Survival at Sea and Promises Made

Story by Harvey J. Crane, Jr., as told to Jim Hill

March 21, 2010

             For some, a single incident can alter the course of our lives.  This may also bring a drastic change to the way we live, and for those with who share this life.  This is sometimes referred to as a “life altering moment”, and it often occurs when life itself is in doubt.

            Such an incident occurred in the life of Harvey J. Crane, Jr., founder of the firm once known as Crane Cams, Incorporated.  It happened on a sunny, seemingly perfect Saturday afternoon in the fall of 1972.  What happened to Harvey and those around him that day significantly changed his life forever.  Only recently did he decide to share this experience and the impact it had on his life and his family.

            Harvey had previously chartered a 50’ sport fisherman and its captain to host a fishing trip to the Bahamian island of Bimini.   After negotiating with the boat’s owner, he purchased the boat and berthed it at a slip in the Dania Canal, just east of the US Highway 1 Bridge.  This location left a short trip to the Intracoastal Waterway and north to the ocean inlet at Ft. Lauderdale, Port Everglades.

            The boat was a 50’ sport fisherman, manufactured by Wheeler, of Long Island, NY.  It was an older craft, built of wood in the traditional style and powered by twin GM six cylinder diesels.  As per U.S. Coast Guard regulations, it carried full safety equipment, and had recently undergone a marine inspection for insurance coverage.

            It had an interesting history, having originally been built for a member of the Du Pont family, as a wedding present, and had been well cared for while owned by DuPont.  Soon after Harvey purchased the craft he renamed it “Six C’s”, reflecting on himself, wife Mildred and the four Crane children. 

            In September, William “Bill” Pendleton, of JE Pistons, came to visit, and Harvey suggested an afternoon fishing trip with his family.  At that time, Harvey, age 41, was married to his first wife Mildred, age 40.  Together they had four children; David, then age 16; Mona, 12; Steven, 14; and Susan, age 10.  Those aboard that fall afternoon included Harvey, his family, Bill Pendleton, and a licensed captain who also lived aboard the craft.  The Crane family dog, a dachshund named “Max” was also aboard.  Harvey and Mildred’s daughter Mona did not make the trip.  Instead she stayed behind in Hallandale, in the care of a sitter.  Seven were aboard when the boat left for an afternoon of ocean cruising and fishing.

            The trip was uneventful for its first half.  A weed line was located and they were soon catching dolphin (also known as mahi-mahi).   Later that afternoon, not long before they planned to return, Harvey went forward to check on the three Crane kids.

            “David, Steven and Susan, were sitting on the bow, with their feet dangling in the water.  Everyone else was fishing or just relaxing on the main deck.  As I went forward, I noticed that the bow was lower than normal.  I went aft and below, to check the boat.  When I stepped down into the forward compartment I found over a foot of water inside.  I knew immediately something was very wrong, and started the auxiliary engine-driven pump.  The water was coming in faster than the pumps could remove, and my intuition made it clear that we were sinking, and fast.  I got everyone together, told them to put on one life jacket, carry a second jacket with them and prepare to go into the water.  I got on the marine radio and sent out a “Mayday” distress call.  I was very much relieved when the Coast Guard emergency operator answered. I gave them our position, the name and size of the boat and the number of persons aboard.  The operator acknowledged my distress call.  Within a few seconds, the water got to the battery, shorted it out, and the radio went dead.  That’s when I told everyone we were going into the water”.

            Harvey recalled that the events of the next few minutes were indeed difficult.

            “The boat captain grabbed his life jacket and a spare and immediately went over the side.  He was more interested in getting off the boat than getting the passengers safely off.”

            “Mildred refused to leave the boat, even though it was sinking.  I kept telling her the boat was going to the bottom.  She began screaming and quickly became hysterical.  She had already put on a life jacket, and had a second one in her hands.  She still refused to get off the boat.  I knew she had to go over the side, so I picked her up and dropped her into the water.” 

            “There was a good reason for her panic, and I knew it.  Mildred could not swim, and she was afraid of the water!  I had no choice but to get her off the boat, and I did what was necessary to save her from going down with it”, Harvey reflected.

            “After I tossed Mildred over the side I went back to the boat to get the survival gear, which was contained in two large waterproof cases.  Mildred’s hysterical screaming became worse and I jumped back in the water to try and calm her.  Before I could go back to the boat to retrieve the survival gear, the boat went down.”

            “There was a couch topside.  When the boat sank it floated to the surface.  I swam to the couch and put Mildred aboard the couch.  It helped calm her and she stayed on it most of the time until we were rescued.”

            “I knew that the Coast Guard received our distress call, and they would make every possible attempt at finding and rescuing us.  I just didn’t know how long it would take.”

            The Six C’s promptly sank around 2:00 pm, on a sunny, calm Saturday afternoon, in September, 1972.  All hands were now in the water.

             Harvey recalled: “We were 22 miles almost due-east of Port Everglades, in 800 feet of water.  We had been fishing the edge of the Gulfstream at the time, and I knew the current would move us north.  None of that would be a surprise to the Coast Guard, because they regularly handle at-sea rescues in the Gulfstream.   We tied everyone together using strips attached to the life preservers, so we wouldn’t become separated and we would be easier to spot in the water.”

            “The time between when we discovered that the boat was taking on water, and when the boat sank was just seven minutes!  We were lucky to get off so fast, and all wearing personal flotation gear.”

            One Crane family member did not fare as well.  Max, the family dog, was lost sometime during the night.  Harvey recalled that the kids took turns holding him, but he got loose and started swimming.  It was dark and we could not find him.  Max likely swam until he became exhausted, and then sank.

            Weather conditions were favorable for a quick rescue, but even with seven people together in the water it is still extremely difficult to spot even a group in the water from a helicopter or aircraft.  Because it was late summer, early fall, the water itself was still warm.

            “We saw several ships, but they were too far away to spot us.  The next day we tried flashing our sunglasses at the dozen or so aircraft that flew nearby, but still no one saw us.”

            “Our life jackets kept us afloat, and we were slowly kicking our feet, trying to move west, towards shore.  That helped us stay warm, especially when it became dark.  I remember it was a moonless night, and pitch black.”

            Back at the Crane home daughter Mona was being watched by a sitter.  A neighbor brought the news that all hands on the Six C’s had abandoned ship and a search had been launched.  12 year old Mona’s emotional reaction was understandable.  She spent the rest of the night and next day wondering of the fate of her family.

            Others had heard of the accidental sinking, and were gathered around radios, televisions and telephones, anxious for news of the Six C’s and her passengers.

            Crane Cams’ Vice President and General Manager, David Smith, had been in touch with the U.S. Coast Guard, and the USCG base, where the search operation was being coordinated.  As a boat owner and offshore fisherman, Smith knew that the longer they were in the water, the lesser the chances of successfully rescuing them.  The hours dragged on and hope of finding survivors dwindled.

            Meanwhile, the seven survivors were continuing to hold their own in the ocean.

            Thoughts of other, more perilous possibilities were on their minds.  The area of the Atlantic where the Six C’s sank, off the South Florida shores are teeming with marine life.  That includes the most feared predators of the deep, sharks.

            “I’m sure everyone thought about it at one time or another, but we were all busy trying to keep moving and staying upright in our life jackets.  Fortunately, we never had a sighting of sharks.  I must assume that God was watching as we struggled through that night.”

            “David was terrified of sharks and all the time he held his legs up, next to his body.  That caused his legs to cramp, but he still refused to lower his legs for fear of being attacked. We did see other fish, many birds, and several very large greenback sea turtles, but no sharks.  I thought we could eat a turtle if we could catch it, but we never got close enough to try!”

            It was during that night, when hope for rescue was fading, that Harvey experienced his life altering moment. 

            “After we had been in the water for several hours I knew we were in very serious trouble.  I began thinking back to the days when I was a boy, a family friend made me go with her to church.  I didn’t like it.  Although I always felt I was a religious person, I’ve never been a big church-goer.  That night I reflected on my life.  I had tried to live my life to a reasonable moral code, being honest and fair with everyone I dealt with, a good husband and father.  I was sure of that, but I knew at that moment I needed God’s help now more than ever.”

            “During the night, I prayed to God to save Mildred and our children.  If he granted my request I would devote my life to him in any way he chose to direct me.  I wanted them to have another chance, and I promised God I would do whatever he chose for me.” 

            Harvey made that promise to God and it has remained with him from that night forward.

            “I promised God that I would give him my life.  I didn’t know how he wanted me to keep my promise, or which way he would direct me.  Now, nearly 40 years later, I realized that maybe I hadn’t kept the promise I made that night, floating in the Atlantic.  This question has lately become more important to me, because I am now nearing 80 years of age and I may be running out of time.  The answer still escapes me, but I am sure I have tried to lead a good life, even though it has been outside the conventions of formal religions and churches.”

            Seven souls adrift in the Atlantic survived that terrible, dark night, and miraculously saw the dawn of Sunday morning.  They survived that night, and then the next day in the water, paddling and praying. 

            “We had no food or water.  Many times someone would talk about drinking just a little salt water, to cure the thirst we were all feeling.  I knew that would be very bad.  I kept telling everyone not to take even a sip of the salt water, but to hang on, that we were going to be rescued any minute.”

            “My telling them ‘rescue any minute’ became more long, thirsty hours.  I knew our chances of being spotted and picked up were better once daybreak arrived.  Everyone managed to hang on, and late Sunday afternoon, a big white Coast Guard aircraft flew over us and then waggled his wings!”

            “We knew then that they had us spotted!  The Coast Guard airplane came back and dropped two life rafts.  They seemed to be a long distance away, but David and I started swimming towards them.  I guess it made David’s cramped legs feel better to get them moving.  By the time we reached that first raft the first USCG rescue helicopter arrived overhead.  When we were all in the helicopters (Harvey was the last to board) they slashed holes in the rafts and sank them.  The Coast Guardsmen said they couldn’t leave the rafts floating because they would become a hazard to navigation.”

            “The helicopters took us to the hospital in West Palm Beach, where we were all examined and treated for exposure and dehydration.  Mildred was the only one the hospital kept overnight.  She was released next day.  When I went back to the hospital to pick her up they wouldn’t let me take her home in my car.  They said she could only travel by ambulance.  That was going to cost hundreds of dollars.  I called one of my fellow Rotary members I knew in Hallandale, Bob Greaver.  He owned the local funeral home.  As a favor he brought up one of his hearses and drove Mildred home!  He never charged me for helping us.”

            “We were picked up by the Coast Guard off Stuart, about 10 miles offshore.  The Gulfstream carried us all that way north and west, because we were 22 miles off Port Everglades when we sank.  We were paddling and swimming west, towards shore, but the Gulfstream also moves closer to the shore up above Palm Beach, and that got us closer to land.”

            “The air-sea rescue airmen were all based out of the U.S. Coast Guard base at Opa Locka Airport.  (near Miami)  A few weeks after we were rescued, I hosted a big party for the entire Coast Guard air station and all the Coast Guardsmen and women stationed there.  I wanted them all to know how much I appreciated them rescuing us, and saving our lives.”

            “We were rescued around 5:00 PM Sunday afternoon.  From the time of the sinking to our rescue was about 27 total hours that we were in the water.  That may not sound like a very long time, but when you’ve just stepped off a sinking boat and put seven people, three of them children, in the ocean, every hour seemed like a lifetime.”

            “It was an experience that I wish I never had, and one that changed my life forever.”

            “Within a few months of our rescue Mildred and I separated.  The extreme mental stress of the sinking, being in the water all those hours and being so close to losing all our lives were just too much for our marriage to survive.  We all survived, but in the end our marriage was lost at sea.” 

            “I soon moved out of our home, and rented an apartment less than one block away.  I wanted to be close to my kids, and that was the best way to be sure I could.  In January 1973 my divorce from Mildred became final.”

            “Mildred later remarried, and she died of cancer in 2001.”

            “On December 7, 1973, I married Maxine Solis.  Maxine was my secretary when I moved into the new Crane Cams building at 100 Northwest 9th Terrace, in 1966, in Hallandale.  She was without a doubt, the second love of my life, and we spent 33 years together.  Maxine passed away in February, 2007.  Even now, three years later, there’s not a day that I don’t miss her terribly.”

            After the sinking Harvey spoke several times to groups, describing his ordeal, and telling his audiences the preparations needed to survive at sea.  He offered these final thoughts:

            “If one of our life jackets had a survival kit sewn into it we might not have been adrift for so long.  The boat sank so quickly that I didn’t have time to grab anything but our life jackets, and were very fortunate to have been able to get them in time.  Simple things like a flashlight, for night signaling, or a mirror, for daytime signaling might have made a difference.  Today many of the new personal flotation devices have survival kits attached to them.  Today’s life jackets are made of different material, and have high visibility orange panels, not like the cork and canvas life jackets we had.  All those things can mean the difference between surviving at sea or never returning”.

            “Looking back I know we were lucky to survive and believe me when I say I’ve thanked God many times for sparing us.”