Clermont Oborn's miraculous survival from a boat accident in Tonga

“We started out with the instructions well in mind, but either because we did not follow them exactly or because they were wrong, we nearly had an accident, for as we neared the long reefs that stretched between that island and Matuku the waves were breaking high. We, thinking that we were at the right point, pushed right on over them, and as one wave broke just in ahead of us the other one followed right along in back, and before we had gone far our boat scraped the bottom; as the swell came from behind breaking on deck we thought for a minute we were gone. This threw us ahead with considerable speed. We swung the mast around to the other side of the boat, the sail was caught by a gust of wind, and with, a quick turn of the rudder we were again in deep water and safe. — Millennial Star 85:33”