In his article, "I Sail the Sea," Percy Wills gives this account of a rescue they made one day while he was still serving at sea on the "Messenger III."

"Some of my most excellent memories are to do with this lovely thing, [the sea] which at times is just a [terrible] mistress. It has been our privilege, also, to stand by some stricken ships that were lying in the throes of death. As they approached their end it always made me feel that the sea was laughing up its sleeve, pitying our feeble efforts to sustain life.

I well remember a fine fall day in 1954. We were running down the Straits in a stiff sou'easterly breeze. For us it was nothing but fun, with the salt spray stinging our cheeks with excitement; but for the small craft that were caught far from shelter, it was a mean sea indeed.

Of a sudden, a lookout cried, 'Small boat in distress off the port bow.' As we placed our glasses on her, we found that it was a small cabin cruiser, about thirty feet long. It was dismasted, and rolling heavily in the rough seas as they headed up the Straits. As we drew closer, I could see from the bridge that the small boat was almost foundered with a depth of water sloshing around in the open cockpit aft. We soon took her under our lee, where she lay a bit more comfortably until we could come close aboard her without doing further damage.

As soon as we were within easy hailing distance, we notice a man clinging feebly to the stub of the mast and swaying alarmingly from side to side. We quickly ran a line aboard and some of our fellows managed to clamber down and place a line around the stricken man. As we were bringing him up to our main deck, I recognised him as one of the workers at the Salvation Army Citadel in a nearby town. The hot towels and food that were supplied soon revived the drooping frame, and the first words I heard from his feeble lips were, 'Praise the Lord. I knew He wouldn't forsake Me'.

Now the sea is a cruel thing indeed, but the grace of God is far greater; and what the sea is able to do in the destruction of men and material, the Lord is able to undo."