Captain Harry Catches a Break
I ran back to the pilot house, backed us further away from the wall (on one engine), and grabbed my mask and snorkel. At this point, we were no longer in danger of drifting back onto the rocks. We were, however, out of the protection the crater rim provided from the wind and waves. Things started bouncing around pretty good.
Not wasting any time, I killed the engines, donned my mask, jumped in the water, took a deep breath and went down to inspect the damage. This is where I caught my second break of the day (the first being when I didn’t have to deal with Diver Chop Suey). The starboard prop was completely fouled; however, there was no nylon donut between the prop hub and cutlass bearing.
It took me only seconds to unwrap the line from the prop. As it was already pretty well cut up, I made no attempt to salvage the line and, instead, allowed it to drop to the ocean floor, over 1,000 feet below.
Climbing back on board, I knew I’d have divers surfacing any moment. (This is what I love about marine diesels. When you really, really need them, you don’t have to worry whether or not they will start.)
As if on cue, the first group surfaced. I picked them up — and the remaining two groups of divers — without incident. With the exception of the excitement caused by the one irresponsible diver, everything else had gone flawlessly.
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