After 5: Fripp Island vacation delivers nightmarish detour

Fripp Island is a three-mile private island east of Beaufort, S.C., and north of Hilton Head Island. It is a nature preserve, where deer freely roam and the primary modes of transportation are bicycle and golf cart.

We rented a large house and looked forward to a relaxing week of boating, golfing, sightseeing and laying on the beautiful beaches.

Making headlines

After three days of exploring the island, our vacation quickly turned from low-key to headline news.

On Tuesday, June 27, a day of fishing and scuba diving with my friend, Eric Vestal, was on tap. We were expected to return by 8 p.m. to a late dinner of what else but fresh fish.

Our day started out great. We motored in Eric’s boat for two hours en route to the Betsy Ross shipwreck, where we planned to dive and fish. We set anchor and had been at the site less than an hour, when I noticed some water in the bottom of the boat. I began trying to bail the water while Eric attempted to start the motor. Eric signaled a mayday at about 11 a.m., but about that time, a large wave came in over the back of the boat and we knew we were going down. I called another mayday, but within seconds we were in the water. We attempted to sit on the hull of the boat as it turned turtle in the water, but it soon went completely down, and we began searching for anything large to hold on to.

Eric quickly found his buoyancy compensation device and put it on, and then spotted my dive bag and was able to grab my BCD as well before the dive bag, which was filled with weights, sank to the bottom. I began swimming for a buoy marker that appeared fairly close, and Eric was to follow behind. I never seemed to get any closer to the buoy, and Eric and I remained separated for the remainder of our time in the water.

During the afternoon I only saw one fishing boat and tried yelling for them, but it was obvious that I was too far away for anyone to hear or see me. I followed the position of the sun to swim in the direction of shore for the afternoon, but nightfall soon came and I knew by now that our families would be concerned and would be calling. Little did I know at the time that they had made several calls to my cell phone, which had gone down with the boat. When those calls were unanswered, they called the local sheriff, who alerted the Coast Guard. The Guard acknowledged to our families that they had indeed received a mayday call earlier in the day, however, in our haste we had failed to tell them our location. Once they were able to put that mayday call together with the information received from our families, they were able to launch a full search. Thankfully, Eric had placed a flashlight in his BCD pocket, and when he heard a helicopter overhead around 11 p.m., he began signaling them. They picked up Eric five miles from where the boat went down and took him to the airport at Hilton Head Island, where our families had been instructed to go. The assumption was that by the time they arrived to pick up Eric, I would surely be en route there as well. Eric filled in the details of the day to our families and to the Coast Guard, in hopes that this would help them find me.

Night swimming

I spent the night swimming for the channel lights that I could see in the distance, knowing that this was the direction of shore. The Coast Guard spent the night searching as best they could in the dark, and our families spent a sleepless night close to the telephone.

By daylight the Coast Guard had expanded its search to include two helicopters, two C-130 airplanes and two Coast Guard cutters. They continued to gather information from Eric and extended their search patterns. By 7 a.m., I could see the ships in the distance and a couple of times I could even see the crew standing on the deck as they made their rectangular grid patterns in the water. Just when I thought their next pass should put them right on top of me they would pull off and go to a new search grid. I spent my day swimming and resting and praying for my family, knowing that this had to be terribly hard for them. Amazingly, I was able to lay back and relax enough to doze off until I would roll over face first in the water, which would waken me.

The rescue

By 3 p.m., after I had been in the water for 26 hours, I decided I was going to have to come up with a new plan, as I thought the Coast Guard might never get close enough to see me. But within a few minutes there was a C-130 airplane circling directly overhead, and a helicopter was close behind. As soon as the helicopter dropped the basket into the water, I swam to it and crawled in, not waiting for them to put a swimmer in the water to help me. I had drifted more than 20 miles from our dive site.

The helicopter crew checked me out and gave me water and food. I was sunburned, dehydrated and had several jellyfish stings, but otherwise I was in good shape. They say I “refused” medical attention, but I contend that this statement is a little harsh, as I knew I needed hydration, and I opted to get it without the aid of a needle.

It was a happy and tearful reunion at the Hilton Head Fire Station when my wife and my son and our group of friends arrived. I had been taken there to shower and receive some dry clothes. We all stopped for a celebration steak dinner and then returned to our rental house on Fripp Island.

The next day we awoke to a barrage of phone calls from reporters wanting to speak with us. While we did a few interviews, Eric and I really just wanted to get back to our vacation with our friends and loved ones.

We were able to visit Charleston, S.C., on Friday and were able to go to the Coast Guard Station there to meet the crew of the Yellowfin, one of the cutters that helped in the search. We enjoyed the opportunity to be able to express our gratitude to them for their dedication to their jobs. They were glad to meet one of their success stories, as many of their missions don’t have the same outcome.

I have since been asked if I am going in the water again (or if my wife will let me). The answer is a resounding yes, as Eric and I each took one of our sons to New Orleans for some deep sea fishing in August and had a great time.

Next year, we are going on another boat trip. Only this time, we decided to choose a much larger boat and let someone else do the navigating.

We’re going on a cruise.

Kent Smith Jr. is vice president of Kenmar Construction in Springfield. He can be reached at ksmithjr@kenmarconst.com.[[In-content Ad]]