Captain John McArthur Jr. of the Michigan ordered the thick towing hawser pulled in within hailing distance of the Drake to communicate their status by shouts amplified with a megaphone.
When the Northern Wave, a 2 year old steel package freighter, headed upbound out of Whitefish Bay shortly after 6:00 AM that morning, she spotted the struggling Drake flying a distress signal from one her masts and the crew frantically swarming the cabins with fire axes and bare hands.