Posted on 05/01/2005 5:53:56 PM PDT by nuconvert
Teenagers Survive Six Days Lost at Sea
May 01, 2005
SOUTHPORT, N.C. Two teenagers who had survived nearly a week at sea, clinging to a 14-foot Sunfish (search), prayed to go peacefully in the hours before they were discovered.
"I asked God to take me," 15-year-old Troy Driscoll (search) told The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier on Saturday night as he lay in the emergency room of Dosher Memorial Hospital (search). "You're out there fighting for your life. We didn't want to fight anymore."
Driscoll and 18-year-old Josh Long (search) were spotted by fishermen aboard the Renegade about 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The boys were about seven miles off Cape Fear six days and more than 100 miles from where they had put in off Sullivans Island (search), S.C., on April 24.
The boys were sunburned, dehydrated, exhausted and beat up by their six days at sea on the small sailboat, but Coast Guard and other officials said they were in pretty good shape considering what they had been through.
"We were praying for a miracle and we got one," Charleston Coast Guard Cmdr. June Ryan said. "Everybody on the East Coast has been looking for these boys."
Their families had never lost hope of finding the two best friends.
"This is unreal," Long's older brother Jonathan Goerling told The Post and Courier as he drove toward North Carolina late Saturday to reunite with his brother.
Shane Coker said first he would hug his little brother Troy. "Then I'm gonna hit him and let him know how much he made us worry."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I have an autographed copy.
You did that at seven, did you tell your mom and did she tell your dad,yeah that was stupid.Nonetheless kids inadvertantly do stupid things not knowing what they are getting into, give em a break and thank goodness they are safe.
Hopefully by the author, not the parties involved. :)
" Sounds like incredibly poor seamanship to me."
Never been on the open seas in a 4-5 kt. current perpendicular to the direction you want to go, huh?
I told no one. I was staying at my uncle's place on Touro, and took off in the morning for an unsupervised swim using his gear. I did not want to get grounded. (Worse, beached!)
In the case at hand, I'm objecting to the characterization of this incident as good sailing. It was gawdawful sailing. I'm as happy as anyone they survived, but it was pure dumb luck.
They should never have lost sight of land, or sailed beyond their abilities or the abilities of their craft. All that notwithstanding, all they had to achieve was one mile per day westward displacememt from their drift course to hit land.
NC bump. They found these boys about 7 miles off Cape Fear. In a 14 foot sailing dinghy...
Wow, AR....I had no idea. She's probably not only your love, but your hero too!
Yeah, she is amazing. Lots of incredible stories.
Wow!
I'm glad they made it back alive - they're very lucky. I remember they day they put out: really bad weather - windy as all get out. God protects fools and children. And foolish children, evidently.
They use to race Hobie 16's from Florida to New Jersey off shore. It was a 1000 mile race off shore in a open catamaran. They would race so far and then put in and exchange crews. One year the boats beat the relief crews to Savannah and chose to keep on going.
When I was sailing in England, I met some guys who were racing across the Atlantic single handed in boats that had to be 21 feet or under. My boat was 36 feet and I would never want one smaller.
You are way in the right of this argument, far as I can see, Mr. Lonesome. BTW, if you want to see current, go to Massachusetts, as you know. They got alot of it there.
Speaking of an ice chest, that is what we used to do with the cockpit on the Sunfish I owned, we would fill it with ice and beer. We would still have a place to put our feet if we drank the beer.
Or go to the Bay of Fundy.
There's a couple of pics at the link
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.