so, at that point, i knew, you know, now our time is limited. tensions are rising and so is the 40-degree water inside the raft. hypothermia is a grave concern, and there s more danger in store. good thing the water s not rough today. within minutes of abandoning ship, the stern starts to sink and rears vertically up and heads towards them. look out, you guys. it s coming this way. the bow was sticking straight up and i said, hey, watch out. you know, the boat is going to come this way. i thought it was going to swamp us. irene is sinking. push the water in, don t do that. don t do that. we re taking on water, guys. there was a couple of the passengers actually one in particular that she was really getting uneasy.
some people like this woman seem almost paralyzed with fear. it was heartbreaking to watch this woman, and she was terrified and very unstable. took about two or three of the crewmen to actually help her down. but after several hours, most are safely onshore. we were like one of the first boats that got off, and it was probably two, three hours after that that the rest of our group got off. they were the very last boat. the classmates and their chaperones reunite on land. we were watching as the boat was sinking. in the beginning when we first got off, we saw it move all over the harbor because all the currents were dragging it all over the place. by the time we were able to get on the rescue boat back to athens, it was probably around 4:00, 5:00 in the morning, and at that point, our ship was completely on its side and it was going down. the ship lies crippled in the night only hours from plunging to its final resting place. the next morning when we got
i mean, we all know, we all have cellphones. most of the time, they don t work right outside your house. more than an hour has gone by and tensions are at a breaking point. out of desperation, john tries his cellphone again. please, give me two bars or something. mayday! mayday! when suddenly a welcome noise in the distance. the distress call did get through. all eyes were on the airplane. we could see it drop down a little lower and made a 90-degree turn and started heading right towards us and we re like, yeah. our tax dollars at work! [ cheering ] the spotter plane is followed ten minutes later by a coast guard rescue helicopter. he opted to back off, drop down and then the diver went in and the diver, man, that guy was quite a swimmer. i mean, he had to swim, you know, 100 yards over to us and then he comes up to the boat and he goes, okay, who wants to be the first one? one by one, the seven on the
on this overcast day in alaska inland, the water is providing a bountiful catch for the six tourists on this steel hulled fishing boat. here s another one coming up. but their luck begins to change from big fish to big trouble. everybody get one of those on, please. turns out the motor located under the deck has malfunctioned and broken apart. its metal pieces ripping a hole in the boat. we were just having fun with the camera back and forth. and then it evolved into much more. i just kept the camera running. one of the diesels apparently sheered a shaft and we re taking on water. electrical problem, we lost the radio for communication. to make matters worse, the
raft are lifted to safety. bob is second to last. the whole side of that raft was completely deflated by the time i got off. so, our timing couldn t have been better and then looking over at the captain as that boat continued to sink, he was getting to his last rail. the helicopter has reached its weight limit, and they have to call a second helicopter to rescue captain john ferule. he s forced to wait another ten long minutes clinging to that last rung above water until he dropped the basket right on top of the boat and john got in, and i ll never forget as the helicopter went by, you could clearly see the silhouette of the boat underwater and then as it just continued to sink into the abyss. so, the timing really turned out, i mean, absolutely perfect in a way. not a moment to spare. the entire fishing party is