500 miles all the way from Iceland. We have been trying to outrun a major storm. All day we have been in eight to twelve foot waves, some breaking, but most were rolling. It got dark and I was totally exhausted so I asked Bob to drive. He too is exhausted, but he takes the helm. We have just passed a lighthouse on the outer islands of the Faroes. It did not take much to talk Bob into going back to the lighthouse to get a cup of coffee and sleep in the harbor. When we got back to the island. We could not find the harbor. We did not dare cross the ten-foot shore break without seeing the harbor. There were two great big fishing boats that we had passed; so we decided to go back and follow them. Only they were too far away and they had disappeared between the islands. Suddenly as we rounded the corner between the islands, we could no longer see the light house, the waves got much bigger and started breaking into the boat. WAH Boom…. The boat was full of water and suddenly it started spinning round and round……. in ten minutes a relatively calm rolling ten foot sea went to fear factor times ten. We had found one of the only real whirlpools in the world and we found it in the pitch- black cloud covered night
My brother Bob and I hold the world record for the smallest powerboat to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Yes, that is the boat in the picture above. The Faroes are a line of Islands 500 miles southeast of Iceland, right where the North Sea and the North Atlantic meet. Millions of gallons of water rush between those Islands, meeting the massive currents of the North Atlantic…. At certain times it creates a whirlpool in a place known as Tinderholm. “It can't sink, it can't sink, trust your equipment, trust your equipment, help us Lord, help us Lord Jesus”, were the words coming out of my mouth. Bob is saying don't panic. He did not remember saying “Don’t Panic” to me, but it actually helped me to remember not to panic. So I started saying out loud, “It can’t sink, it can’t sink, don’t panic, don’t panic, trust your equipment, trust your equipment
"Help us Lord, Help us Lord Jesus,” I thought we were going to die. Ten minutes ago, we were safe. Now we are going to die. I am talking out loud to remind myself to trust the equipment. I used to fly airplanes; “...most crashes happen when the pilot doesn't trust the equipment.” We are spinning round and round; huge waves are breaking into the boat. The boat is full of water and if it is not tied down it is gone. The antenna has fallen, the T- top dry box just bounced open and all my important papers are falling, the waves are pushing us up to the rocks that we can't see, it is pitch black with a cloud cover, our spotlight is only good for a few feet because of the ocean spray. The wind is ripping between the islands.
A few minutes prior to this, I was driving. We have just come
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