It was supposed to be just a “sunset cruise,’’ one that would take Amanda Blumenherst and her teammates playing in last week’s U.S. World Amateur Championship out to sea near Capetown, South Africa and safely back again.
“It’s hard to believe we almost died out there,’’ said Blumenherst, the Duke sophomore from Scottsdale who was college golf’s player of the year last season.
“I’m just happy to report we’re all safe. That we’ve all bounced back.’’
According to Blumenherst, the U.S. team that included her Duke teammate, Jenny Lee, and U.S. Amateur champion Kimberly Kim, who lives in Queen Creek, as well as their families, were all pretty shaken after a large sailboat they were on nearly capsized in the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 15.
“I kept thinking about the Titanic,’’ she said of the ill-fated ocean-liner that sank in 1912 and went on to become a Oscar-winning movie in 1997.
“The wind was blowing hard, the waves were high, and one side of the boat was under water -- we were tipping at almost a 90-degree angle. We were in the back of the boat, and we ended up clinging to a rail with our feet dangling across the deck of the boat, almost in the water. . . . Everybody was screaming.’’
After about five minutes of floundering, Blumenherst said the crew was able to turn the boat, get it pointed down-wind, and right the ship.
“Even when the crew managed to turn it around it was scary, because we had water
up to our thighs and literally had to swim to the other side of the boat before the side we had been clinging to started going under,’’ she said. “It was a balancing act, and we were trying are hardest not to panic.’’
Blumenherst said she mostly feared for Lee and her father, Tim Blumenherst, as both have limited swimming skills.
“My dad and mom (Amy) were both along for the trip, and my dad, well, he would have sunk like a rock, just like Jenny,’’ she said. “He has mastered the dogpaddle, but the waves were so high, and the water was so cold, I don’t think he and Jenny could have made it back to shore, which was about a mile away.’’
Hypothermia was a distinct possibility, Blumenherst was told afterward.
“I guess we would have lasted for about 15 minutes out there, because the water was really, really cold,’’ she said. “But I never was worried for myself, because I grew up swimming in a club back in Indiana, and I think I could have made it back (to shore). . . .
“I guess I never thought the boat was really going to sink, although my dad and the captain sure did.’’
Making it even worse, the boat’s lifejackets were stored in a locked metal compartment and couldn’t be reached because of another heavy object that was directly on top of it.
“My dad was pretty upset, and he made the captain go back to shore just
as soon as we possibly could,’’ Blumenherst added. “My whole body was shaking, and Jenny Lee and Kim “Squared’’ (Kimberly Kim’s nickname) were really upset, too.’’
Which, obviously, made the U.S. team’s eighth-place finish in the three-day tournament seem pretty meaningless.
“It was kind of funny, because when the (tournament organizers) found out about the boat nearly capsizing, they said, ‘Wow, we’re glad you’re OK,’ and that was about it,’’ Blumenherst said. “We went there to play golf, but that experience at sea – nearly going under -- is the one I’ll always take with me.’’
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