A brutal storm blew into the Long Beach Peninsula last Oct. 6, disorienting a sailboat captain on his own and forcing him to radio for help. Petty Officer 2nd Class Jacob Hylkema, rescue boat captain Brian Soderlund and others boarded the 52-foot motor lifeboat Invincible at Coast Guard Station Grays Harbor in Westport and set out with the intention to tow the sailboat, Grace, to the harbor.
While crossing the Grays Harbor bar the Invincible and crew were bucking winds to 60 knots. The breakers even gave the rescue boat fits.
“We encountered breaks that were big enough to spin our own boat around,” said Hylkema. Once the crew regrouped and got its bearings, they set out again and made it across the bar into open water, still bucking winds and swells up to 20 feet in the pitch dark of midnight on a stormy Harbor night.
“We got across the bar and saw the boat light (of the Grace),” said Hylkema. “Chief Soderlund got us closer and the captain of the Grace called out he had just lost power and his sail.”
It was clear to the crew that the captain of the Grace was exhausted and disoriented from trying to stay under sail in the heavy seas, with breakers topping 16 feet, by Hylkema’s estimation. The Coast Guard report of the incident actually places the swells at up to 20 feet.
“The conditions were not safe for a tow, so we decided to have him anchor, mark his position and recover him from the boat,” said Hylkema. “(The captain) had a survival suit, but it wasn’t equipped with a strobe light, so we sent him a suit with a light in case he fell in so we could find him.”
The captain of the Grace anchored and the crew of the Invincible tossed him a life ring attached to a 75-foot heaving line, a strong synthetic line equipped with a ball weight so it can be easily and accurately thrown. The captain of the Grace was secured to his own vessel by a cotton line.
“We told him to disconnect the cotton line and we would pull him to us,” said Hylkema. “He was about 100 feet from us, and halfway, he starts yelling and screaming.”
The sailboat captain, in his confused state, had not disconnected the cotton line that teathered him to the Grace.
“He had gotten wrapped up in the cotton line,” said Hylkema. He said the captain was basically the center point of a continuous line, being pulled in opposite directions by the Grace and the Invincible. According to the Coast Guard account, the only thing at that time keeping the captain’s head above water was the life ring.
“I said, ‘I need to go in and cut the line,’” said Hylkema.
Hylkema was wearing his dry suit, which allows him to stay in the water for a little more than 10 hours. Despite the rough seas, he was able to reach the sailboat captain in a minute.
“I cut the line, which was pretty easy because it was under tension,” he said. “Then I pushed back to the Invincible.” The captain of the Grace was brought to dry land and, other than being exhausted from his ordeal, was not seriously injured.
For his selfless act of bravery, Hylkema has been awarded the Association for Rescue at Sea’s highest honor, the Vice Admiral Thomas Sargent Gold Medal. Annually since 1987, the medal is presented to a Coast Guard enlisted man or woman for an “act of extraordinary bravery during a rescue at sea.” The award is named after the first Association for Rescue at Sea chairman.
“It’s great to be rewarded, but at the time I was just doing what needed to be done,” said Hylkema.
His commander praised the actions of Hylkema.
“I’m honored daily to work with some of the finest men and women in the Coast Guard, and I am extremely proud of Hylkema’s heroism to freely give of himself in such a way as to bring honor to his family, those he serves with, and the Coast Guard,” said Chief Warrant Officer Cheston Evans.
When John Shaw, executive director of the Westport Maritime Museum, saw the Coast Guard news release announcing Hylkema’s award, he wrote to the Daily World saying, “We have been following this with the station. It does not sound too dramatic via press releases but during the incident in question the (captain of the Grace) became entangled in the rigging and was taken underwater and trapped. Jacob went in and saved the (captain) from certain death. It has a great buzz within the Coast Guard ranks.”
At just 27 years of age, Hylkema will reach his 10-year mark in the Coast Guard in October. Originally from Kihei, Hawaii — a town of about 20,000 stretching along the north and east shores of Maalaea Bay on the island of Maui — he left high school early to join the Coast Guard.
“I was looking for new opportunities off the island,” he said, adding his grandfather had been a Marine and his brother is also in the Coast Guard.
Like all new recruits, Hylkema started his Coast Guard career at boot camp at Fort May, New Jersey. The grueling course lasts just less than two months. He spent some time at Fort Bragg in California, then in Seattle before landing at Station Grays Harbor in Westport.
The Invincible is one of only four of what Shaw calls “the famous 52s,” all of which are stationed in the Pacific Northwest. According to the Coast Guard, “they are known for their exceptional sea-keeping and rescue capabilities that far exceed that of the newer vessels when facing breaking surf and high winds. They are the only Coast Guard vessels smaller than 65 feet in length that have official names.”
And when it comes to piloting these rescue vessels, Hylkema said there’s no one better than Soderlund.
“In my opinion, and not just my opinion but many others’, Captain Soderlund is one of the best,” he said. “There are only four of these boats, and he’s operated two of them. I knew when I went in the water he would come get me, no matter what.”
The award will be presented to Hylkema at a ceremony held at the Rayburn Congressional Office Building, in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 26. Shaw said Hylkema will be recognized locally on Coast Guard Appreciation Day in October.
