In the dead of night, in one of the most remote parts of the Indian Ocean, 70-year-old Canadian sailor James 'Ted' Rutledge grabbed his torch as his alarm system sounded.
asserted
system → grab → torch
As he shone his torch at the starboard hull, he was met with every sailor's worst fear.
asserted
he → shine → fear
Floorboards were lifting as water flooded in through the half-metre-wide escape hatch.
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water → lift → hatch
The hatch — retrofitted after a 2020 safety recall on the French-made Lagoon 42 — appeared to have detached on its own.
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hatch → retrofit → own
It took just 10 minutes for Mr Rutledge to realise his boat would sink.
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boat → take → minutes
"The more water that came through, the more water was going to come through, because the [window] sill just kept getting lower [in the water]," Mr Rutledge told 7.30.
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Rutledge → come → 7.30
"By the time I got out of there, everything was floating — cushions, toys, stuffed animals, clothes and baskets and things like that.
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everything → get → that
"I knew it was over.
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it → know → ?
I knew I had to abandon ship."
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I → know → ship
Doing that was not simple.
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Doing → do → that
A second life-saving plan had to be formulated as Mr Rutledge scrambled to escape in a dinghy that was kept suspended between the parallel hulls.
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that → save → hulls
But the dinghy too had become stuck and Mr Rutledge had to cut it loose with a knife, but in doing so his hand became clamped in part of the boat.
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hand → become → boat
His situation had suddenly become more perilous as his life went full circle.
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life → become → ?
"I remember saying: 'This is not the night I'm going to die'," he told 7.30.
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he → say → 7.30
"I was born off an island and my first breath was sea air.
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breath → bear → island
I didn't want my last breath to be sea water."
Fortunately for him, a wave forced his hand free, and he was able to cast off in the dinghy.
A lonely night
asserted
he → want → night
As relief hit him, so did the realisation of a fresh problem: he may be adrift for a long time.
uncertain
he → hit → time
Almost immediately before the catamaran began taking on water, Mr Rutledge had issued a position and safety update to his brother Kelly Thomas in Canada.
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Rutledge → begin → Canada
Sending updates to loved ones every six hours was something Mr Rutledge had agreed to as part of his bid to circumnavigate the globe.
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Rutledge → send → globe
He was now facing a period of being truly alone.
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He → face → period
Believing his Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) had floated inside the sinking boat, he figured his missing WhatsApp updates might trigger his rescue far sooner than the beacon would, if it had activated at all.
uncertain
it → believe → rescue
"I was positive that I'd left enough of a bread trail to be discovered,"Mr
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I → leave → trail
Rutledge said.
asserted
Rutledge → say → ?
"All somebody had to do was say 'wait a minute, this is not right'."
With the catamaran settled mostly underwater at a 45-degree angle, Mr Rutledge tied his dinghy to one of the mast stays so as not to drift away from the more visible boat.
He covered himself in a poncho and settled in for a night without sleep, as he feared the catamaran would sink and pull him under.
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catamaran → have → him
As the sun rose, he calculated how long he could survive without supplies and made plans to dive towards the mostly submerged catamaran to try and free gallons of potable water.
uncertain
he → rise → water
Canadians raise the alarm
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Canadians → raise → alarm
While he desperately fought for survival in the vast ocean, back in his native Canada the alarm was being raised.
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alarm → fight → Canada
Mr Thomas said a concerned friend of Ted's called him from Ontario.
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friend → say → Ontario
"She had been trying to contact him through telephone and texting," Mr Thomas told 7.30.
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Thomas → try → 7.30
Surmising his brother would not miss a text unless something was wrong — given he had "nothing else to do" — he called the Australian Marine Safety Authority (AMSA).
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he → surmise → Authority
They could not raise Mr Rutledge via radar.
uncertain
They → raise → radar
Mr Thomas also called Ted's son Griffin Rutledge, who was asleep in bed in his Vancouver home, and had messaged his father in the past 24 hours.
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who → call → hours
"I'd just been talking to my dad," Griffin Rutledge said.
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Rutledge → talk → dad
"[My uncle] just said 'your dad's OK' but the boat sank.
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boat → say → ?
"It was very shocking to wake up [to].
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It → wake → ]
My wife woke up to me throwing up because I just was so floored."
With radar contact having failed, AMSA Principal Advisor on Search and Rescue Hemi Manaena became involved as his team launched a rescue jet.
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team → wake → jet
He said there were multiple challenges.
"It's a very remote part of the Indian Ocean, of the Timor Sea particularly," Mr Manaena told 7.30.
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Manaena → say → 7.30
"The last known position that we were provided was about 1,000km east of Christmas Island and 1,000km from the Australian mainland.
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we → know → mainland
The conditions forecast were for some quite challenging waves."
However, it took just a couple of hours before the rescue jet sighted Mr Rutledge on his dinghy.
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jet → forecast → dinghy
AMSA dropped him a life raft containing an emergency beacon, radio, food and water.
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AMSA → drop → beacon
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia