CSR-03: a rescue adventure

During our last day at sea we received an unusual call on the boat's radio. On channel 16, the official channel for emergency calls, a boat was sending a SOS. "Balù II" had an engine failure in the middle of the sea and the people on board were no longer able to drive it. The wind was increasing and "Balù" was 15 Nm from the closest harbour. Unfortunately they were in international waters, which means the official rescue procedure was more difficult. "Pelagos", our research vessel, received a direct call from the Coast guard, and we were asked to save them. Immediately our captain Roberto headed in the direction of "Balù" and we prepared the ropes to connect the 2 hulls. So, instead of our usual hydrophone we towed a whole boat.
Everything ran fine, and the operation was a success.
What a joy when the crew of "Balù" came to thank us with a case of white wine, and we discovered that one of the ladies aboard had been a participant of our research project some years ago. It's a small sea!