When the skipper heard a sharp jolt under the boat he immediately raised another boat and stated calmly that he might have a potential problem, and gave the other skipper his position. Contacting the other boat before dealing with the problem was smart; had he jumped below to find the problem first, the batteries may have shorted out as the water flooded inside and he would have lost electrical power. The boat sank minutes after the other vessel arrived, 40 miles off the coast of North Carolina-a long swim.