Kindness of Strangers - Write Path, and L.L.C. by Pamela V Brown

Pamela V. Brown

Write Path, an L.L.C.

Printed in December 2003 issue of Latitude 38

The Kindness of Strangers

By Pamela V. Brown

If it hadn’t been for the captain and crew of the container ship Horizon Reliance, we may never have known the fate of my brother-in-law Stephen J. Brown. We still don’t have all the answers and, realistically, we never will. Thanks to the humanity and compassion of those aboard the Reliance, we know enough to understand and accept that he’s gone.

Steve J. Brown - Thailand in 2002

Southbound aglow in early evening sun

off the coast of Niihau, Hawaii, 2001.

A world-class sailor who had a month earlier completed his second solo sail around the world on his 38’ sailboat Southbound, Steve had left San Diego bound for Morro Bay on July 7, 2003. With his skill and 35 years of sailing experience, it was a two-day trip he could have made in his sleep.

He never arrived.

At 6:45 a.m. on Friday, July 25, Klaus Niem, Chief Officer of the Reliance, spotted a sailboat with it’s mainsail torn and no running lights on, a dangerous combination nearly 800 miles off the California coast. Niem asked himself rhetorically, “Why would you put to sea with a hole in your sail?” You wouldn’t, of course, so he knew something was wrong.

Master Rick Domnitz contacted the U.S. Coast Guard with Southbound’s position, something we’ve learned that not all ships will bother doing. Indeed, Domnitz said that over the years he and his crew have checked on seemingly-abandoned boats out at sea, only to be thanked with the “international salute” from the boats’ occupants.

Southbound adrift as Chief Mate Klaus Niem saw her from aboard the Horizon Reliance.

After several hours the Coast Guard telexed back that Reliance was needed to turn around and confirm the identity of the boat. Within 20 minutes, Reliance was on its way, no small feat for a 900’ heavily laden container ship that had been speeding from Oakland toward Honolulu, Guam and then Hong Kong.

In 15 foot seas, Reliance took a couple of turns around Southbound to create a circle of calm in the water. Master Domnitz maneuvered his ship so close to the smaller boat that Chief Officer Niem was able to board Southbound simply by climbing down the pilot’s ladder.

Niem was the only man to go aboard and because of worries that the ocean would become rough again soon, he only spent about 10 minutes there. That was long enough to confirm that Steve was definitely not aboard and that there were no signs of foul play. He retrieved Steve’s log book in which he wrote daily. This is how we know that Steve’s last day aboard and alive was July 8, nearly 2½ weeks earlier.

Chief Mate Klaus Niem lowers himself from the adjacent Reliance

onto Southbound to determine if anyone was aboard.

Southbound must have seemed tiny to the Reliance crew on their huge ship. Domnitz and Niem could have easily deemed the whole situation insignificant to them – they had no way of knowing that Steve had a mother, five siblings, three siblings-in-law, a fiancé in Indonesia and countless friends and other relatives who loved and respected him, all of whom were collectively holding their breaths in the hopes that he would be found safe.

We learned that the big ship was due into Honolulu three days later. Tom and I were there to meet captain and crew and were welcomed warmly.

When we saw her moored at Sand Island, we understood at once why Reliance couldn’t have towed the smaller boat in without destroying it – it would have been akin to a human dragging an ant on a leash. (Southbound is still adrift at sea.)

Domnitz, Niem and the other crew members we met treated us and our memory of Steve with dignity and respect. They understood that he was an exceptionally adept sailor, not some unskilled goofball who went out for a day sail and couldn’t figure out how to get back. They gave us their personal slants on the circumstances based on their own many years at sea. Their regard for him and empathy for us helped us move a little closer to acceptance.

When we thanked Domnitz and Niem for their time, consideration and responsibility by documenting the whole operation with nearly 60 digital photos (of which they provided us a copy), Domnitz replied, “Any sailor would do the same. Any human being would have done it.”

I beg to differ. In this world of suicide bombers, of having to prove your shoes aren’t rigged with explosives, of corporate executives raping employees’ retirement funds, no, not any human being would have done it.

We presented the captain with a small collection of our favorite contemporary Hawaiian music CDs, a small Kauai-style mahalo. He seemed almost embarrassed to accept them and actually tried to give them back until we explained that we already had our own copies of those CDs at home.

We hope Master Rick, Chief Officer Klaus and their crew listen to the music with good memories in their hearts and with the knowledge that Steve enjoyed listening to that music during the years he spent in Hawaii. We thank them for taking the time to make a difference in the lives of Steve’s family and friends.

Contact Information: Pamela V. Brown (808) 651-3533 cell (808) 821-1027 fax pam@writepath.net

"Individuality of expression is the beginning and end of all art." --- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Proverbs in Prose

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