Sailing Into Harm’s Way

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Captain John Paul Jones once said, “I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way."

This is a philosophy I have practiced all my life. A ship is our most important asset. It has to be strong, long range and fast. The John Paul DeJoria fills the bill in all three categories, and thus is ideal for what we need in a ship to sail into harm’s way.

What exactly does it mean to sail into harm’s way and what does it require?

We have the ship, and we have the crew and I only accept crew members willing to risk their lives to defend our clients in the sea. This means going into a situation courageously with resolve and determination.

Way back in 1979, I set forth in my first vessel, the Sea Shepherd. Our target was the pirate whaler Sierra, the most notorious whalekilling operation on the ocean. My objective, when leaving Boston to cross the Atlantic, was to find that ship and to ram and disable it. Aside from myself, there were 19 crew members.

On July 16, we found the Sierra and pursued it for 200 miles into the Portuguese port of Leixoes. I could not take action at sea because of bad weather. We tied up for custom clearance while the Sierra drifted in the harbor.

After clearing in with the authorities, I was notified that the Sierra was preparing to depart. I requested clearance and it was refused. There was no way I was going to let that pirate whaler escape, so I called a crew meeting on deck to announce that clearance be damned, we were going out to where the Sierra was drifting and we would ram that vessel.

Sure to be arrested

I remember saying, “Today is the day that the Sierra dies.” I said to the crew, “I can’t guarantee you won’t be hurt but I can pretty much guarantee that we will all be arrested, so the choice is yours. If you are with me, great, and if you are not, you have 10 minutes to pack and be on the dock.”

Ten minutes later, 17 crew members were on the dock, leaving me with only Chief Engineer Peter Woof from Australia and 3rd Engineer Jerry Doran from Hawaii.

We cast off and built-up speed as we crossed the harbor. We smashed into the bow of the Sierra to damage the harpoon and then made a 360-degree turn to starboard, bringing us around on the port side of the whalers. I saw Norwegian Captain Arvid Nordengen raise his rifle and heard bullets clang on the steel bridge wing rail. He could not stop us, and at full speed we struck the port side hull just behind the forepeak, ripping open the hull into the freezer compartment. We then disengaged and I left the harbor on a northerly course, pursued by a Portuguese naval vessel that threatened to fire on us. I should have called their bluff, but with only myself and two crew, we submitted and agreed to return to port. That was the only mistake I made that day.

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