Surviving a Force 12
by Dom Mee on 6 Jun 2016
Surviving a Force 12 Dom Mee
In 2005 Dom Mee undertook an epic adventure-the world’s first attempt to cross the Atlantic ocean in a kite-powered boat. What he didn’t know was that 2005 was going to be the most powerful hurricane season in history.
Dom becomes trapped on the notorious Grand Banks enduring the tail end of 5 hurricanes. It is a story of pioneering adventure, failure, survival and ultimate triumph against all the odds.
Kiting the hurricane
If you find yourself staring at black clouds as huge waves continually wash you off your distressed vessel, and the howling wind tries to skin you alive, then it will be no comfort to know you were not the first to be shipwrecked. What is of far more importance is to hold out for as long as humanly possible. Help will come.
I was alone so had no one to eat or anyone to witness my weakest moments as I stared into the abyss ready to be consumed. Shock is the first thing to remember as you put on your thermals and dry suit on and are forced to leave the safety of the cabin, in my case by swimming as I was inverted. There is nothing in life that can prepare you for the intensity of being stricken in the water within the tempest of 60ft breaking seas and the wind howling at 70 knots.
Hopelessness can consume the mind when faced against such raw power. I remember seeing an army of huge vertical walls of water heading towards me. In despair I activated my personal locator beacon to tell people who I hoped were listening that this was very serious indeed. I had already fired my EPRIB on my tenth roll in the North Atlantic washing machine.
The body will be in shock pounded by the tempest, hypothermia is inevitable in such extreme conditions but the body is secondary - it’s the mind you need to keep active to give you any chance of survival. Prepare for a long wait. I constantly calculated the arrival time of a ship that may be coming to rescue me, in between praying, of course. Sinking ships are atheist free zones.
When the first ship came to my aid, despite being stood only 200 meters away with a handheld flare pronounced against a night sky, the ship’s crew could not see me, the searchlight illuminating everything but me. After firing three flares I sat down to preserve my energy. Never be tempted to try and swim for it no matter how close rescue may seem. You will be lost forever. Sit tight, be patient. If you’re stricken craft is holding its own stay with it.
“We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds” – Aristotle Onassis
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