The Scudder Family spent nine days aboard Hearsay at the beginning of July, much of that time in Southport. On the return trip, while heading toward Beaufort, we had an overboard emergency.
As usual when sailing with all four of our kids, we had at least one exciting event. We always keep the kids in lifejackets and harnesses while we are moving, but this time we had a BOB (Bear Overboard) emergency. Our eighteen-month-old managed to sling her much beloved nighttime bear, Boo, into the water as we left the turn-around basin motoring toward Beaufort in heavy traffic. Captain Daddy, a man who values his sleep, didn't even flinch as he swung that boat around to complete the rescue of screaming Boo, who can't swim. First-mate Mommy grabbed the long-handled net and scooped Boo up just before the wake of a Trawler drowned him. The whole crowd cheered!
The incident made us realize AGAIN how we need to regularly practice our MOB drills. This little Boo rescue was made easier because we were not under sail anymore, but the kids were jumping around and screaming, and it wasn't as automatic as we would like. In the future, Boo will wear a harness! Later that night in Beaufort, sailors we had never met came by our boat to congratulate us on our dramatic Boo rescue, which they had witnessed. Boo may become quite the star.