Tommy gives comfort to his great-nephew: Part 4 of 10:

Tommy gives some words of comfort and encouragement to his great-nephew, 17 year-old George Sam. George came in with Eric, as did Tommy's son, Ernest.

Safe on land. Eric tells a frightening yet humorous story: Part 3 of 10

Eric Leavitt is famous for his sense of humor and story telling not only in Nuiqsut but all across the Slope. Still clad in wet clothing, he tells the story of what it was like to be pitched about in the dark in the churning waves. Tommy's son Ernest, who was in the boat with Eric, stands to the right.

Three hours later, the boats come in: part 2 of 10

Even as we busied ourselves with the bonfire, the wait was long and tense - all the more because one way or another all the whalers onshore had family on the boats; Tommy's son Ernest, Sonny Boy's dad and two younger brothers, Bernice's daughter Nannie Rae...

Finally, as Bernice prayed from the beach, out on the ocean Bryan and Leon felt their boat bump another - Eric's. Their reported position was now 6.8 miles from the island. Quickly, Leon and Bryan transferred passengers from the other boats to theirs to lighten their loads. Taalak boat no longer took on excessive water. Even so, the ocean continued to roil in 8 foot seas boiling with whitecaps. The relentless wind whipped the boats. Even on the canopied boats, there was no way to stay dry and it was COLD.

About three hours after Bryan and Leon departed, Eric's boat was the first to reach shore, beaching in near total darkness. As Bryan's boat, barely visible, approached he or Leon shouted for everyone to clear the beach, then gunned the engine to full throttle to thrust the boat as far up the beach as possible. Bryan and Leon then picked up the 13 and 11 year old boys in their white, wet, hunting parkas, slung them over the shoulders of waiting adults who rushed them to their cabin.

Then followed a still tense wait as the Taalak boat rounded the point in darkness and slowly worked its way toward the beach. The front end loader, came over from the bonfires and cast its light upon the scene. Nannie and Taalak were helped off (above), Nannie walked and Taalak, an elder was placed on the loader and driven to their cabin atop the small hill.

Signal fire for two boats caught in an emergency in the storm: Part 1 of 10:

Friday night about 10:00 pm, a message came in on the VHF radio from out on a turbulent and blustery ocean: "We're taking on water." It was Taalak. Taalak had taken his boat to Prudhoe Bay's West Dock, 14 miles from here, to assist Eric Leavitt who had driven himself and several passengers, including two of his young sons, out from Nuiqsut. The ride had been rough, but got a lot rougher after West Dock. Not only was Taalak's boat fast taking on water but Eric's was experiencing engine problems. "We've got to help them!" Bryan stated. Leon jumped up from the edge of the bunk on which he sat. "Let's go right now!" he said.

And they did. Right now! Without a second thought, they jumped into their gear, charged out into the black, black, cold, howling, night, leaped into Bryan's open 20 foot aluminum boat, got pushed out into the churning water and rushed unseen toward the coordinates Taalak had given them, 5.9 miles to the west.

"Let's build a bonfire on the spit so they will see it when they get near the island," said Doreen Nukapigak, Edward and Tommy's sister, who had arrived that afternoon. Soon, we were gathering driftwood that had originated somewhere far to the south of this treeless land. There are generators and lights on this island, including a couple of tall flood lights that illuminate the work areas, but maybe two signal fires built by their peers would bring a different kind of comfort to those in the storm than would electric light. The effort gave those onshore something worthwhile to do, rather than to just sit and wait helplessly.

Hymns and prayers at whalers' Cross Island church service

"At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light..." "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow..." "There is power, power, power, power in the blood..." "How great Thou art, how great Thou art, these were the hymns sung by the small congregation that gathered today in the Taalak cabin for church services on here on Cross Island. There were prayers and scripture readings.