There were eight of us aboard the 150-ft. Gulf Majesty, pulling a loaded barge about 300 miles outside Jacksonville, Fla., our home port, heading to San Juan, Puerto Rico. We'd been at sea since Saturday, and we were just trying to avoid the storm. Our higher-ups told us to head north and take the long way around.
But then the hurricane took that sudden turn. The bad weather started pounding us Tuesday night. Waves were completely covering the boat, and we were pitching 46[degrees]. By early Wednesday, it started getting really bad. We were in seas of 45-to-55-plus ft., much bigger...