Cap over board in high waves
I have several caps. In fact I have several different things I can place on my head if the need arises. But I have only one lucky cap. I don’t know how this cap became a lucky cap, but it seems lucky things always happen when I wear this cap.
We were on our third day out from Bergen, and we had already spotted land. What we didn’t know, was that we would soon have our second storm in the same day. The sun was shining and we had the current with us. The wind however was blowing against us at gale force, and this built up high waves with short distance between them. The boat took a hard beating. At the time, the skipper was under deck and I was at the helm.
One should never wear a cap at anything more than a light breeze, but for some reason I had not taken off my cap. This was my lucky cap, but sooner or later it just had to happen. I was glancing up at the sails, and the wind got hold of the cap and blew it right off. In horror I saw it fly right into the waves behind the boat. “My lucky cap!” I cried. The skipper came rushing out fearing the worst, hearing my cries. I explained the grave situation to him while I kept a finger pointing at the cap just like you do at a man-over-board. The skipper understood my loss and shouted, “Lets save it”.
While I kept pointing at the spot, he tacked and turned the boat around. As we came close, I had to take my eyes off the cap for a moment as I fetched the boat hook. When I looked back, I couldn’t see the cap again. For a moment I lost all hope, but suddenly there it was again on top of a wave just in front of us. As we passed it I tried to catch it with the hook but it fell off. In the mean time the skipper had turned on the engine as manoeuvring was becoming difficult in the high waves. Once again we turned around under full sail and good help from the engine. The boat crashed in the waves as we neared the cap again. It was becoming difficult to see it, and then only when it was at the top of the waves. The skipper suggested I crawl down on the bathing platform on the back of the boat to try to catch it with my hand. I did that, and hung on with one hand for dear life as I tried to reach out with the other hand. It was too far away. I grabbed hold of the boat hook and tried once more. The hook just pushed the cap and all hope was lost as I saw it sink downwards. I just stood on the platform dumbfounded as I looked at the spot where it disappeared. The waves were beating at me and I was wet from the waist down. In my mind I was trying to comprehend the fact that I would have to exist without that cap. In a flash I could see all the memories I had had in its company. My eyes were blurred, but that was because the waves were beating at me. I wiped my face with my free hand, and there it was. The cap had actually come up again. I cried out to the skipper and he saw it too about 30 meters behind the boat. Quickly he threw the engine in reverse and with the sails pulling one way and the engine the other, we came to a halt. He loosened the sails and we stated reversing. Now I had the waves full on and really had to hold on for dear life. Meter by meter we came closer. I was more under water than over, but suddenly there it was. I reached out and caught it. The cap was saved. The lucky cap.
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