that allowed the boat to move forward. With
a swipe of his hand on the throttle he reduced power. There was
an ugly crunching and he was slammed over the wheel as the lead
keel hit the granite.
“Now?”
“Swim!” he screamed at
the woman, not bothering with electronics. She began a powerful
crawl stroke. He heard her hit the hull and saw a hand trying
to grab. He thrust a huge salmon net over the side, almost falling
overboard himself. Her legs went into the net first as she slid
down the side of the boat. Holding on to the net with all the
strength he could muster, he watched helplessly as the bow swung
from the rock and the boat turned broad side to the current, gaining
speed. Her hand grabbed the gunwale.
“Hang on.” Desperately
he hauled in the net. She got a foot hooked over the edge of the
boat’s rail.
“Climb!” he said. Still
grasping the handle of the net with one hand, he used the other
to throw the transmission into forward and move the boat away
from the rocks toward the center of the channel.
“Grab me,” she screamed.
“Just hold on,” he said
as he continued his efforts to get clear of the downstream rocks.
The overfall was around a slight bend and about two hundred yards
distant. He decided to take it bow first and that meant turning
the boat ninety degrees. Just as he hit another whirlpool he spun
the wheel. Tipping far over, the starboard rail went under and
the woman with it. Quickly he stepped above her, grabbed under
her arms, and hauled her body half over the lifelines. Around
them the water roared and the boat careened but he kept pulling.
When he had her torso in the cockpit
with her feet still over the lifelines, he pulled, deliberately
falling to the side and using his weight to take her with him.
Landing on a seat corner, he slammed his ribs into the fiberglass.
Water was everywhere as the boat righted itself. Had it been anything
other than an oceangoing sailboat it would have filled quickly.
He took the woman by the shoulders
and moved her around the wheel to the bottom of the open cockpit,
tossed a life jacket at her, and tightened down his own. Then
in little more than
