In 1992, I interviewed Norman Baker twice, once in his Long Island City civil engineering office and once at his home in the Berkshires. We talked mostly about his years of working with Thor Heyerdahl, and accompanying him on two expeditions. He also talked about his former sailing ship, the Anne Kristine, lost at sea a few months earlier in Hurricane Grace (October 1991). Below an excerpt during which he talks about almost losing the first ship he captained, the Cerces.

We were eight days out on a twenty-two-day trip to Seattle. We had rigged for racing and sailed to Honolulu in five days. During the trip the owner and captain fell deathly ill from drinking a cup of priming fluid that he thought was water. Ultimately, he did survive but when he got out of the hospital he was so absolutely debilitated that he couldn’t contemplate sailing back to Seattle with us. So he gave me the ship to sail back to Seattle -- my first command. I was twenty-six.

On the way we ran into a gale. I had been steering for twelve hours. We had a small and inexperienced crew. All night long we had been riding the waves -- rising to them, sliding down the faces, and backing down the crests. About five thirty in the morning an augmented wave fell on the ship and simply buried it. I had made a mistake. I had not closed the main weatherboards or the main hatch. The ship was just simply buried. I was beaten to my knees by the wave. When I stood up, the Pacific Ocean was to my waist. All I could see was the mast sticking above the water. The ship was filling through the open main hatch weatherboard. I stood there with the absolute certainly that I was looking at the last seconds of my life, and was just appreciating the scene.

It was astonishing to me then, and less astonishing to me now, that of all the emotions that I experienced, fear wasn't one of them. There was an intense fascination with the last scenes I was ever going to see. Being shocked and fascinated and sorry -- sorry but not afraid. Sorry that it was going to end, a little bit curious--but not terrified, not panic-stricken. Not horrified by it. But I didn't want it to end -- there was and is so much more I want to do. It was very rewarding somehow to discover that about myself -- that I wasn't afraid. But very gratifying.

For more of my interview of Norman Baker, including his impressions of Thor Heyerdahl visit here.