Yacht Race Race Turns Into A Battle Of Survival | S5 E2 | Full Episode | I Shouldn't Be Alive

When a boat suddenly capsizes, the ship sinks, everyone is on board. Captain Steve Conway and four young crew members are stranded in the Gulf of Mexico. I'm not going to die here. I was terrified beyond belief. Floating aimlessly without a life raft, they face hypothermia from exposure and drowning threat Travis Steve must harness every ounce of his experience to keep the four young men

alive

. You must have a fierce will to live. Swim as hard as you can. I can not do it. I can't do it, oh my God. What is this about swimming? Captain Steve Conway and the crew of the Cynthia Woods are preparing to set sail on an epic boat

race

.

Hey, where do you want me to put this food behind the stove? Steve is a very experienced sailor, a Coast Guard Commander for 21 years. years, has loved the ocean his whole life Ross, yes, you have that hanyard connected, yes, it's all done when people go around the ocean, one or two things happen, they fall in love with the ocean or fall out of love with the ocean and I. I can't really explain why it happens, but for many of us who go out on the water there is simply an affinity, a feeling that is unlike anything else.

Oh, where do you want the clothes in the drawers? Steve's young group today is a A team of students from Texas A&M University makes sure everything is secured. He had a lot of confidence in the boat and the crew was experienced. The youngsters had been sailing for several years and it looked like it would be a great

race

. Hi Steve. Hey, that's right. Yes, we are getting there, that's right, and the man on board is a young sailor he has known for 3 years. Travis wri, 22 years old. He had been sailing with Steve for 3 years at that time, he was an excellent sailor and a very safe person. but he has a lot of experience and is definitely the leading presence on the ship.

He was definitely in charge when Steve says goodbye to his wife. He is well aware of the responsibility he has towards his young crew. Okay, Travis, can you do the stern line? I was appointed captain of the boat and as such the skipper is ultimately responsible for everything, it is not a responsibility that you take lightly and it is not a responsibility that you can walk away from for more than 3 months, the crew has trained board in preparation for the 630M race from Galvaston Texas to Vera. Cruz México is almost there, a little more the sensation of the wind and the sound of the wind Through the rig and the sensation of the boat in the waves it is almost addictive, 6 thousand sail out of the port and the boat's safety officer, Roger Stone, count until the start of the regatta, what time is it now? 20 seconds 20 seconds 20 seconds gentlemen 20 seconds Roger was a very experienced sailor, a very experienced racer, a great coach, a great way to explain to young men and women what to do and how to do it we are coming to the line getting ready 10 seconds 10 seconds guys 4 3 yes we go here we go very soon they separate from the other boats and head out to the high seas of the Gulf of Mexico. keep it pointed 180° south Steve gu is the least experienced sailor on board and is enjoying the opportunity to participate in a great Ocean Race Travis was sitting next to me showing me how to do things and do them well.

I felt pretty good. You know I'm in control of this ship and it's kind of a power rush because you're like you're here. I'm out on the open sea doing what I love to do, having fun Steve, oh yeah, everyone was ready to go, but you could too. Tell him we were in that competitive mood too, you know we want to do this right here. Here is a way to see how fast we are going, adjust the sail and see how we go faster. Well, as the regatta begins. The team is very encouraged and excited about the challenge ahead, doing well for over 6 hours, Cynthia Woods made excellent progress, everything was going very well, the sun was setting, the moon was rising and about 2 hours later After starting the guard, I realized that I hadn't even made it.

I was still wet and the first wave hadn't even splashed or splashed me, which was unheard of to be out for so long and not get splashed or wet, so it was an absolutely beautiful night. Hey Joe, yeah, you want to do the coverage lift. a little tighter, okay, as dusk falls on their first night at sea, two of the young students rigged the sails for the night races Ross, you'll have to wake him up soon, yeah, okay, below deck , Travis Roger and Steve try to get some sleep. Before I took over the night watch, it wasn't my time to go on deck, but I just decided, okay, I'll get up, get something to eat, go, you know, shoot the breeze with the guys on deck and see what happens.

Getting up and starting to settle in was when everything started to go downhill. Finding water inside the cabin is not unusual, but Travis instinctively suspects that something is very wrong. I opened the floorboard and it poured in Roger Roger, we have water, we are taking water hey Steve Steve what's going on let's take water for the engine it's every sailor's worst nightmare the hull of the boat has a serious leak due to an incident previous the keel the huge balancing weight on the bottom of the boat has cracked along its support Joe, prepare to set sail, okay, Captain Steve knows they are in terrible trouble and they must lower the sails to reduce the speed, but before the boys can lower the sails, the KE of the boat that completely broke loose and the boat instantly entered the water the boat has just fallen into the water completely horizontal suddenly the lights go out the engine stops turn off what happened I don't know on deck Captain Steve is holding on to the overturned boat I was hanging under the boat because I was still out of the water at the time, thinking it was time to leave.

The ship was sinking. Release everyone in a matter of seconds. The ship completely capsized Steve and the two students on the deck escaped the sinking ship, come on guys. Hey, did you see anyone? No, except Roger Travis and Steve, they are trapped inside and the seawater is flooding. I'm not going to die here. Yes, I shouted it. I'm not going to die here. This is not where I'm going to die unless they can. They find a way out of the cabin, they are just seconds away from being dragged to the bottom of the ocean the emotion tells you at that point you are screwed.

I mean, there is no way out of a situation like this, the water level is rising rapidly unless I know that your seconds after being dragged down with the sinking ship, how do we get out of here through the hatch? Their only escape route is a small hatch, but a powerful wall of seawater is pouring through it. Are you kidding? Come on, it's the only way is I'm sitting there thinking how I'm going to swim here. I don't even think an Olympic swimmer could top this with all the water running. Let me try. Let me try.

I can not do it. I can't do it, we couldn't even hope to match the flow. I was hoping to grab the sides and force my way out, but the first time I tried, it blew me away. Roger Roger Travis Steve, where could it be? Steve Conway can do nothing but wait for the three men to emerge. I didn't really know what was going on down below, but my biggest worry was that Roger Steve Guai and Travis wouldn't be able to get out of the boat and would drown. Get out of here man, what are we going to do?

I was terrified beyond belief. I don't even want to see what my face looked like at that moment. Take a deep breath. Forward. I'll help you through. It's your only chance. I was trying to get down the second time Roger grabbed my legs and pulled Travis over here hey, hey, I got you, I got you, did you see Ste? Yes, he is behind me. You're next, what about you? I'll follow you, come on, okay? do it now Steve Steve Steve come here, come on, I've got you, I've got you, okay, hold on, I've got you, man, we've got you.

Five of the six crew members are already off the ship, but one man is still missing. They wait, but Roger Stone. He doesn't show up No one knew what happened to Roger No one had seen him come out the other side We didn't know if Roger was in the boat or if Roger was floating in a different direction We should go back and look for him What do you think? Steve, no, I would never have let anyone back in in the situation we found ourselves in with all the lines out and under the water, there was no real chance anyone could dive underneath, get in there.

He could have entered the boat with complete peace of mind. There was no lighting at all and I never found it even if I was there because there are too many corners in that place and I would have had to do it all with one breath of air. He is an experienced gardener. He'll be fine. He will be left with a bone, the crew now has to focus on their own

survival

. Steve, the boy, escaped from the boat without a life jacket, now he sees the boat, okay, take the ring, let's go. Captain Steve sends the crew back to the boat to look for him. the emergency flotation ring, okay, wait, okay, it was very crucial, we already knew Steven didn't have a life jacket, if he had the horseshoe ring he would have something to float with, the guys only have a few moments to grab it before the boat. sinks but is tangled in a web of tangled ropes releasing the ring is an impossible task with your own life jackets try it try it without your jacket no, no, don't take off your jackets, do what you can but keep your jackets on, it's okay , wait, Captain Steve and the young student is being carried away by the current he knows he must take immediate action at this point there are a couple of important things you are trying to do the first thing you are trying to do is stay on the boat the second thing you are trying to do is to stay together, so in this case, Stepen, I couldn't swim back to the boat, so I decided it would be better for us to stay together.

Plus, I wasn't sure my float was enough for Steve and me. Let's come here, Captain Steve. order the guys to leave the floatation ring I need your help Steve doesn't have a jacket on his head they stay together of course they use their belts Steve decides his best option is to tie himself up so no one can be left alone in the vast ocean TR on this We did everything we could to make sure Steve, uh, boy, didn't get loose or if he did, it would just be a tug and we locked arms and legs together to try to preserve heat.

I mean, it's probably the most uncomfortable position you can possibly have. Imagine even Five Guys together, but that's what we had to do when their boat sank in front of them, all they can do is pray for rescue, but in the dead of night and 60 miles out to sea, no one knows what happened. They are losing our chances of getting out of this mess are less than 10% easy. The C Woods sank in a matter of moments and with it all of her emergency equipment disappeared. The only thing you have is the people who are with you and the clothes you are wearing.

On the way back, the crew did not have time to raise the alarm, so no search party would be called until dawn. Steve Conway knows that if his student crew survives the night, he will have to draw on all of his years of experience as a captain until he walks. Back on land you are still the captain and I was very aware and focused on making sure everyone was okay, we're going to be okay, we're going to stay together, we're going to be okay, but adrift on the vast ocean they're going to have to survive. In one of the most challenging environments on Earth for the first night, the immediate thought process conserves your energy, you don't know how long you're going to be in the water, you don't know when someone will show up to rescue you, almost everyone. within three to 5 minutes the water would blow our noses off no matter what we did or we would move away from the action w and you would choke, spit out the curse for a minute and then about 3 to 5 minutes later it would happen again. to swallow the water I can't help it sea water contains three times more salt than human blood it is so concentrated that swallowing just one pint can cause kidney failure and death you don't swallow salt water at all you get that stuff in and I will kill you, really I'm dying of hunger, yes, when I leave here, I will have the biggest banquet.

We were talking, you know, saying, joking, you know, so what are you going to do when you get there? rescued, you know, oh man, my parents are going to be mad when they know we're here, he said, well, don't get between me and the bar because that's where I'll be when they pick me up a beer. It's the first thing I'll have when we go out Joe, you still have your shoes on, everyone else lost their shoes except Joseph who had a new pair of Nikes, nothing will take my shoes from me Steve and his men are all alone in the vast ocean hello guys , I can see something is that a ship on the horizon they see something that gives them a ray of hope we are 60 miles off the coast of Texas we are out of the shipping lanes and it is already our best possible chance of The rescue at this moment is going to be a fishing boat found here.

You save energy. They won't listen to you. Wait. This could work. They do everything they can to get the ship's attention. The hopes were veryhigh. hoping that maybe someone on the deck would say, oh, what's that little light flashing over there and tell someone on the bridge what was going on, but that didn't happen even if we see someone and Trigger knows some of the signaling devices we use? If we all have whistles on our vests and lights and that kind of thing, there's very little chance that they'll see us and recognize us as people in danger, but the ship doesn't see them shooting.

In this I will be in this as the night progresses his thoughts turn to his missing comrade where do you think Roger is? he probably he's in life ra drinking a beer R do you think he's okay? It will be fine, it's an experiment with the man, he knows what to do, yes, I think we all kept hoping that he would come out. I mean, deep down, maybe he didn't do it, but it was always positive that he always went out. At this point we weren't talking too much, you know. We kind of died out, we just sat there and did our thing, staring into space around 3:30 in the morning.

I remember thinking we were floating, we were all tied together for 4 to 6 waves and I thought I should really do it. Being on a boat about 10 miles further south sailing was almost a surreal dream light as they rode the ocean current Steve Gu sees something on the horizon did you see it's one of the many unmanned oil rigs scattered around the Gulf from Mexico and by For me, young Steve was an obvious way out of the ordeal, there he was and we were being pushed towards it, it almost seemed like we were circling around him as if someone upstairs was saying, "Hey, Look guys, there's a platform for you." I thought it was worth it.

Trying to swim to the platform you think we could swim there. It is about 7 miles away. How can you tell right when you're in the ocean? The horizon line is about 7 or 8 miles away and distance is not the only problem. I have to realize that that structure is 10 something feet above the water and even if you swim to it, how do you get out of the water? What do we do when we get there? How do we get up to it? Travis He was the Skipper student and he was after me, so he was my rock that I stayed with in terms of any kind of discussion about what we should do if we tried to swim, if we did this or that.

Swimming into the wind used all our energy and so it was a little daunting when the decision was made to simply drift by. Captain Steve makes the decision to conserve his energy, now they are placing all their hopes in the rescuers. Finding them, but even standing still is no guarantee of safety. The Gulf of Mexico is a shark-infested body of water. The big sharks are the ones you're worried about. Tigers are probably the riskiest. They get very big and it's not long before Steve's worst fears come true. I saw a triangular fin fly by, none of the other guys saw it desperate to ensure the young crew kept calm.

Steve keeps the sighting to himself. I'm certainly not going to say something that will worry you unnecessarily if there is something you need to know. I was sharing it with them but they didn't need to know it and they didn't need to know it from me. I think there was a sense of relief when the sun came out. I remember thinking okay, it's light and just psychologically I think the light was reassuring, we could see more of what was around us, less risk of being surprised by something, certainly and with the morning light comes hope that A search will soon begin.

What is going to happen? It is this. I began to explain to the students what would happen. We had a normal 8:00 call on our satellite radio every morning at 8:00. I called and said this is where we are, we're fine and we just did a daily check in around 8:00 and they'll start. Listening to us, I estimate that around 8:15 they will call the Coast Guard, so when do you think they will send out a search? Well, I estimate that around 10:00 we will see the first plane, what if they don't find it? us, they'll stop searching, oh, not for long yet, friend.

I'd estimate 8 to 10 days, this type of search simply continues long after there is any chance of people surviving, but Dawn also brings with it the intense heat. From The Morning Sun the sun was out none of us had hats on pretty quickly we started to burn, my God it was so hot, it felt like being in a sauna, we were boiling at noon, it's been 13 hours since the ship sank, but there are still no signs of rescue, we should be seeing something, we should be seeing, you know, planes or hearing planes flying overhead even in the distance.

It was getting to the point where we were all very tired. Steve Conway knows that he must keep his crew focused on the horizon is the oil platform, the same one they saw the night before, let's swim towards the platform. I hope you agree that it was a dumb idea. Well, I changed my mind with a wind behind us. I think we can only arrive a few hours early. I refused to swim to the platform because it was too far away. After discarding the exact same thing probably 12 hours ago. I clearly thought the platform was a good idea.

It gave us a focus. He gave us a goal. It felt like we were doing it. Something beyond just floating around to help ourselves, the life jackets were starting to give us Cha and starting to rub parts of our skin raw, so at one point I took mine off and gave it to Steven. I have Ste, oh thank you through the The men swim for over 2 hours, but they barely make any progress towards the platform and the effort is running out. It was the dumbest thing I can think of to do in retrospect because I was thinking the platform was probably about 5 or 10 miles away, but my perspective was significantly skewed at that point by the energy expenditure of trying to swim against the waves and Against the wind you're not going to get very far because of the amount of energy you're going to expend.

Despite their desperately slow progress, the crew struggles. Continue towards the platform, but exhaustion is not your only enemy. Stay this way, we don't want to be on the wrong side. Come on, we saw a Portuguese mana war, which is a jellyfish behind them and will run between 20 30 50 60 feet. of outstretched tentacles with stingers, the long deadly tentacles are

full

of poison, as long as you stay away from them you're fine, but one of them stings you and you're dead, so you come closer to us, we knew we had to do it. swim faster, stronger, let's go faster, let's go, they finally escaped from the deadly jellyfish, but they have pushed themselves to the limit.

Getting to the platform is now impossible. Exhausted and dehydrated, they are forced to abandon the attempt. They have now been in the water for over 14 hours and the ordal is starting to take a terrible physical toll around 2:00. It had been about 24 hours since I had last eaten or drank any kind of drink and I figured everyone else was in the same position, pretty dehydrated. After being in the water and sweating all day, the human body can survive 48 hours without water, but with the sun beating down and their skin exposed to salt water, the crew is quickly succumbing to extreme dehydration, well, one of the great dangers.

Being in salt water is dehydration, which sounds totally backwards. You know you are treading water and getting dehydrated. Our fingers were simply wrinkled and completely dry. Hey, hey, finally, mid-afternoon, the authorities detected a transponder signal from the sunken ship and a

full

rescue attempt is underway. The helicopter arrived that same afternoon and we actually saw it floating in the distance after enduring 14 hours in the ocean it seems their ordeal is about to end see here but the Five men have been swept away by ocean currents and are now miles from the sunken ship. They can do nothing but watch helplessly as the slash unfolds in the distance.

We could see them all the time. They could only see us. It strengthens you and then. It crushes you, oh God, there it is, you know this could be the one and then no, they'll never find us. I just blurted out at that moment, shut up, Travis, just shut up, it's okay, they'll find us. We're going to get out of here and that pushed me over the edge. It's like you can think like that right now. You have four other people here that all they need to hear are positive thoughts, not your negative thoughts. You're making no sense, the men now believe their hope of rescue is gone and with a second night fast approaching, they fear death will take them one by one, it was so late at the time that we were probably all thinking the same thing, are you?

You know? They haven't seen us yet, we're not doing well at all, someone's leaving soon, come on guys, Joe, come here, Travis, come here, come over, come on, let's get together, that's good, come on, we'll stay together. all day without protection from the scorching sun has pushed the crew over the edge my lower stomach burned my arms burned my legs burned and my face burned I wanted the burn to go away dear god I wanted the burning to go away When the sun goes down, the temperature plummets and the fight to stay cool becomes a

battle

to stay warm.

It was getting to the point where we were all very tired. I think I probably passed out for a few seconds every once in a while. Come on, it's close, sorry, let's keep the war going, keep going, we'll be fine with the light going out, the rescue helicopters starting to disappear over the horizon and Captain Steve drops a bomb, guys, we might not see another helicopter See you tomorrow morning, are you kidding me? There is no way. We can last one more night. I was deathly afraid of the impact that the young people I was dying with would have on our families to be in any way possible the answer to someone, a parent losing a child.

I couldn't imagine, let me tell you about a case. study I read a fishing boat capsized and uh a very fit 22 year old soccer player died but a 68 year old grandmother survived. I came later, they interviewed the grandmother and uh I asked her how was that transon that is so much. Fitter died and she says: I wasn't going to give up. I wasn't going to die. You have to have a fierce will to live. You just have to never give up the will to survive. It is the most important thing for us. To achieve this, we must never give up, okay, never giving up was critical to our

survival

, but the will to live is not enough to protect the crew from the effects of severe hypothermia.

Your core temperature begins to drop once it reaches below 95°. until about 90° you die U you just go to sleep it's not particularly traumatic you just fall asleep and don't wake up Joe started going in and out because I guess he fell asleep, he started stretching out and he started grabbing Ross's face Hi Jo, what are you doing? Sorry Ross, the smallest of the group is starting to drift in and out of consciousness. Ross was in the worst situation because the rest of us are pretty big guys. Ross had no body fat, so he had no insulation. him like the rest of us and it was affecting him noticeably more.

He wasn't speaking right now. Captain Steve has done everything he can to keep his crew

alive

, but after nearly 20 hours at sea, he too is fading first. been in the water the same amount of time as the bigger ones they probably would have lasted an hour maybe two more, but if Steve had gone we wouldn't have much more time either. The five sailors have already been in the ocean for more than 24 hours. They have done everything they can to withstand their ordeal but are losing the

battle

to survive. You know, in the dark it's a little depressing just this vast expanse of ocean.

I felt very small. You know, here you are. You feel like a grain of sand. in the world they have suffered acute exposure to the sun, extreme dehydration and hypothermia and now they are a few hours away from dying death no one said oh my God they are not going to find us oh my God you know we are going to become extinct No one here had expressed it, but probably everyone We were thinking the same thing. Steve Conway has done everything he can to keep his young crew alive, but he now knows that with no sign of rescue, his quest for survival has failed.

He was afraid. what the impact would be on my wife, we've been married at that point, uh, 30 years and we're best friends and still very, very close, we've seen other people lose their spouses and it's hard, no way heroic, but simply In fact, while floating in the water I realized that I was not afraid of dying, entering and leaving Consciousness. The five men can now do nothing but lie awake, wait for the final call of death, and then, out of the darkness, the sight they have seen appears. I've been dreaming about Hey, then suddenly all the lights on that helicopter came on.

The rescue search had not been abandoned during the night. The Coast Guard had tracked ocean currents that eventuallyThey were taken to the missing crew. Everyone just shouted: I am. happy, you know we're going home, everything is really ready, it's finally done, it's finally over, you know we're going to get out of this and we're going to get out of this alive, the five men were airlifted to the hospital and they all made it complete recovery, but when the Coast Guard finally rescued the sunken Cynthia Woods, they found the body of the missing crew members. Roger Stone, nothing we say or do can honor Roger more than his actions on June 6, 2008 when he stopped catching them.

Two students navigated their way through the water flowing out of the boat, ultimately at the risk and sacrifice of their own lives, so it is never appropriate to talk about this without acknowledging Roger's sacrifice and the sacrifice of his wife and children. two children. He wouldn't have done it. I did it without Roger's help. I think about Roger and when I do it makes me want to live my life to the fullest because life is short and I realized that floating out there was the only thing I decided to do differently when I came back. It was that I was going to savor things more, not the big ones but the small ones, during Christmas.

I was hugging my grandson probably 14,000 times and I stopped for a minute and thought this is just wonderful and my takeaway message is, "I'm holding him." and having my daughters and my wife around me is life, it's wonderful, you just have to savor it and that's what I'm doing differently.