OT: 10 Hour Swim

Reaper356 · Since 10 Dec 2006 781 Posts Salem / LC Oregon Opinionated

Hey, next time you have to swim, just be glad you aren't this guy: 10 Hour Swim In

Spike · Since 13 May 2007 1414 Posts Alameda Spelling Expert

and to think it would only take an hour to kite that far Shocked

pdxmonkeyboy · Fri Feb 29, 08 9:01 am

I think I would rather just drown and get it over with. That dude should be on I shouldn't be alive.

Mark · Fri Feb 29, 08 9:30 am

A fisherman swam for more than 10 hours to find help for the two companions he left behind after their boat sank off the east coast of Australia.
The exhausted swimmer was found on a beach, and coastguards were then able to find one of the men. He had spent 30 hours at sea, clinging to debris.

The search continues for the boat's skipper.

The three fishermen were on board a trawler that sank about 15km (9 miles) off the east coast near Byron Bay.

"Judging that the second fisherman survived through the night... we can only hope that the same has occurred with the third," a spokesman for the Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter service said.

Exhausted

The fishermen were thrown into the sea early on Wednesday after their ship hit a reef, prompting a major search and rescue operation.

Hours later, fisherman Michael Williams crawled onto New Brighton Beach, north of Byron Bay.

Chris Gort, who saw Mr Williams on the beach, said the fisherman "had pretty bad cuts and bruises to his legs and his arms, he was pretty exhausted, pretty badly sunburnt".

Mr Williams raised the alarm about his two companions, and a second fisherman was picked up by a rescue helicopter 30 hours after first being thrown into the ocean.

John Jarratt was found at sea north-east of Ballina, suffering from hypothermia and dehydration.

Mr Jarratt said he and skipper Charlie Picton, an experienced fisherman, had clung to an insulated cooler after the ship went down, but that in the darkness the two became separated.

He said a rescue helicopter had apparently flown above the exhausted pair without spotting them.

Mr Jarratt has told friends from hospital that he will "never" go back in the ocean, local media reported.

pdxmonkeyboy · Fri Feb 29, 08 10:33 am

Lost at Sea
Steven Callahan survived more than two months alone at sea in an inflatable raft. In January 1982, Callahan set sail from the Canary Islands on a small boat he built himself. The boat sank six days into the trip and Callahan was left adrift on a five-foot (1.5 meter) life raft.

With only three pounds of food and eight pints of water, a solar still and a makeshift spear, Callahan managed to survive on his own until his rescue 76 days later. He probably could not have accomplished this without the still (which can make sea water potable) and the spear. During his two-plus months at sea, Callahan's raft traveled approximately 1,800 miles (2,898 kilometers). Throughout the entire ordeal, Callahan constantly fought death. Not only did he lose an incredible amount of weight, leaving him malnourished, Callahan was very badly sunburned and had to repeatedly fight off sharks. Although left helpless to watch as ships passed without noticing him, Callahan's determination to live was unyielding. He ate whatever fish he could catch and found ways to occupy his mind. His quick-thinking saved his life time and again. Even when his raft sprung a leak, Callahan was able to keep the raft afloat and managed the leak for 33 more days until his rescue.

Now THAT is some balls that clank. TWO MONTHS lost at sea. I read the book (rather boring) but man, what a story!!