Miracle at Sea
By Travis Evans
On a warm, sunny afternoon in August of 1966, our 15 year old son and I were about 75 miles offshore of central Oregon in our fishing boat, the “Yankee Girl”. The albacore tuna were biting like crazy, and we were very busy landing fish. We were both on the stern when I noticed an unusual smell.
Looking up, I saw huge billows of white smoke pouring out of the exhaust stack. I dropped everything, and holding my breath, I dove into the engine room. A refrigeration pipe had sprung a leak, and the escaping Freon was threatening to smother and stop our diesel engine. I managed to disengage the reefer compressor clutch and escape to the deck and fresh air.
After throwing up and laying on deck a few minutes to get stabilized, I headed the boat for shore to make repairs and sell our fresh catch. Shortly after dark, we ran into heavy fog. Not having a radar unit, we were forced to slow down, and both stand watch. Me at the wheel and throttle on the bridge, and Phil on the bow.
About 2 a.m. we approached the entrance to the Yaquina River I could hardly see my son on the bow. Via radio, the U.S. Coast Guard advised us to wait. We decided to drop anchor and wait for daylight.
I was reluctant, not knowing our exact position, the bottom structure, sand, rock, mud etc. Phil and I were both on the box, wet, and cold, tired and sleepy, preparing to drop anchor, when he said, “Dad, we haven’t prayed about this”.
We both knelt there on the cold, wet bow, and told God of our desperate need. We explained that our fish were perishable and the family at home in California needed money. That we would need to hire help to repair the reefer with a quick turn-around to finish the season.
I don’t know how long we prayed. Not long, I’m sure for we were drifting in very thick fog in an unknown location. After the “Amen’s”, we stood and looked and the moon had broken through the fog. I could hear a faint foghorn. There was a dim path of light leading inshore and we could just make out the red light on the south jetty, about a quarter mile away.
Starting inshore quickly, we could soon see green light on the north jetty. God had answered our desperate prayer, and we were soon secure to a fish buyers dock awaiting daylight. The reefer repairs were finished the next day, and we began outfitting for another tuna trip. The fish buyer that we had sold to gave us several 5 gallon cans of small, unmarketable shrimp and shrimp carcasses, which we used for chum on the tuna.
After running all night, we were on the tuna grounds with the rest of the fishing fleet shortly after daylight. The shrimp chum helped us to get a good catch as if we had never lost any fishing time.
You can be sure this old Dad and his 15 year old son will never forget how God answered prayer, and then some. Thank you, Heavenly Father.