My family’s vacation was marked by an incident that led to my first 911 call in my life. I have reflected upon this incident for many days with a mixture of thankfulness for the safety of my family (and others on the boat) and personal anguish that I could not have done more.
We were on a whale watching cruise miles off the coast of Monterey with about 40 other people on a 50-foot some boat. On the return trip back to shore, there was a malfunction that caused the exhaust pipes and roof to catch on fire. The engine was cut by the captain as it seemed it might have been a driver for the fire coming out of the exhaust. Life boats were on top of the cabin on fire. Life preservers were all in the cabin on fire (with the exception of the two preservers my two kids were wearing who had put some on at the beginning of the trip). All the fire extinguishers were spent quickly, and the flames just got worse as time passed. Shore seemed to be a long ways away, but at least we were not out 30+ miles (I’m guessing) from where we started. There were very few boats that we could see, and there was a lot of smoke coming off our boat. A 911 call was made from my mobile phone, and I handed the phone to the naturalist on the boat who was (potentially) better equipped to identify our location and condition. A number of people were panicking, and many gathered in the very back of the boat to distance themselves as much as possible from the fire and smoke. Things did not look good by any measure.
I had been in the water a few days before. The temperature was not too discernible from ice water from my perspective. I had seen seals, so I was hoping that there were not any sharks in the water.
A question raced through my mind a number of times. Was the situation bad enough that I should I pitch my kids into the water? Then there were intervening questions entering my mind … what happens if something explodes before I make a decision? The boat is rocking pretty violently … can I actually pitch them far enough from the boat that they won’t get walloped by the swaying boat? Would they survive long enough in the cold water? The questions going through my mind were endless.
I chose to delay my decision to throw them into the water. (After the trip, I realized my wife had the same thoughts going through her mind)
The fire continued to spread. Eventually the life boats were released. No sign of the Coast Guard. A small boat came alongside and threw us two fire extinguishers. The other boat was too small to take many people, and very soon the new extinguishers were exhausted. Smoke got worse. Maybe five minutes passed.
What to do?
At some point, the captain decided to restart the engine. Though I didn’t speak with her after the trip, I presume that she decided our chances were better if we tried to gun it to shore (even though speeding up the engine could have increased the fire). We gunned it towards the nearest point on shore. The increased exhaust may have served to cut some of the flames, but who knows.
We made it to shore to be greeted by the fire department and the local news (the incident was the lead story on the news that day and made the front page of the paper the next day). Coast Guard arrived 10-20 minutes later. Everyone was safe. No one needed to go into the drink.
Did I make the right decision to delay throwing my kids in the water? Was I indecisive? Did the captain make the right decision to take command and gun it to shore?
In my opinion, the captain made the right choice. We were out of options to put out the fire, and it was not clear that we were going to get any help in the near term.
As for whether I should have delayed my decision to throw my kids in the water, I am still at odds with that. True they are safe, and the direct threat at the time may not have been imminent, but in reality, I am a layman about boats, and the threat could have been imminent for all I knew. But delaying the decision to throw them in the water allowed me time to gather additional information, such as whether some other boat might come to our aid, whether the fire was spreading, or whether we would get feedback from the crew about our distress calls.
In numerous business settings, I have found that delaying decisions can be beneficial, more often in cases when one is trying to gather additional information that will make subsequent decisions more informed and definitive (e.g., you should posture yourself as ready to make a decision once information comes in as opposed to just being indecisive). Sometimes this can be counterintuitive to those in the business world, where things seem to be driven by a culture of being decisive and making decisions with whatever information is on hand.
Glad to know that everyone is safe!
Certainly a “memorable” vacation.
Phil.
Thank god everyone on the boat made it safe…
The driver made a intuitive decision with information on hand,,,
Certainly an experience we hope to never relive. 🙂
What an unpleasant experience. Fire on a boat can be very nasty.
It sounds like you were making decisions all the time and updating them minute by minute. There are always going to be times when the decision you have taken for the time being is going to look wrong.
Coincidentally, I saw a tweet this afternoon which seemed to imply that you had no business being a leader if you were afraid to make a decision. I thought that was nuts. Not making a decision because you were afraid is something else, but anyone who does not experience fear in decision-making situations is either not making significant decisions, or has the kind of emotional deficit that sooner or later is going to cause grief to others.
In retrospect, you did the right thing. Don’t confuse that with being unsure you were doing the right thing at the time. From where I sit, fear and the continual review of alternatives (which can feel like indecision) is a perfectly healthy reaction to a volatile situation of great uncertainty.
Although I’m a proponent for being decisive, people often mistake making knee-jerk decisions as being decisive. Decisions – especially critical ones like this – should only be made after enough information has been collected to make a sound one.
I’m so happy for you and your family that you waited until you had enough information. Very decisive in my opinion.