And it Happens Fast

The wind blew foam from the waves onto the beach, and I was glad Star Dust was safely docked at the marina on the other side of the island.  A strong cold front was moving in with 30 kt winds gusting to 40 and we were hiding out from the coming storm on Jekyll Island in southern Georgia. With a few hours of sunshine before rain arrived, Glen and I set out to explore the bike friendly island on loaners from the marina. Struggling to pedal against the wind, it was easier to walk the bikes along the soft sandy beach and rest next to a windswept tree.   

Huddling together, my first thought was how lucky to be in safe harbor.  But then, looking out at the roiling waves in the inlet, my eyes locked onto something that looked like a beached metal whale.

“A wreck of some kind.  Looks like only half of what must have been a really big ship,” said Glen, staring in wonder.  Salvage barges supporting a colossal crane were anchored next to what remained of a massive steel hull.   

“Maybe those men can shed some light,” and walked into the wind to meet up with them.

Two men—one in a dark blue military uniform—dragged something bulky from the surf, pulling it out of the water toward the sand dunes.  The man in uniform wore Coast Guard insignia and the other man was heavily bearded, wearing a puffy down vest over a shirt that said, “Ship Happens”.   

“Can we help?” I asked, as they struggled bringing something large, black, and silver out of the surf and up to the beach.  

“Thanks, but we have lots of practice,” answered the bearded man.   

“Is that part of the ship?” I asked, though, wait… it looked like… a bumper! A car bumper made from hard rubber composite material. Like the one on Glen’s Jeep back home.

Winded from exertion, the men leaned over to catch their breath. The Coast Guardsman told us the story as we all turned our backs to the wind and stared down at the bumper.

MV Golden Ray

“That wreck is what’s left of a ship called the Golden Ray—a RO/RO car carrier.  As in roll on and roll off.  They drive them aboard. She was over two football fields long and 17 stories high.  Normally she carries over 7,000 cars but only had 4,200 cars when she foundered.”   Pushing the car part with his foot, “This bumper is from a truck.  It carried mostly Ram trucks along with GM and Mercedes SUVs bound for delivery to the Middle East.”

 I pictured someone in Dubai impatiently wondering why their new car was taking so long to arrive.  Where can it be?   

Like most sailors I cringe at behemoth car carriers. They look too top heavy and boxy for heavy weather. During our sailing circumnavigation we had seen colossal ships like Golden Ray as big dots on the radar at sea, from afar in major shipping lanes and uncomfortably close in large ports.  Car carriers look like what the Coastguardsman had just described; a floating, 17-story parking garage. 

He went on, “In Jacksonville they off loaded hundreds of vehicles from the lower decks.  The higher decks were still full.  No one is sure exactly what happened, but the theory is that when the ship made a hard turn into the narrow ocean outlet, the uneven weight caused it to list heavily to one side.  Winds were high and with 17 stories catching the wind, once it started, it kept going.”

“It was the middle of the night but when the captain called Mayday, tugboats, the Coast Guard and anyone with a large boat and the guts to help pushed it to the sandbar to keep it from fully sinking.  Which saved the crew.  The ship was on its side and it took 36 hours to cut men out of the engine compartment. They had to bang on the sides to be found and the men floated in the water to stay alive.  Fires had started all over the ship and temperature inside was close to 150 degrees.  Kind of incredible everyone made it out alive.”

“What happens now to the cars and ship?”

The bearded man took over the story.  “I’m a contractor hired for cleanup.  The ship is being cut into pieces for salvage.  Using a great big chain, we’re slicing the hull into sections and shipping those to Baton Rouge to recycle metal for other ships.  Insurance paid out 400 million dollars and lots of that money has gone to clean up, including walking this beach and the one on the other side of the inlet,” inclining his head toward St Simon’s Island. “Over 400 local people are working on this salvage.  It’s good money but hard work.”

“It’s an unusual job where you get paid to comb the beach,” I said.  “But I don’t envy having to work in this kind of weather. Is that bumper a typical haul for your day?”

“Some days more, lots more,” he said.  “These high winds and waves are driving debris from the bottom of the inlet to shore. Who knows what we’ll find before sunset.”

Golden Rule

With tail winds pushing our bikes back to the marina, I mulled over the demise of the Golden Ray.  When things go wrong on a boat, they go wrong in a hurry. One minute it was business as usual, the next, the ship was capsizing and water was pouring in.  But what really stuck in my mind was the tug captains, Coast Guard and local boaters that saved the crew.  The Mayday call went out after midnight, but no one turned over in bed and went back to sleep. They threw on clothes, got to their boats, and went out in a chaotic situation to render aid and save lives.  The Golden Ray crew survived because of the Golden Rule; Treat others as you would like others to treat you.

I felt moved and hoped that I would have been able to respond in that way. Socially distancing on our little boat I feel like I have become too insulated from reality. There are times when every person on the planet needs the compassion of the Golden Rule.  I hope that whenever “ship happens”,  large or small, I can be the kind of person who reaches out a hand to do the right thing.   

Thanks for joining Glen and me on Jekyll Island as we travel aboard Star Dust on the Great Loop!  Please share this with friends,  xo Julie