Typhoon in the Lagoon

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0:33It's afternoon on March the 29th, 2015, in the Central Pacific Ocean. On any normal day, the atoll known as the Chuk Lagoon is a glorious sight. A collection of small, beautiful islands, blessed with lush, verdant plant life and golden beaches. All surrounded by vivid blue skies and sparkling seas that stretch further than the I can see. Today, however, Chuk Lagoon is the scene of diabolical chaos. A storm is raging. Typhoon Mesac. Out at sea, vessels of all description are being thrown around by screaming 100 mile per hour winds. Rain pounds down as though in solid blocks. Aboard one of those vessels, clinging onto a steel railing with all his might, is Tom Booth.

1:2828 year old cruise director of a tourist yacht. An expert diver, Tom is used to life out on the ocean. But he's never known anything like this. I'd experienced rough weather at sea, but nothing compared to what we experienced in truck. The strength of the wind and being soaking wet is chilling. And I was knackered, I was exhausted. Careening around the lagoon, the yacht is battered by the elements. Great waves wash over the deck, smashing through windows and doors. And then, from the depths of the hull, an ungodly noise rises as the propeller grinds into a giant mass of coral hidden beneath the waves.

2:14The yacht judders and lurches alarmingly to one side. Teetering almost horizontally over the sea, Tom loses his footing, collides with a table, and sees four crewmates tumble into the water. For those left on board, it's a horrifying sight. But there's nothing they can do. They can't go in after them. They just have to try to stay alive themselves. I was concerned, but they then felt outside of the environment, if that makes sense. there were still crew members on board who were absolutely terrified. The yacht crunches and clatters over the reef. Sharp, underwater tendrils gnaw into the belly of the boat.

3:00All the while, the brutal wind pulls relentlessly on the vessel's hardware. Soon, the giant steel cables that tether the mast to the deck are ripped from their fixings. Tom watches in horror as one of the flailing cables whips the yacht captain around the head, knocking him to the floor. The captain doesn't move. An awful situation has become even more grave. Here they are, on the open sea, assailed by a typhoon from above and coral reef from below. The yacht is falling to pieces, and the captain is lying lifeless on the deck. I remember seeing it happening and he just went out cold. He hit the deck face down.

3:47The water running across the deck. He was about two, three feet deep and yeah, face down in the water. The boat was still moving violently. I didn't know if he was dead. I was scared.

4:07Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes? If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives. In this episode, we meet Tom Booth, a young man who roams far from his native England to discover dazzling tropical beauty, above sea and below. In 2015, Tom is working as a cruise director on board a yacht in Lacronesia, guiding divers down to spectacular naval ruins at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

4:50But when a typhoon blows in, he and his crewmates become vulnerable to the devastating power of nature. Their vessel is never far from land. At times, they're close enough to jump ship and paddle to the shore, in theory at least. But the typhoon flips their world upside down, trapping them in constant peril. This fearsome storm looks certain to condemn every last one of them to the bottom of the ocean. We didn't expect a full-blown typhoon. The waves, the sudden onslaught of the wind and the rain, the complete disappearance of visibility. At that point, I think all control was lost of the vessel.

5:31Threats comes from all angles, from the swirling tempest, from the malfunctioning yacht, and even later, from other people. With the captain incapacitated, Tom is going to have to step up to help himself and his crew. Earlier, when I was completely out of control, the only person who could help us was the captain. I was just stood as a passenger. But at that point, there were things to do. There were people to help. I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser Podcast Network. This is Real Survival Stories.

6:25It's 9am on March 28, 2015. scene. A beautiful day on the Pacific island of Wiena. Part of the Chuk Lagoon, an atoll within the Federated States of Micronesia, we know this morning is the image of a tropical paradise. The shining sun dazzles in a clear, cobalt-blue sky. The mountains are thick with verdant vegetation. The lagoon water is an inviting turquoise. At the port, the day is well underway. way. On the deck of a tourist yacht, Tom Booth sits at his laptop, busying himself with admin before the next party of guests arrive. As a cruise director and diving expedition leader, he's seen some of the world's most stunning locations.

7:14But for Tom, Chuk Lagoon, or Truck Lagoon, as some refer to it, has a particular allure. Troc is a diver's dream destination. Basically there's a tropical lagoon in dival depths with a huge amount of wartime wrecks. The ships are still full of tanks, in the holes is aeroplanes, ammunition, beach mines and the vessels themselves have got really interesting history. So yeah if you're interested in wrecks then Troc Lagoon is probably the premier destination in the world. It's all a very long way from home. Growing up in northern England, Tom was more accustomed to industrial cities and slate grey skies than coral reef and swaying palm trees.

8:02I grew up in West Yorkshire. My interest as a diver started when I was about 15 when my dad, who's a qualified diver, took me diving in a river in North Yorkshire. It was fantastic. After earning qualifications in canoeing, climbing and mountaineering, Tom found himself looking for adventure. Just a wanderlust really. I left college, so I did a two-year qualification in outdoor leadership and then left without a job and immediately found myself working in a foundry where we were rolling nickel alloys, which was great, it was a good laugh. But seeing my colleagues who were nearing retirement, and counting down the days with bad backs.

8:46Didn't make me want to wish the next 30 years to disappear. At first, Tom went to France where he taught canoeing. Next, he headed much further east to Thailand where he could pursue another passion. I was a martial artist, so I moved to Thailand in 2009. I was doing some training and some competing out there and needed a way to make money. So I borrowed some cash and did a professional dive instructor's qualification and started teaching diving in Thailand, in Phuket. Skip forward five years and Tom return to the UK, still diving, yet this time for aquaculture projects in an environment that could barely be further from the sun-kissed shores of the Pacific.

9:32In the winter of 2014, I was being lifted out of a salmon pen covered in the remains of dead fish with the snow blowing into my face, my fingers cold. And when I got back to my digs that night, there was an email from my old employee asking me to help to set up the region in Truck Lagoon. So I jumped at the opportunity. Thoughts of going back to the tropics and not being in freezing blizzards in north of Scotland was very appealing. So I packed my bags and set off to truck.

10:07Today, on this March morning in 2015, the Chuk Lagoon is at its beautiful best. As Tom checks his emails on the deck of the yachts, the rest of the crew busy themselves elsewhere on the vessel. In total, there are 14 staff on board, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia. In addition to Tom, there are housekeeping staff, a chef, an engineer, and Deng, the ship's captain, a native of Indonesia and a vastly experienced sailor in these waters. Today is a changeover day, a chance to do paperwork, restock supplies, perform maintenance, prepare the yacht for the next batch of guests, and gossip about the ones who've just departed.

10:49Spirits among the crew are high. Life is good. Just a very relaxed trip. The crew were happy, the guests had left happy. There was no major maintenance work to do, so it was a really nice changeover day. We'd gone into the port itself, so crew were free to leave and get back on the vessel and do the shopping and things like that. And yeah, I was just steadily doing my accounts and relaxing. Preparation for the new arrivals is well underway when a crew member from a nearby yacht relays some news. An almighty storm has been forecast in the area for the following day. No question this is a serious development, but Tom isn't prone to panic.

11:35As I recall, we were told there was a tropical depression, which I understood meant bad weather. I don't think it was common for typhoons to develop specifically where we were. I've been involved in some heavy weather events in the Maldives. We ran a diving region there, and the company kept us going right through the southwest monsoons. I experienced bad weather before and wasn't terrified. Others are less sanguine. Tom looks on as the yacht's engineer takes it upon himself to secure objects that aren't bolted to the deck floor. That afternoon, Captain Dane repositions the vessel to a spot that he thinks will offer better protection for the forecasted storm.

12:21As he heads to his bunk on the yacht later that evening, Tom's mood remains good. Inclement weather is all part of the job. In fact, a gathering storm just makes things more interesting. I like excitement. There is danger there, so it does sharpen the senses. And the thought of being in a weather event did excite me.

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14:40Morning arrives. As usual, Tom is up early. Ordinarily, he likes to take advantage of the quiet to prep for the day ahead before crew and guests surface. Not today. From his cabin, he can hear activity above. The main engine is already running, rain is falling, and the wind is now blowing hard. The yacht is fairly still. With so many vessels sheltering in the port, there's not enough open water to allow large waves to form. But the strength of the wind is undeniable. As Tom clambers above deck, he looks up and sees the gusts pushing and pulling the mass of rigging the towers overhead. In the morning, yeah, there was a hive activity and people were on edge and the boat was rocking.

15:30There was already strong winds. We were anchored behind a protective reef. So the island of Wenow, which is the biggest island in the lagoon, offered the best protection. So our vessel plus, I believe, another six vessels were anchored in the same location to get that protection from those northeasterly winds that we were experiencing. The deck is all movement, all action. The nervy crew buzz around. Tom and his yacht mates set about securing and reinforcing whatever they can. but especially everything that's attached to the huge canvas-topped canopy that hovers over the rear of the vessel. As morning progresses, the wind only gets stronger.

16:15The yacht begins to hobbyhorse, pitching forward and backwards like a seesaw. The bow dips in and out of the water. Under the strain of the increasingly hostile conditions, little by little, the anchor is dragged from its spot on the sea floor. The yacht is visibly moving. The captain makes a decisive call. He announces he is going to raise the anchor, move to a more sheltered spot, and drop anchor again. Drenched to the bone in the unrelenting downpour, Tom scurries to the prow to help raise the anchor. Captain Deng now relocates the yacht, guiding it through the bouncing, frothing swell before settling on a new spot.

17:01Fingers crossed the anchor will wedge itself in more tightly in this new location. Tom now takes the opportunity to swap his sodden shorts and t-shirt for something more weather-appropriate, a wetsuit. It was bad weather. It was low visibility. There was rain and the wind was gaining strength. I'd have to estimate, but I'd say around 50 knots of wind in gusts. 50 knots equates to roughly 60 miles per hour. a strong gale force wind. Despite this, Tom remains his usual composed self. But, with the gift of hindsight, the worsening conditions should have been the signal for most of those on board to get as far away as possible.

17:44A hundred percent, I'd think if I was to be faced with a similar situation again, we'd have got the non-essential personnel off the vessel. It was an ordeal they didn't need to go through and it probably, myself included, didn't need to be on that vessel that day. The core ship's crew, the deckhands, the captain, the engineer would have been adequate, but naively the whole crew stayed on the vessel. But then, quite suddenly, it seems as though the storm might be passing them by. As though mechanically powered, the wind and rain stop dead. The tempest that just seconds earlier was fermenting all around them disappears without a trace.

18:28It was serene actually. All of a sudden the wind stopped and the water was glass calm. I think I was a little bit disappointed. I thought that was the worst of it. I was expecting something a bit more than that. But there was relief as well. It was back to life. You know, the flight will be rescheduled. We'll get the guests in early and they'll have a good holiday. Miraculously, the Chuk Lagoon has been spared. Or so it seems. In the unexpected quiet, the ship's mobile phone chirps into life. On the other end of the line is a crew member from a neighboring yacht. It's bad news. There weather information tells them something deeply unnerving.

19:11The danger hasn't passed them by. In fact, they are all slap bang in the eye of the storm. The bad weather is circling them, like a predator circling prey. and pretty soon it'll be coming back with a vengeance from the opposite direction. He saw that there was actually a typhoon developing there and then and we were pretty much in the eye of the storm and his instructions were the wind's going to change 180 degrees and come a lot stronger. Despite his wealth of experience, this is a first for Tom. He's never encountered a typhoon before. A type of storm characterized by its powerful, swirling winds and torrential rain, a typhoon, as it's called in the Pacific region, is essentially the same thing that is known in other parts of the world as a hurricane.

20:04Tom and the crew are now in the path of Typhoon Mace Sack. And being in the path of one of these beasts while at sea is about as dangerous as it gets. Plus, if the gales are going to come back from a different direction, it means the spot they've just moved to is no longer a safe haven. They need to take advantage of this lull and move as quickly as possible to somewhere else that offers greater protection. So at that point, it was a mad scramble. We got out on deck. The intention was to raise the anchors, turn around 180 degrees and move behind an island that's opposite, which would then give us protection from a southwesterly.

20:44It was serious again, and we needed to act. The anchor is lifted again. With the motor roaring, Captain Deng pushes the yacht across the lagoon. It's a race against time to beat Typhoon Maysak as it swirls back around. But it's a race that can't be won. Looking out over the bow, we could see the island, and then it disappeared. Anybody who's familiar with a squall, it's like a wall of rain that comes in. And I've seen them before, but this was very dramatic. It crossed the island, the trees disappeared, the beach disappeared. And then very quickly, a few kilometres of ocean ahead of us started disappearing as well, until all of a sudden that wall of rain and wind hit us straight on the bow, and the ship juddered.

21:32It was a shock. In the blink of an eye, the yacht and its crew are plunged into the frenzy of the typhoon. Sea mist and thick rain close in all around until they consume the vessel, rendering visibility next to Zero. There are islands all around them. Land is almost cruelly close, but nothing can be spied in the darkness of the storm. The surface of the sea pulses and heaves, and the immense gales toy with the yacht, forcing it to tip and spin. Urgently, a crew member grabs life jackets and hands them out. Despite the filthy conditions, Tom is reluctant to take one. I did take the life jacket, but at first I thought it was more of a hindrance than an aid.

22:21I'm very comfortable in the water, I'm a good swimmer, but he certainly did the right thing. I was very naive. The threat of capsizing or falling overboard has become very real. At one point, the tiniest chink appears in the wall of grey. Tom squints through the gap. The sight confronting him is not at all welcome. We had our nose into the wind. We're still heading towards what we hoped was protection of the island, but we had no visibility. All of a sudden, the visibility opened up and directly ahead of us was another vessel. The captain saw it and had to go hard over starboard, and immediately we felt that wind smash into the boat and really keel us over.

23:07There were six other moored vessels, and it was blind man's buff where everyone had blindfold on.

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25:52It's afternoon on March the 29th, 2015, and a typhoon is causing havoc in Chuk Lagoon in the Pacific Ocean. On board a tourist yacht, Tom Booth watches in horror as his vessel veers perilously close to another ship, also struggling in the watery chaos. Tom's captain turns the wheel hard. Unable to properly see the nearby boat, he is relying on years of honed instinct to avoid a potentially fatal accident. The yacht turns sharply starboard. A wave crashes down on the deck. Several of Tom's colleagues, the housekeeping staff, are literally swept off their feet. Bodies slide across the deck. Screams of panic dissipate into the cacophony of the storm.

26:53Captain Deng has successfully averted a collision with the other boat. But this has created a different problem. In order to prevent the crash, the captain has had to change the direction of the yacht. Instead of facing directly into the storm, the craft now has the wind pummeling it from the side. Water continues to pour in, flooding the spaces below deck. It's imperative to turn the yacht's bow back into the wind, to face it head-on and regain some semblance of balance. The captain steers hard and pushes the throttle to its limit. Thick, black smoke bellows. Yet, no matter how hard he tries, he cannot get the boat to turn.