The sky that night looked like it was on fire, even through the overcast. April Hall had a call from her husband Eric, who told her that he would be waiting out the storm with the Governor, in a bunker under the Capital Building.
Doc set a course to put us over a hundred miles west of Catalina by the morning of the 15th (Day 0). I remember even the satellite TV reception was noisy and hard to watch.
The next day (-1), we had to put all our electronic stuff, including my new laptop inside metal boxes. Dad even climbed the mast and took down the radar assembly. On the bridge, all the equipment was removed except a couple of boxes and one monitor. That afternoon all the sails were stowed, everything on deck was double strapped down, and two large sea anchors were set up on the bow.
That night, the Northern Lights were vivid colors and very bright. Every few minutes another shooting star would streak across the Southern sky. Around 2:00 AM, I was awakened by a loud crash, followed by heavy wave action. Dad told me it was just a meteor impacting a few miles away, He said to go back to bed, but I was too excited to sleep. I curled up with a blanket in a corner of the Bridge, where I would be out of the way, and still able to see everything.
The sun was not visible on the morning of the 15th (Day 0) It was dark and stormy, with bands of heavy rain showers. Dad said there were a couple of GPS satellites still working, and our system indicated a strong current was pulling the Goose Southwest at nearly 10 knots.
We were still monitoring the radio channels, but mostly static was all we were hearing. Throughout the day, the current and the wind increased. They started receding about 5:00 PM, and by 9:00 PM it was dead calm.
Around 11:00 PM, the current and wind direction changed to the Northwest. As both started to increase, Doc turned the bow into the wind and the two younger men set out the sea anchors.
By 6:00 AM, the wind was over 90 knots, the rain was a solid sheet of wind driven water, and the current drift was nearly 30 knots. The Goose groaned and shook as a multitude of waves crashed over the bow. We were taking on water, but the pumps were keeping up with it.
The fury continued for 48 hours before easing. As the wind and current died down, the rain continued harder then anyone one board had seen. The static had faded away, but we heard no transmissions on the radio.
Life on the Goose continued, we fixed meals, ate, cleaned up, tried to study, or amuse ourselves, and understand what had happened to our world. I think the adults, particularly Mrs. Hall, had it the hardest. We kids were confident that our parents would somehow make it all right.
The rain continued, and the GPS indicated that we were 400 miles West of San Francisco. On August first (Day 48), Dad replaced the radar antenna, and set the jib. We slowly started making our way East.
Chapter 3
David Russell looked like a typical surfer. He had sun bleached blond hair and stood just over six feet. He was in his third year of Electrical Engineering at UC Berkley. His parents were lawyers, and he had grown up living in a waterfront condo in Sausalito, CA. After passing finals, he packed up with two friends, to spend the summer back packing in the Sierra high country.
On the morning of Day –1, a conflict had developed between David and his friends. The weather was threatening, and a meteor strike a few miles south had started a small forest fire. They were just below a mountain peak, beside a small lake. David had lugged his telescope, in addition to a 70-pound pack, the 15 miles from where they had left the trucks.
“I’m not worried about the weather, if it gets too bad we can shelter in the mine shaft below the cliff. I want to get more pictures of the meteor shower.”
“That’s OK for you David, but Cindy is scared, and we are going back to my truck. We’ll leave most of our gear in the mine, and come back after the weather clears. You can watch it from up here, but we are going to find a motel with a big TV and a hot tub.”
Jason and Cindy left before noon. The wind and rain squalls increased all afternoon, and David broke camp, and moved everything into the mineshaft.
The meteor shower increased in intensity, with frequent visible strikes throughout the night.
The sun did not break through the heavy cloud cover, on Day 0. The earthquakes started just after 9:00 AM. The aftershocks increased, to the point that David grabbed his pack and ran to a small depression in the center of the meadow. By mid-afternoon the quake activity peaked with a shock that literally bounced his prone body off the ground. As the quakes subsided, the wind and rain increased. By 6:00 PM of Day 0, the depression had filled with rainwater and David had to crawl back to the mineshaft to take shelter from the raging storm.
He was surprised to find it mostly intact. He crawled back in out of the wind and the rain and slept. Water, flowing out of the mine, woke him the next morning. The storm raged outside, and visibility was zero. David opened the pack he had been leaning against, took out a flashlight, and started taking stock of his situation.
The mine had a slight uphill slope, and a small stream of water was now flowing down the center of the shaft. Some rocks and debris had fallen down the cliff and partially blocked the entrance. Although the water pooled there, it flowed out of the mine and down into the darkness.
David carefully moved his pack, as well as Jason’s and Cindy’s, away from the water. He hoped that they were in a safe place, and knew it was not likely they would return any time soon. He drank some water, ate a power bar, and listened to the howling wind.
The hours passed, and David made camp by lamplight. He had plenty of food and water, and shelter, but limited battery life, so he stayed in the dark most of the time.
The wind eased by the end of Day 2, but the rain continued to come down in sheets. By mid-day of Day 3, there was a little visibility. The lake had filled the meadow, and the tree line, which had ringed the Western edge of the lake, was gone.
The days passed, with only gray skies and constant, unremitting, torrential rain. David had a handheld, multi-band transceiver, which emitted only static on all bands.
After a few days, housebound at the mine, David started exploring the area. A raging river, which had been a dry creek bed, now blocked the trail down the mountain. He returned to the mine, soaked and discouraged.
The days became weeks and the rains never abated. Finally, on Day 48, the rain eased to a gentle shower. David wrote a note for Jason and Cindy, or anyone else who came to the mine. He packed the remaining food, the first aid kit, his sleeping bag, the radio, utensils, a hand axe, the 357 Magnum pistol, and ammunition. He left his telescope and the other’s packs. The poncho kept most of the rain off him and the pack.
Chapter 4
Zeke Jacoby looked like a geek, with horn-rimmed glasses, a slender frame, and short black hair that accentuated his premature balding. He was a self made man, an engineering genius, and after cashing out of his dot com, just before the crash, a 27 year old, multi-millionaire. He lived on a custom houseboat, anchored just off of Sausalito. He was single, unencumbered, and spent most of his days researching and writing a blog titled: Offthegridandafloat.com.
On the morning of Day -1, his current lady friend left in a huff after Zeke refused to cancel his plan to pull up anchor and sail up the Sacramento River and spend a few days in the delta. He wanted to get away from the light pollution of the Bay Area. And get some good video of the meteor shower. He had also read the net warning signs of a Coastal Event.
He helped Angela take her bags from the dock to her car. She would not even give him a goodbye kiss, and drove away with her nose in the air. Zeke was not disturbed. He had resolved to never again let a woman take him for a ride. His wife had filed for divorce shortly after the stock sale, and had moved to Mexico with his former broker as soon as she got her half of the community property settlement.