An Examined Life

Five years ago I stood on a dock in Louisburg Nova Scotia and watched as my son and the other 60 odd members of his crew practiced an abandon ship drill. The Concordia was tied up alongside in a calm bay. The concept of a disaster seemed almost absurd under the circumstances.

The Captain stood at the railing on the bridge and held a stop watch. Once everyone had assembled at mid-ships in front of him he looked at the time. He was not amused. He raised his voice in anger saying they had been too slow and some at the back were not taking the drill seriously. One of the teachers did not even bother putting on their immersion suit – understandably though, I mean it was only make believe.

They rehearsed that drill twice more than morning, and at least once a month for the entire ten months he was aboard.

It was the same for Patrick, my second son who also sailed the ship, crossing the Atlantic four times – including once through the southern ocean enroute to Cape Town.

Last Wednesday, it stopped being a drill. Disasters never happen gradually. Concordia was sailing its way through yet another rough day on the Atlantic – kids were in class, some below in their bunks, others preparing for lunch. Without warning a wind pushing down, rather than across, drove the masts and sails down to the water where, once submerged, meant the boat could not right itself if it tried.

Over 300km from shore the crew donned immersion suits, launched life rafts, and all hands abandoned ship within 15 minutes. They drifted over the swells and watched as the SV Concordia, the skookum 188ft, steel, three masted purpose built Barquentine, slipped below the surface and vanished to the bottom.

The variables of that situation are too numerous to count, yet, with the exception of some bumps and bruises, all 64 members of the Concordia crew are now safely on shore returning to families and loved ones. Not a member lost.

In the midst of my remorse at the loss of Concordia, such an important part of our lives for the last 5 years, I am incredibly thankful. Thankful for the life changing experiences my two sons had aboard her, thankful for the role models and inspiration of the teachers and crew, thankful to Terry Davies, the founder who had the original idea and made it a reality.

But most of all, at this point, I am thankful to Capt. Straab who through his years of experience respected the sea enough to be unwilling to accept anything but a total commitment to the practise of safety – and how that will be the lasting hallmark of those who sailed the SV Concordia.