10 Amazing Sea Survival Stories 10 Pedro de Serrano Pedro de Serrano is considered the OG of castaway survival. It’s not clear how the Spaniard’s ship sank or how he alone ended up on an island in the Caribbean, but he did. He made it ashore with only the knife in his mouth and the shirt on his back. The island was little more than a large strip of sand, nearly devoid of flora and shade. Also, this was still the New World, only about 50 years removed from Columbus getting lost there. Ships weren’t exactly popping up on the horizon on the regular and Serrano knew it.