still deployed during that rough ride The hoist cable got hopelessly tangled When they try reeling it in, it gets frayed and knotted in the hoist mechanism And that's not all, sir Whith a spoon, he's, well I think he's done What do you mean, D 's He's puking his guts out right now. I think he just overe exerted himself They discuss their options With no flight mechanic and no hoist cable, they can't lower the basket again And they can't deploy their rescue swimmer Sansone because with no cable, they have no way of getting him back Finally, Addict says the words no Coast Guard resescue commander ever wants to say. Well boys, I'm calling it We got to go home. No one response. Addict knowns that his crew is stunned Coast Guard teams never leave people in the water. but Got no choice They've given it all that they can Plus, their fuel is getting low If they don't leave now They could wind up need of rescue too. Addx hands the controls back over to Dan Molin and tells Sanssoone to get Witherspoon some fluids and pack him into a hypothermia bag probably need medical attention when they get back to base He also tells SanSone to radio the air station est a second helicopter The cs out here are spotty, but hopefully Sansone can still get through And then reluctantly, he gives M than a compass heading that will take them home Doyle feels another flicker of hope when he sees the helicopter flying back towards them. They're still here. The wave didn't crush them When the jayhawk reaches them, it doesn't stop. It flies right past. goingo Mike Dicaapua curses as it passes. What the hell, man? You're the frigant Coast Guard. You can't just leave us here. Bob, what the hell are they doing? They must just be low on fuel, okay? They'll come back. But inside, he feels his anger welling up Mike is right. They're just leaving. It's like the Coast Guard is abandoning him all over again. First they kicked him out at the lowest point of his life, and now they're leaving him out here to die Not for the first time in this whole ordeal, Bob finds himself craving a drink A strong one Mark Morley's voice snaps him out of it. The skipper has stopped shivering now, a sure sign that hypothermia is taking hold Bob pulls him closer and leans into his ears, so Morley can hear him over the waves That's okay, all right I'm here Wh Why did they leave? They'll be back. And when they get here, I'm gonna make sure you're the first one up I promise, Bob keeps talking like that, murmuring reassurances into Mark Morley's ear. Truthfully, he's trying to reassure himself too They'll come back for them. They have to Follow Against the Odds on the Audible app or wherever you get your podcast. You can listen to all episodes of Against the Odds ad free by joining Audible. Aaudible Originals. This is episode two of our three part series Coast Guard Rescue on Alaska's High seeas A quick note about our scenes. In most cases, we can't exactly know what was said, but everything is based on historical research If you'd like to learn more about this event, we recommend the books The Last Run by Todd Lewin. And Coming Back Alive by Spike Walker