Sealed Fate – Part 3

This is a multi-part story. Read part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | epilog

Day 3. We hear the pup moaning at the mooring ball overnight and, this morning, he still clings to it. The back of our boat gets rough when boats pass or the wind picks up, so I think the mooring ball is his normal way to keep his head above water. When it’s calm, he likes the blue float cushion I put out last night.

His eyes are closed most of the time and when he falls asleep, he sinks below the water and drifts away with the current. I can see him sink until about 10 feet deep and then he disappears into the murky green sea. Each time it happens, I think he’s dead. But then his head pops up about 10 – 20 feet away, he grunts, and then makes a huge effort to swim back to our boat. I text Garry that the pup is still alive, but having a lot of trouble keeping afloat.

Garry messages me that they plan to come get the little guy. It will take them about an hour to mobilize and head our way from Friday Harbor. I’m super excited! But a dense fog is forming in the channel that the rescue boat will be coming through.

9 am. My cell phone rings and it’s Jessica, checking on the pup and coordinating the rescue. It will take them about an hour to mobilize and head our way from Friday Harbor. She verifies our location.

10:17 am. Jessica messages me and says they are in route, but there looks to be a significant fog bank in Rosario Strait. She asks me to check for fog in my area. Yes, there is heavy fog in the channel on my end as well, but none in our anchorage. The rescue boat doesn’t have radar, so can’t navigate through fog. They are drifting and waiting for the fog to lift. She asks if the pup is still here. I tell her yes, but continue to hope he will last long enough for them to arrive.

But suddenly, we’ve lost sight of the pup. Sean and I both walk around the boat several times to try to spot him. He is not here. The current is very strong. We get very quiet and the reality sets in that he didn’t come up for air or didn’t have the strength to swim back against the current. We look toward the other mooring balls near us and the surrounding bay. Nothing. We are not sure what to do. What if we call off the rescue and the pup comes back? We elect radio silence and just wait for the rescue boat to show up.

These 3 days with the pup have been stressful, but now a sadness sets in. I start to doubt myself…should we have just plucked him from the water somehow? A rescue is so close, but brutal nature seems set on claiming my pup.