Women at sea survive Atlantic storm clinging to rowboat hull

Plainfield woman, rowing partner survive sea mishap

By Hal Dardick
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 18, 2006

For more than 16 hours, a young Plainfield woman and her partner in high-seas adventure clung to the barnacle-clad hull of a 24-foot rowboat on the North Atlantic Ocean as 10- to 15-foot waves battered them, until the most unlikely of ships came to their rescue.

The two young women, former rowing teammates at Purdue University, were the only U.S. entrants in a 2,913-nautical-mile rowing race from the Canary Islands to Antigua. On Sunday, after 47 days at sea, a "rogue wave" capsized the vessel, American Fire Atlantic Challenge, according to their blog.

"Just all of a sudden, wham, right into the port side of the boat, and both of us just went slamming against the starboard side," Emily Kohl, 23, of Plainfield told WGN Radio on Tuesday. Standing on the roof of the cabin, water "reached our heads," she added.

So she and Sarah Kessans, 22, of Salem, Ind., left through a hatch. For a moment, Kohl was wrapped in a lifeline but was able to untangle herself and reach the surface.

They managed to tether themselves to the hull, where they were "hanging on for dear life as the waves were crashing into us," Kohl told WGN's Spike O'Dell, who has been following their progress in the race. "Every other wave, we were hanging on for dear life."

The women tried to repair a broken rudder two days before they capsized, but were unable to do so in the rough seas, so they dropped their sea anchor and took refuge in the cabin to ride out the nasty weather, according to their blog.

They thought conditions were improving, so they opened a vent on a hatch to halt "air depletion," Kohl told O'Dell. That allowed water to rush in when the boat capsized, preventing it from righting itself as designed, she said.

At 4:49 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard received a signal from the boat's Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, said Sr. Chief Petty Officer Brian Avelsgard. At 6:06 p.m. GMT, the signal's position was determined using satellite technology, he added.

The Coast Guard determined the Stavros S Niarchos, a tall ship used to train young sailors, was nearby. After the Coast Guard called him, Capt. Darren Naggs ordered his crew to head toward the beacon, and the Coast Guard sent a C-130 plane to look for the women.

After the plane spotted the women, the tall ship's crew rescued them at 10:18 a.m. GMT on Monday, Avelsgard said.

At least three of the 26 boats in the Woodvale Events Atlantic Rowing Race have capsized, said Bill Butler, an experienced seaman who was providing daily advice to the women and maintaining their blog. He questioned whether the race should be staged at this time of year, when weather in the Atlantic is at its worst.

"It was suicide," he said, noting the rough weather and their lack of experience on the high seas. "They are lucky to be alive."

During the dark, cold night, when sporadic moonlight only allowed them to see the swells battering them, they sang songs and told jokes to keep their spirits up, Kessans told O'Dell.

"We just knew we had each other, that we were still alive, that the boat was still floating," she said.

When they were found, the sight of the tall ship--something out of an old pirate movie--surprised them.

"That's not exactly what we were expecting," Kessans said.

The women were helping the tall ship's crew on Tuesday, Capt. Naggs said.

"How those girls clung to the hull, I don't know," he told O'Dell on Monday. "All I can say is that they've got some serious guts to have survived and come through that and come out smiling."

And still determined, apparently. Kessans said they would enter the next race, in two years. "We want to finish something that we started," she said.