|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
Stranded on Krakatau
| Article
# : |
12525 |
|
|
Section : |
LIFE
|
| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1987 |
3,534 Words |
| Author
: |
Richard Bangs
Richard Bangs is the author of Island Gods, Whitewater
Adventure, and Riding the Dragon's Back, which won the
Lowell Thomas Award for the best travel book of 1989. He
is the founder of SOBEK Expeditions, an international
travel-adventure company, which has become part of Mt.
Travel-SOBEK. |
Had the fierce ashes of some fiery peak
Been hurled so high they ranged around the world
For day by day through many a blood-red eve
The wrathful sunset glared.
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1883
"The truth is, you've got a 20 percent chance of making it out and back in a small boat, 80 percent in a large boat."
Axel Ridder's warning rang through my mind as the boat shuddered with another wave. I tried to reassure myself. We had hired a "large boat," the Ernarosa, a 10-meter traditional Pinisi diesel-powered trawler, to navigate the 40 kilometers across the Sunda Straits from West Java. But I had put my hand through the rotted sideboards of the Ernarosa while being bounced about below deck: This didn't inspire any extra confidence. We were attempting this jaunt in January, the stormiest month of the monsoon season.
The boat's rhythmic pitching slapped an untethered hatch door to time, and I felt myself drifting off into sleep.
A wild list of the boat punched the dusty moment of unconsciousness, tossing me off the bench where I slept and onto the keel floor. The Ernarosa lurched again, and with a crack like a cannon report, a wave burst through our compartment and washed over me.
"George, I think we're sinking," I yelled to my companion, who was clinging to his narrow bench.
Above, our Indonesian crew scrambled about and screamed at one another through the pandemonium. Another wave crashed into our hole. We grabbed our kits. George and I climbed up the ladder through another rolling wave to a tilted mid-deck. The only exit to the island side of the boat was through the privy, but a plywood wall blocked the passage. A crew member kicked it down like a clumsy martial arts instructor. I jumped first into the inky water flashing blue with phosphorescence and was surprised to find just waist deep. George threw our packs to me then leapt in. The rest of the crew followed. We waded to shore and turned our flashlights back to the Ernarosa. It lay collapsed on its side and moved in small breaths with the waves, like a dying sea
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
