GUSTAVUS, Alaska (KTUU) – For a Southeast Alaska family, a peaceful night at anchor ended with a giant thud, a sinking boat, and a swim to shore in the dark.
“My husband and I were asleep in our sailboat anchored in Glacier Bay, and our 23-year-old kid who was with us on the trip was awake reading and heard a giant thud, and then the boat just sank,” Tania Lewis told Alaska’s News Source.
Lewis is no stranger to Alaska. In fact, she works as a wildlife biologist for Glacier Bay National Park, but not marine wildlife, she was quick to point out.
“I spend a lot of time on boats in Glacier Bay getting from point A to point B,” Lewis said. “We’re very familiar with the area.”
Lewis said that on July 29 her family was sailing around the national park. Earlier that evening, her adult son told her that they should move because they spotted two whales nearby, but she said there wasn’t any need to worry since their boat was anchored and was still.
“There have been a couple of close calls in Glacier Bay that I just learned about with whales hitting boats in the night, but they never sank them or did major damage,” Lewis said.
“But just sort of the irony, you know, our kid Lou was really concerned about whales the night before when we were anchored in a different spot and two whales went by pretty close, and we basically talked Lou out of it being a concern; it’s almost unheard of, super unlikely, and to the point where when it actually happened, Lou wasn’t even worried about whales anymore, but we didn’t hear any whales in the area.”
Around 11:30 p.m., her son — who Lewis said was thankfully awake — heard a noise and the boat started to rapidly sink.
They had no time to grab all their extra supplies in the cabin. They ran over to the dinghy, but it was flipped over.
“When we got into [the dinghy], it was full of water, and it took us a little while to navigate that and finally accidentally flip the dinghy, in which case then we could turn it back over,” she said. “That’s how my husband and I got to shore.
For a Southeast Alaska family, a peaceful night at anchor ended with a giant thud, a sinking boat, and a swim to shore in the dark.(Courtesy Tania Lewis)
“Meanwhile, our kids swam with the backpack, which provided some flotation.”
They were roughly 130 yards away from shore.
Lewis said they were prepared, and luck was on their side when it came to getting dry wood. But even with a prepared bag, they were not prepared for how fast the boat sank.
For a Southeast Alaska family, a peaceful night at anchor ended with a giant thud, a sinking boat, and a swim to shore in the dark.(Courtesy Tania Lewis)
“Normally, if we had time — and just even like a couple more minutes — we could have been really comfortable on the beach there. But as it was, we had very limited extra clothes and enough emergency equipment to make a fire,” Lewis said.
Lewis said that when they got to the beach, it was around midnight and rescue crews showed up around 6:30 a.m.
For a Southeast Alaska family, a peaceful night at anchor ended with a giant thud, a sinking boat, and a swim to shore in the dark.(Courtesy Tania Lewis)
Crews were able to find the boat and retrieve most of Lewis’ items, except for a few shoes. But the boat, which is from the 1960s, was heavily damaged.
“It’s just a giant hole in the keel and the rudder system may have gotten compromised,” Lewis said. “So we’re going to talk to people that do boat repairs and see if it’s worth it.”
Lewis said she talked to the park whale biologist and they’re pretty certain that the whale was likely chasing fish in the water.
“I kind of wonder if fish maybe were trying to get to the sailboat, into the keels of the sailboat for cover, and that might have drawn the whale right in,” Lewis said. “But either accelerating to feed, or possibly to breach. Those are kind of the best guesses.”
Whale skin samples were collected from the boat, and biologists hope to be able to ID the whale.
Lewis’ top advice: pack extra layers, know how to build a fire, and carry a communication device, but also just enjoy the beauty of Alaska, even if you get capsized by a whale and stuck on a beach for hours.
“We had a really magical night with the moon, full moon, eventually rose, and when else do you get to sit around the fire with your family all night?” Lewis said. “So I kind of cherish, as difficult as it was, I cherish that moment too of enjoying this beautiful place we get to live on its own terms.”
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