In my last blog, I spoke about Linda and some of her character development.Some of her strengths and weaknesses. One particular weakness is her fear of flying. That one does hit close to home. This fear comes out in Chapter 4. The Coast Guard Airlift. This was an interesting chapter to write because I received some help from an ex-Coast Guard search and rescue man.
One of the things I've thought of over the years of sailing is Coast Guard airlifts and searches. Just another interest. In my opinion, there are far too many "calls" to the Coast Guard these days to "save" some (I was going to say idiots, but that might not be completely fair) "sailors" who buy a boat and get a GPS and take off for Bermuda without the proper preparation and experience. Now, I'm more into the sailing part of this blog and I promise I won't get on a soap box (maybe). It bugs the heck out of me.
Anyway, there was a different circumstance in this book. My original thought, which I proposed to my Coast Guard friend, was "Can the Coast Guard make Linda get off the fishing boat?" Let's look at the circumstances. (I actually took a beating over this whole hypothermia, Coast Guard thing, and broken/bruised ribs from the editor. He thought Linda should just go along with the Coast Guard and go to the hospital. She wouldn't be well enough to stay on the boat with the fisherman. He underestimated her strength and mental fortitude, one of my favorite aspects of her character).
OK, So I'll set the stage. You already know Linda was rescued after twenty some hours in the water. Then she was on the boat for say eighteen to twenty-four hours before the Coast Guard helicopter (flown by Mitch) arrived. Plenty of time to recover sufficiently to make a decision. And that was all she had to do (besides convincing the fishermen to let her stay). Her staying on the boat was critical for the next couple of chapters of search and rescue aboard the fishing boat when she and Eric bonded (Tom also). If the Coast Guard took her off the boat, that would have been the end of her and Eric even before it began.
So, back to the original question? Can the Coast Guard force her off the boat. My friend shook his head at this question. He told me he never encountered anyone who would not get off the boat after they had flown out. Here are the two key things. If you read the first couple of lines of Chapter 4 they tell us Mark called the Coast Guard (as he should have) to inform them of Linda's rescue and rapidly improving hypothermia. Then Mark and the Coast Guard decide to fly out the helicopter to airlift Linda to have her checked out by a doctor and to allow the fishing boat to continue its trip. The Coast Guard would want to question Linda about the sinking and continue searching for Joey. Linda may have some key information that could help the search.
When Linda finds out the helicopter is on its was out to pick her up, she freaks out again. Linda thinks to herself, "There is no way I'm getting in one of those." So, can the Coast Guard make her go? Technically, no. SHE never requested the Coast Guard to come out to the boat. Now, Mark is the critical person here. Since she is on his boat and he is the captain, Mark is responsible for her until she gets off the boat. So, Linda begs Eric and Tom to convince Mark to let her stay. Once Mark talks to the Coasties about allowing her to stay,
the Coasties have no recourse. Of course, they aren't real pleased with the situation, and they order Mark to take her back to Beaufort (OK all you Coasties out there, that was a little bit of "poetic license" on my part).
But we see some more of Linda's personality and character emerging in these scenes.
1. Toughness. Why didn't she go to the doctor? Offshore sailors are a tough breed. Think about having the flu a hundred miles offshore. You are two handing the trip (only two of you on board). You are keeping four hour watches around the clock. It's one thirty a.m. and you are puking your guts out (sorry to be so graphic). Sweat is pouring off of you from the 100 degree fever you have. You haven't slept for five minutes and your next watch starts at two a.m. You are beating into six foot seas and it's pouring rain outside, cold rain. What do you do? A. Run to CVS for some cold medicine and go back to bed. B. Tell you partner, who has been on watch for four hours in this misearable weather, that you don't feel good and need to go back to bed. or C. SUCK IT UP and go on watch. Most offshore sailors on a long trip would pick C.
So, unless her ribs were really bad, she probably wouldn't go to the hospital.
2. Detemination. She was going to find a way to stay on the fishing boat and search for Joey. The fear of flying was only part of this.
3. Fear of Flying. One of her weaknesses. Why did I pick this? Well, I know how that feels because I'm not a huge fan of flying myself. She needed to have some venerability. It needed to be something a little unusual and something that wouldn't really affect her budding relationship with Eric. In fact, it may have strengthened their new relationship, beacuse it gave him something else to help her get through. But I'll deal with Eric later.
The sum total of today's blog hopefully give you more insight into building characters. My aim is to help you figure out how to build your charcters. Remember the old saying, write what you know.
Also, I wanted to give you more insight into Linda's character. She's one tough cookie. Most of the time!
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