Ireland

Ireland

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Helpless

Just a note concerning the previous post.
After speaking to my daughter this morning just 20 minutes after she finished the Philadelphia marathon, I am more convinced then ever that,
they ARE nuts.


On a unrelated subject;

Have you ever locked yourself out of your house and then realized all the windows are also locked? What a feeling huh?

Have you ever arrived at your designated train track, ticket in hand, only to see the automatic doors closing, and the train slowly pulling away? The faces of the passengers sitting by the windows, lit by fluorescent lighting , staring blankly in their own little world as they pass by.

How about that feeling you got the first time you felt that unexpected but recognizable shudder of a car engine that was just minutes away from starving itself because of an empty gas tank?

All 3 of these scenarios produce a helpless feeling.
I know from experience.

Today we ran into 3 individuals who I'm pretty sure had that helpless feeling going on.


It seems someone on this particular spud barge miscalculated the fuel needed to make it back to land from wherever it was they were today.
We were out in the Gulf today taking care of some business when we received their call on the VHF radio requesting help.
They were drifting, out of fuel, at the mercy of the wind and currents which were steering them as Murphy's Law would have it, in the direction of an abandoned oil rig.

So our quiet Sunday was interjected with some excitement as we made up our emergency tow gear and towed them out of harms way.



After towing them into shallow water, they utilized those big spuds, and anchored themselves to the bottom. We were then sent on our way.
You just know I was thinking "blog material" the whole time.

A pretty good day for us, not so for the helpless hapless seaman who ran out of gas.
Someone has some explaining to do.

4 comments:

Sueann said...

That is exciting! And what a weird looking ship!!
Yes I have done all of those things and the worse part is feeling so helpless...at the mercy of whatever is going on. Feels like big powerful waves crashing on your head and knocking you into the surf. Ouch!!
Now, when I see 1/4 tank...I am pulling in to a station. Ha!
Hugs
SueAnn

beth said...

you saved 3 lives as i see it....come on. use that line to anyone you talk to and then fill in the blanks....

and you know what....i've never run out of gas or locked myself out of the house....

there was the time though that one my kids was locked in the car....in a car seat....good thing it was years and years ago and the scene so vague now that this is all i can remember.....

dcpeg said...

Great storytelling, Mark! Glad you all could save these guys, though they may never live down the embarrassment!

What a weird looking rig! Doesn't even look like it should be out on the water!

Jerral Miles said...

I love seeing your photographs of those floating service platforms... They are a paradox. They look impractically clumsy... Yet They are obviously designed to do exactly what is needed. There is a good tension in your photographs... like the one with the three guys waiting to be rescued from drifting into an abandoned oil rig. And I'm left wondering what happens to an abandoned oil rig. Does it just stand there in the water and rust away?
Jerral