ROCKLAND HARBOR — The July 16 wind and rain storm that pierced a pleasant summer afternoon with heavy rain and a fierce, fast-moving squall bore down on Rockland Harbor with minimal warning. For the six young sailors aboard the TooToo, a J22 sailing sloop, and their two instructors, strong winds caught them during a sailing class, and with a punch, knocked the boat on its side, sending three girls into the ocean.

It was an emergency taking place in the south end of the harbor, while a series of other vessels were likewise in distress elsewhere in the harbor.  Three sailboats, including a Friendship sloop, were dismasted and a cruise ship, the American Independence, broke loose from its ties and slammed into another boat, also landing several people into the water.

Rockland Harbor was especially hard hit by the squall, which lasted almost 20 minutes. Its northerly exposure is open to weather, and the storm marched down from Waldo and Kennebec counties, along on a north-northwest path.

Emergency response was swift, and between the Rockland Harbor Master, Coast Guard and Marine Patrol, "everybody was going in a lot of different directions," said Rockland Harbor Master Molly Eddy. ""All the calls [for help] came in at once and everybody jumped to help each other. It is a tight community."

Meanwhile, TooToo was in her own dangerous predicament near the South End. After she was knocked down and three sailors thrown into the water, the TooToo righted herself and started drifting toward the Owls Head shoreline. TooToo did not capsize, said sailor Naomi Leach, crediting her lead keel for keeping her upright and stable.

Leach, who lives in South Thomaston and will be entering seventh grade at the Oceanside Middle School, in Rockland, was aboard the TooToo as part of the Adventurers Club, of the SKFF sailing program, sponsored by the Sail, Power, and Steam Museum. Aboard the vessel as well were two adults, a captain and an instructor.

Leach was down below in the cabin, while her fellow sailors were in the cockpit, watching the storm darken the skies to the north.

Now in her third year of the summer program, Naomi is a sailor at heart. She has practiced her skills on a variety of boats, learning first on Optimists (Optis) and then 420s, and then larger sailboats, such as the J22, which is 22.5 feet in length, with a jib and a mainsail. On July 16, the TooToo was under sail solely with the jib.

"The wind was so powerful that we were just sailing with that," said Leach. "I had a really bad feeling about it. We saw the storm drifting that way," she said, pointing her arm in an easterly direction. The crew turned around and thought they could pass to the side of the storm and get back to the dock, she said.

Down in the cabin, she felt the boat tip, at first only a little bit.

"I thought it was just a regular tip," she said.

But the boat heeled more and Leach fell backward, hitting her head.

"The storm literally just punched us," she said. "It was scary."

She got back on her feet and up to the deck, "and I saw the three girls fall in."

They had been sitting to leeward as the boat heeled over, and "they were trying to grab onto stuff."

At this point, "now I'm panicking," she said.

There were two boys on the board, "and we were all crying."

Miles, the instructor, got back on the boat, said Naomi.

"I took the walkie talkie [VHF radio] and screamed for help," she said. "'Help, help. We need help. Overboard. Overboard.'"

She could not remember if it was Channel nine or Channel 16 she was using, but she was heard. By chance, Naomi's uncle, Brian Leach, heard the call for help from his location further up the bay on Islesboro. He did not recognize her voice, but he caught the gist of the emergency, loud and clear.

"And then somebody responded, but I can't remember what they said," said Naomi. "All I was thinking was, I need to get everybody out of here. We were drifting. We hit a couple boats and no one thought to grab the tiller."

The wind  was so strong, it was pushing TooToo away from their dockage at the South End.

By that time, Miles was transmitting information over the radio, said Leach.

Two responding boats saved the sailors who were in the water, and pulled TooToo back to the dock. Leach's grandmother, Gaye Best, came down from her nearby home to the dock to see Naomi.

"I got out, and immediately went into an ambulance, because I hit my head," said Naomi. "But I'm OK. Nothing happened."

She was transported to MaineHealth PenBay Hospital emergency department, and met her parents there.

As for the other sailors?

"Everybody was fine," said Leach, but they were all cold. "The rain was pouring down. It hit our arms and it felt like ice."

Just a day later, on July 17, Leach and her sailor classmates were unfazed and back on the water.

"I always love the ocean and swimming," Leach said. "I'm on a swim team. The ocean is my second home."

Surviving the July 16 storm was an emergency of the first order — and a maritime teaching experience that will last a lifetime for the sailors aboard the TooToo. It was the kind of situation under stressful conditions that sailors and first responders train for continuously. 

What helps is staying calm, which Leach did.

"Naomi always has been that way," said her grandmother, Kathleen Leach Small. "She has a calm head."

"I thought we were going to turtle," said Naomi, describing her fear. "I thought it was my time to go."

Nonetheless, she was ready to get back on the boat and set sail again the next day.

"No wind is going to knock me down," she said.

For Rockland Harbor Master Eddy, she is glad no one got hurt during the squall, which set off so many emergencies in the busy harbor.

"You could see the squall line travel," she said, as the storm pushed down from coastal interior towns toward Penobscot Bay, whipping the clouds and ocean.

"People inland called people on the bay," she said, to let them know about the intensity of the storm.

Training for those types of scenarios is paramount, and when a situation arises, staying calm helps everybody reach a safer outcome, Eddy said.

But staying calm is not something that comes naturally to all people, she said. It is a favorable trait to have, especially under duress, such as what Leach navigated.

"Big kudos to Naomi," said Eddy.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657