Hammwas havingahardtime
keepinghisplaceatthehelm.David-
sonsaid,“Standup.Holdontothat
handle.Justrelax,everything’sgonna
bejustfine.”
Therecordingwasdifficulttomake
out,butSchultzthenappearstohave
reportedthelistat 18 degrees.Think
oftheangleofa wheelchair ramp and
thenmultiplybyfour.FloodinginThree-Hold
ItisunlikelythatDavidsoneverfully
understoodthathehadsailedintothe
eyewallofJoaquin,buthemusthave
realisedbynowthathehadcome
muchtooclose.
At5.43am,theseriousnessoftheir
predicamentsuddenlybecameclear.
Uponthebridgethehousephone
rang.Davidsonansweredandlistened
for 15 seconds.Hehungupandsaidto
Schultz.“Godowntothree-holdand
startthepumpingrightnow.Water.”
Three-holdwasavastspacebe-
lowtheseconddeck,justinfrontof
theengineroom.Itwasloadedwith
cars.Theproblemwasa seriesofscut-
tles– heavywatertighthatches– that
allowedaccessfromtheseconddeck
tothecargoholdsbelow.Thecrew
hadsecuredthemthedaybefore,in
preparationforthestorm.Butifone
hadbeenoverlookedorhadfailed,the
floodingwouldbesevere.
Thehousephonerang.Davidson
answered.Itwasanengineercalling
in.Thebilgepumpwasnotkeeping
up – water was continuing to rise. Theengineroom.Theconversationwas
brief.Schultzrangthecaptaininthe
galley.“Thechiefengineerjustcalled
...Somethingaboutthelistandoil
levels.”
Thetimewas4.41am.Thehurri-
canewasraging.Davidsonreturned
andgotonthephonetotheengine
room.Afterhegotoffhesaid,“Gonna
steerrightupintoit.Wantstotakethe
listoff.”Heintendedtofeelhisway
upwinduntiltheaerodynamicpres-
suresweresufficientlyreducedthat
theshipwouldcomeclosertolevel.
Beyondthewindowsallwasblackness
anddrivingspray.Hedidnotknow
thewind’sdirectionexceptthatit was
comingfromtheleft.
Hammstartedaslowturninto
thewind.Davidsonhadbeenonthe
phoneagainwiththeengineroom.
Whenhegotoff,hesaid,“Justthelist.
Thesumpsareactin’up.Tobeexpect-
ed.”Thesumpshadpumpsthatsup-
pliedlubricationtothemainengine.
Theyhadturned 35 degreestothe
left.Hammwasnowdoggedlysteering
tothenortheast.Theseaconditions
wereatrocious.Theywerenolonger
normalforAlaska.
Theshipwaspointedalmostdirect-
lyintothewind,butDavidsonhadno
wayofknowingit.Ona cleanupwind
direction,anylistcausedbythewinds
shouldhavecometoanend;thelist,
however,continuedand,ifanything,
wassteeperthanbefore,suggesting
that somethingbesides wind was
causingit – suchas flooding.
124 April 2020
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