NEW ORLEANS — There was nothing out of the ordinary when Leonard Guidry set out into the Gulf of Mexico from Port Fourchon the afternoon of April 13 for a training session.
“I totally wasn't expecting what happened to happen,” Guidry, the sea trial captain for Bollinger Shipyards told the Marine Board of Investigation on Friday.
The board is hearing two weeks of testimony as it looks into the deadly capsizing of the Seacor Power.
Guidry said forecasts he and other mariners reviewed let him know things would get bad in the afternoon -- but that no one had any idea what was in store.
According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board, "A weather report emailed to the vessel (Seacor Power) at 0702 that morning predicted afternoon winds at 9–12 knots from the southeast, with 3-foot seas."
“Just as we were wrapping that up, the line of storms got to us,” Guidry recalled. “Immediately it -- the wind blew. What I saw on our wind gauge, 80 knots right away.”
Eighty knots is equivalent to 92 miles per hour.
Distress calls followed the rare afternoon storm, known as a wake low, that raced through around 3:30 p.m.
Among the vessels needing help: The Seacor Power, about six miles away.
Guidry and his crew made it there through choppy seas to find five Seacor crewmembers clinging to part of the boat that had not gone underwater.
“It was still raining. Reduced visibility still, but it was getting a little better,” Guidry said.
An infrared camera spotted the crewmembers clinging with all their might onto the Seacor Power.
Time was of the essence as crews worked for hours to save the men and search for others.
A helicopter from the Bristow Group got there around 7 p.m.
“I've been doing this for 27 years. I've not seen it this bad,” Jason Jennison, a rescue swimmer, told the board.
Jennison was lowered 80 feet to try to save the men as dangerous waves continued to crash and the Seacor Power continued to sink.
One of the only options was to convince the men to jump into the cold, uncontrolled water.
“Trying to get someone that terrified to jump in that ocean with waves crashing over them, it was a challenge at best," Jennison said.
Ultimately, those rescue efforts were unsuccessful, and the men were gone when the chopper came back from refueling.
Officials with Seacor Marine are among those who will testify next week.