At Sea What happens to a young man on his first time out — After the boat goes down!

by Jack J. Chielli On Saturtlay, June 20, the Miss Arleen, an 80 ft. fishing vessel, left Fishermans wharf in Schellenger Landing near Cape May on a scallop run. One week later she was sinking off the coast of Long Island. The seven-member crew were successfully rescued after spending 36 hours in the ocean. They were retrieved from the sea bjr Dan Drown of 714 Bedford Rd„ Peliiar Mass, and Ben Mathis of 60 Jansean Dr., York, Penn., who were sailing 40 miles off course in a race. This is the story about the ordeal and rescue of the crew's

"... and they saw the Miss Arleen go down, but ttiey sailed away."

youngest member, !7-year-old Mark Stansbury of 49 Petersburg Rd., Dcnnisville, who was out at sea for the first time. • • • “I WOKE UP AT 7:30 Saturday morning (27th) and walked out on deck. The boat was taking in t _ , . .explained. His clear blue eyes stared down at the kitchen table as he explained the the traumatic event. “We didn’t know where the water was coming from: so we tried to bail it out.” Forty-five minutes before the Miss Arleen sank, the crew of six men and one women abandoned ship, after the. captian, who wishes to remain anonymous, radioed for help. Mark says the captain had made radio contact with another boat. “We were standing by and I heard the captain Jack Chielli is a correspondent for the Chpe May CoUnty Herald. (Photos by Bob Shiles).

say, ‘Why don’t you come pick up the crew?’ After that we didn't hear anything else,” Mdrk said. THE YOUNG MAN also claims that another fishing boat saw them sink. “It was a private fishing boat, and they saw the Miss Arleen go down, but they sailed away.” Following the captain's orders, Mark helped quickly fashion a bigger make-shift raft out of netting, styrofoam and plywood. They brought everything on the boat that floated — luggage, the deck lid and a wooden pole. In a raft designed for only three people, the crew left the ship. “I thought it was a joke. Ididn’t believe it until I saw her sink. We were half a mile from the-boat when she flipped over. Three minutes later she was gone,” Mark remembers. “We were only in the water for half an hour when a 12 ft. shark began to circle the raft. It scared the hell out of me. We layed in the water motionless. The shark circled us a few times then split.” THE CAPTAIN WAS separated from the crew and his wife for six hours. “We thought he was either dead or eaten by sharks. Then we heard his cries for help. We could just barely hear him at first. His voice was breaking up and getting closer, then we &aw him. He was about half a mile in front of us staying afloat with the help of a lifejacket. We began to paddle ana kick with our feet. By the time we reached him, he was too weak to lift his head.” The first day adrift, Mark said they tried not to think about their predicament. “We told jokes and played games like Name That Tune’, and we sang.” But that was not all they did. “We prayed. Everybody prayed. That’s about all we did. We had to keep talking r to stay awake. If someone dozed off, we’d all yell at him. If we went to sleep, we weren't sure we would wake up.” LATE THAT NIGHT Mark remembered seeing a boat far out in front of him. "It had a zigzagging white light but the boat never saw us.” The next morning, Sunday, the sea was beginning to kick up.'’ Mark said he felt as if he were in a big bay. “It almost felt as if we were home. I began to doze'off., Several times I woke up with my head in the water.” The successful rescue mission took place when the drifting crew saw the Windward Ho. which was , 40 miles off course. “We used the captain’s wife's red jacket and stuck it on a pole. We waved it in the air. They thought it was a bouy and began heading toward us. Then they startea to sail past us," Mark said. In a desperate attempt to be seen, the captain used his wife’s compact minnow to flash S.O.S. signals at the boat. The two men on board later said that is what

"We were only iA fhe water for half an hour whijn a 12 ft. shark began to circle the raft ..."

made them realize there were

people in the water.

MARK AND THE CREW were lifted out of the water. Tired, cold, with third degree burns on his face and a punctured lung, Mark wobbled onto the deck of tfie Windward Ho. "My skin felt like it

would peel off,” he said.

The rescue boat radioed the Coast Guard and reported they had picked up a crew of seven peo8 1e. The Coast Guard directed lem to take the crew to, Fire Island, a location five miles west of where they were. When they finally reached the Coast Guard boat, they didn't have enough

blankets, Mark said.

“The first thing I did was eat some beef stew that was on board. I went 36 hours without eating; the longest I ever went was 6.” He was driven from a New York hospital to Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital, Cape May Court House, where he was treated for injuries from his

ordeal. He was released from the hospital on Thursday. July 2, and returned home. “I WAS NEVER so happy to see Dennisville. I wanted to kiss the

ground.

“Mark’s experience has given him a new outlook on life. “I'm much more optimistic." Robert Tease. Mark's stepfather, claims the Miss Arleen was old and rusty and didn't look seaworthy. "It was the worst ship on the dock,” he said. Mark’s mother, Mrs. Adelaide Tease, said she was very thhnkful to the-crew Of the Windward Ho, “If I could show them how I feel, they’d be rich.” The owner of the Miss Arleen is a Mr. Brandt from Yorktown, Va. He and his wife are planning to take legal action against the Coast Guard, for what they termed “negligence” in the rescue. The seven-member crew planned a,party for Sunday, July 5th to celebrate their incredible rescue.

"I was never so happy to see Dennisville. I wanted to

kiss the ground."

CAPE MAY COUNTY MAGAZINE/5