Out of combat, feel free to post freely
The sailors and Oldum finish off the pirates in the boat and climb back up to the deck proper.
The pirate's boat slowly turns towards your anchored boat. It'll take them a few minutes to get to you, but it's agony waiting for them even for that short period of time.
Alen notes that the current is actually pulling the pirates boat towards them. Your ship had been using the wind to go up stream in the slow current of the river.
I see him! the hawk thinks. Alen, looking up, sees the hawk circling above in a wide circle. He's presently over the other boat. Sure enough, now that you are looking for him, the survivor is next to the hull of the other boat, some 300 feet away. Others in that ship start to lower a rope and the survivor climbs up it to the deck and disappears.