A crew member from the pilot boat came out on deck and I finally realized what was going on. The were there to retrieve the pilot and return him to shore.
The pilot boat was at the mercy of the swells. At the crest of one swell I was sure that the crew member on the deck of the boat was no more than eight feet below our balcony. Thankfully, there are rails near the bow to hang on to as the ocean was getting pretty testy at this point.
The crewman made several attempts to grab the pilot and drag him onto the boat but he simply couldn’t get close enough. On several occasions the guy in the orange jacket would look directly up at us as if he was wondering what we were doing out there or just how stupid we were for being out in conditions like that. I was wondering the same thing about them.
In this next picture the pilot had just jumped onto the deck of the boat with the assistance of the crewman. You can see the crewman looking straight up at me.
They made their way aft toward the cockpit, firmly grasping the rails all the way back.
When they were safely in the wheelhouse the power came up, the boat turned hard to starboard, crested a large wave and headed off into the black.
Stitch and I stood there momentarily in stunned silence being lashed by the wind and the rain. I still couldn’t believe what we saw. Shortly, we looked at each other and broke out in the kind of laughter that occurs when something extraordinary happens and there are no words to describe it. It was an amazing event that was the beginning of an amazing evening and night.
