Aloha!
Today began a couple hours before sunrise with a full moon and a calm ocean. Charlie, Ritchie and I loaded up the boat and set off to sea. We received a message that a boat had landed on the coast a few hours prior, and no one could find the passengers. With our night vision binoculars, we began scanning the coasts with no luck. Our eyes stayed peeled and ears open for messages.
As it turns out, the boat was quite far from us (30 min in boat), and by the grace of God, was found by another rescue boat. We calmed down and pondered the red orange full moon as it began to set into the ocean, while the first sun rays began to break the bitter cold night. We received a call - and incoming vessel.
Charlie hit full throttle, Ritchie stayed tight on the Comms, and I stood up with my feet strapped in to spot the boat. We closed in on the incoming refugee dinghy, circled around, and slowly approached from behind. I could feel the nervous tension the 40+ people were holding ease as they realized we were allies.
I made my way to the bow of the boat to communicate with them via hand signals and smiles. Ritchie followed through with communications by calling the Coast Guard and Jude. The refugees looked dry and without medical emergency. We began contacting Anais and landing crew to prepare for a 30 minute arrival when we received a phone call from Frontex, European border control.
Frontex instructed us to pull up to the boat and ask them to turn their engines off. They would arrive in approximately 12 minutes to board the refugees and take them to shore. As much as our guts went against this, it is not our intent to go against authority - rather work with them. We approached the refugee boat with caution and spotted the best English speaker. We shared a few words, and we asked him to turn the engine off.
In trust, they stopped the boat in the middle of the sea. We linked up with their boat, to look for medical emergencies. As we came to a slow drift, women and children began to stand up from the middle of the boat to get a look at us. Happiness filled the air. Many of these Afghan refugees had been traveling for over a month, and some had not eaten in days. We noticed a few were beginning to shiver.
There was no sign of Frontex after the allotted time they asked us to wait. We used our judgement as hypothermia is a real risk, and instructed the boat to turn their engine on and drive to shore. With hand signals we guided them safely into the harbor where the landing team was waiting.
We continued on with our boat to Molyvos to get the electronics tuned up. On the way back, our boat was greeted by a small pod of dolphins! It was a warm afternoon on the ocean, with sunshine and dolphins. It was a time of celebration, as our team has begun to gel and perform.
After lunch, we drove to the local hot springs to have a soak and debrief. It is possible that we will move to a remote part of the island where refugee boat traffic is growing. In certain areas, Turkish police/Coast Guard is present and sending refugees back, so smugglers are looking for new zones to send them from. If we do decided to move to this new harbor that Jude has scoped out, we will be all on our own. Therefore, we will be without lighthouse Karakus and their wonderful spotters with high-tech thermal vision.
Refugee Rescue is still in the process of building crew, both on the boat and on the land, and our equipment. As of now, I will be spotting on the boat. We have a $400 pair of thermal binoculars that only work within 50 meters or so. Anything beyond and they only pick up light. We need a better pair so I can spot refugees from a far distance while on the boat. Please contact me, mdenicola9@gmail.com, if you can help us obtain a professional set of thermal vision. Thank you!
We are blessed to be sharing this experience of life. Mahalo!
Thank you to all the supporters that have helped Anais and I get out here. Sat Nam Foundation is sponsoring us to be out here, and to provide the refugees with the care they need. Please support us at: http://satnamfoundation.org/index.php/campaign/lesbos/
Today began a couple hours before sunrise with a full moon and a calm ocean. Charlie, Ritchie and I loaded up the boat and set off to sea. We received a message that a boat had landed on the coast a few hours prior, and no one could find the passengers. With our night vision binoculars, we began scanning the coasts with no luck. Our eyes stayed peeled and ears open for messages.
As it turns out, the boat was quite far from us (30 min in boat), and by the grace of God, was found by another rescue boat. We calmed down and pondered the red orange full moon as it began to set into the ocean, while the first sun rays began to break the bitter cold night. We received a call - and incoming vessel.
Charlie hit full throttle, Ritchie stayed tight on the Comms, and I stood up with my feet strapped in to spot the boat. We closed in on the incoming refugee dinghy, circled around, and slowly approached from behind. I could feel the nervous tension the 40+ people were holding ease as they realized we were allies.
I made my way to the bow of the boat to communicate with them via hand signals and smiles. Ritchie followed through with communications by calling the Coast Guard and Jude. The refugees looked dry and without medical emergency. We began contacting Anais and landing crew to prepare for a 30 minute arrival when we received a phone call from Frontex, European border control.Frontex instructed us to pull up to the boat and ask them to turn their engines off. They would arrive in approximately 12 minutes to board the refugees and take them to shore. As much as our guts went against this, it is not our intent to go against authority - rather work with them. We approached the refugee boat with caution and spotted the best English speaker. We shared a few words, and we asked him to turn the engine off.
In trust, they stopped the boat in the middle of the sea. We linked up with their boat, to look for medical emergencies. As we came to a slow drift, women and children began to stand up from the middle of the boat to get a look at us. Happiness filled the air. Many of these Afghan refugees had been traveling for over a month, and some had not eaten in days. We noticed a few were beginning to shiver.
We continued on with our boat to Molyvos to get the electronics tuned up. On the way back, our boat was greeted by a small pod of dolphins! It was a warm afternoon on the ocean, with sunshine and dolphins. It was a time of celebration, as our team has begun to gel and perform.
After lunch, we drove to the local hot springs to have a soak and debrief. It is possible that we will move to a remote part of the island where refugee boat traffic is growing. In certain areas, Turkish police/Coast Guard is present and sending refugees back, so smugglers are looking for new zones to send them from. If we do decided to move to this new harbor that Jude has scoped out, we will be all on our own. Therefore, we will be without lighthouse Karakus and their wonderful spotters with high-tech thermal vision.
Refugee Rescue is still in the process of building crew, both on the boat and on the land, and our equipment. As of now, I will be spotting on the boat. We have a $400 pair of thermal binoculars that only work within 50 meters or so. Anything beyond and they only pick up light. We need a better pair so I can spot refugees from a far distance while on the boat. Please contact me, mdenicola9@gmail.com, if you can help us obtain a professional set of thermal vision. Thank you!
We are blessed to be sharing this experience of life. Mahalo!
Thank you to all the supporters that have helped Anais and I get out here. Sat Nam Foundation is sponsoring us to be out here, and to provide the refugees with the care they need. Please support us at: http://satnamfoundation.org/index.php/campaign/lesbos/
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