Wave knocks out Ruff & Reddy's windows

ABOARD THE F/V EXITO, BRISTOL BAY, BERING SEA -- The F/V Ruff & Reddy, a crabber out of Kodiak, became the second casualty of the season late yesterday when a massive wave knocked out the wheelhouse windows and ripped the life raft from the roof. The ship began taking on water and then put out a distress call immediately. The Coast Guard cutter Morgenthau motored to the scene.

How big was the wave? The R&R's wheelhouse windows are 15 feet above the water.

According to radio chatter, the crew was not injured. The Coast Guard was expected to deliver a pump to the boat. With repaired windows and the water drained, the R&R likely will finish the season.

Like the F/V Raven that capsized four days ago, the Ruff & Reddy is a small boat at 86 feet. Smaller boats have more problems in this type of weather, 25 knots from the north with swells to 15 feet.

The F/V Exito's crew is exhausted. Part of that is the hours -- 24 hours at a stretch without sleep -- and part of it is the nature of the job, muscling 650-pound crab cages on and off deck. But equally taxing is the wind. Not only does it sluice icy salt water across the deck and into every opening in a crew member's rain gear, it also is the source of these swells.

"It really takes it out of you," said Jeff Madigan, chief engineer. "This work is hard enough when you are not always fighting for balance."

Quote of the day:

"The forecast is pain followed by cold and wet." -- Michael Keenan, former Exito crew member who now works on the Katie K