Gotta love the digital world. This link provides the most in-depth account yet of what happened on the seas that day ... including details of rough seas during the rescue and that two ships passed by the Tumbleweed.

Also, Capt. Cole gives an account of the rescue:

I left the Chesapeake with a crew of two and me. I rounded Cape henry at twenty miles. then I went to forty miles to avoid diamond shoals. I had two more days of good weather to clear the area. The weather suddenly changed. Waves went to thirty feet and the wind touched 100. The roller furling system broke loose at the deck. It was like a wrecking ball on a 58 foot cable. It cleared the foredeck hardware off . The mast was unsupported forward so it started bending. We got 5 sails up but they were all shredded.