Tammy Ennis and her three friends were fighting for their
lives as their small catamaran was torn apart by a storm and
swept out to sea. Stranded all night with no food,
no water and no rescue insight, their only hope was to swim for
shore through shark infested waters.
What happened next is almost impossible to believe.
This is Tammy's harrowing story of survival and the moment she
witnessed the unthinkable. Your discretion is advised.
Thank you so much for being here.
I've, I, I am there. There's, there's.
When I first heard your story, when I first found you, I, I, I
had to watch it two times in a row.
It was that incredible. So start from the beginning.
OK, well I had overslept I think it was a a Sunday if I'm not
mistaken. And I usually played or went to
the softball games. I was a bartender, Daytona
Hilton and I always went to the softball games to watch the the
other people play and overslept that day.
And so randomly I got I think I got a phone call.
He was my neighbor, but I think he had moved from Randy and
telling me that he had a friend that had this little Hobie cat
and they were going to go out and sail and want to know if I'd
go with him and Christy, his girlfriend.
And I said sure, sure, why not. And so I ended up going out to
the beach and meeting them and, and and starting our our trek.
Had you? Had you ever sailed before?
No, I had not. And you know, I've been in the
water since I was a couple years old.
So I was a good swimmer and all that and I just, but no, I
hadn't really been on on boats or anything and, and not on the
ocean, but we didn't even take life jackets, but.
Had he sailed before? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It was his. It was his Hobie cat.
Yeah. And he had sailed and he had
also been in like, I don't know if it's Coast Guard or Coast
Guard Reserve or something like that.
So that's what the story I was told that it was, it was all
good. And we were just going for fun
for the ride. OK.
Wow. Yeah.
And so we, you know, got some stuff, groceries, little
sandwiches and probably, you know, I think it was a rum and
Cokes and things like that in the cooler.
Headed off to the beach and, and, and took off.
We just ate on the beach and then didn't take anything on
there and we went out, started sailing.
How big is the boat? It's only a 17 foot, I think it
was called a Hobie cat. So it's not like a catamaran.
It, it is a catamaran, but it's very, it's small.
And it was just, you know, for the four people.
And we just sailed, you know, parallel to the to the beach for
a little while. And then at some point I
remember Randy saying he wanted to go out farther.
He was just having so much fun. And yeah, I've never been on one
either. So we went a little bit further.
And at some point I just remember looking to the off to
the coast and to the right and seeing these clouds.
But they were like horizontal or not horizontal clouds.
There were these round clouds coming in on the shoreline way
off in the distance and dark, but they were just really odd
looking. So I mentioned that and they
were saying, you know, that's nothing or whatever.
And we kept sailing. And then another point, we
noticed that we're tilting a little bit and that some water
is coming some for some reason, 1 of this, what size of the
pontoon is starting to, you know, sink a little bit.
So we're checking everything and he ends up unscrewing the cap in
one of the holes and sees that there's some water getting in
there. So we went back on to shore and
did what everybody does, and that's walk to the nearest
hardware store and get duct tape.
Oh, OK. And so we went to the, went
there, got some duct tape and went back to the boat.
Fixed it. Yeah, fixed it as good as we
could. Probably had a couple more rum
and cokes and ended up going back out on the water.
And so by that time, you know, and the beach is full,
everything's great. But I could still see it was
clouding up, down, down at one end.
And you know, we took it out just as far as the last time, a
little bit further than probably we should have.
And then at one point we just realized that that was a storm
coming on shore. And so Daniel, the guy that
owned the boat was, you know, we've been in this sale before.
He said he knew, he knew his stuff.
He goes, we can't sail and it's going to just be a quick one on
the shore. We'll wait it out here because
you don't want to ride into the storm.
And so we said, OK. And, you know, as we sat and
we're trying to wait it out, obviously the waves were getting
bigger. There's some rain and all that.
And once again, we noticed that the hole was going, you know,
was, was going down a little bit.
And so we tried, we took off the cap, tried to get what we could,
but you know, it's just a small hole.
So it's really hard to get anything, try and get our hands
or cup or anything down there to get it out.
And so at one point, after a while, the IT filled up and the
catamaran flipped up straight up with the pontoons straight up in
in the water. Just out of nowhere.
Just kind of flipped us all off and oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, we
were still there. Sure.
So it flipped us up and everybody was off.
I remember scratching my leg and the first thing I was thinking I
was going, oh, my God, I hope there's no blood or anything,
you know, for sharks or whatever.
And the water bottle, there was a water bottle on there and it
had gone off. So I tried to swim to it to grab
the water bottle. And I just got, I was scared,
you know, it's like, I don't want to swim too far away from
this. I don't know what's going to
happen. Whatever.
We're right here by the shore. So I figured I'd get, you know,
somebody will see us. And so we all swam back and just
decided to start, you know, try and get on one side of it and
just jump on it, you know, trying out of the water.
But just everybody pull on one, one side, one of the pontoons
or, or like push it. And somehow with the wind and us
on it, it fought back down into the water normal.
So we just got up there and thank God and everybody got back
on, settled down, tried to get the, the sails back going, but
it was like by that time we were, it was dead winds.
Like we're in the middle of the, of this storm that's going on.
We got to hit a dead wind. I don't know how long all this
took, you know, probably within an hour and a half or something
like that when we're doing all this struggling.
And, and then once again we felt it going, but this time it
flipped over. So mast went down into the water
and, you know, we knew there's no way we'd get it back up
again. So again, we had fallen off and
everything, but we just swam to it, try to hang on, hang on to
the mast, grab the pontoon and the IT didn't sink.
So we were happy about that, but we didn't know how long.
So we were looking at the shore. Should we swim?
But we we were probably mile and a half off.
I mean, we were a good ways off of there, but it was still, you
know, daylight and what? Time of day is it?
It would have been probably by the time we went down the
second. I would just say about 3:00 in
the afternoon. 233 o'clock. And what time of year is this?
This was end of August. OK, so this light it stays
lighter later. Yeah.
And and so, you know, we ended up, we were able to get up onto
the the pontoon and just, and well, at that time we could
actually put our knees up on us. We all got up there straddled
and then we were able to put our knees up and sit, you know, like
this. We keep our legs out of the
water. And again, the mass was there
and we were just hoping it wouldn't sink.
Once we got on, it kind of settled and we saw that it
wasn't sinking. So we're going, OK, OK, great.
Were you already thinking of sharks at this point?
Well, only when I fell off and and I felt like I cut my leg.
So at that point it was just an instant thinking, Oh my God, you
know, I want to be bleeding in the water.
But yeah, so, you know, once, once we're sitting on there, we
just assume once the storm passed that people be back out
in the water. Boats would come back out but
for some reason they didn't. People just went home and it was
kind of end of season so, but still we expected some boats to
be out there. Did anybody else know that you
were out there? No, not even my roommate, but
there was a curfew on Daytona Beach at the time.
So long hours into this. I we all thought the same thing.
So they're the police are going to be out there and they'll see
that boat hitch, you know, whatever that and, and the
windows are open. So we figured somebody come out
at some point. I think it was, I don't know if
it was 9:00 or if it was 11:00, but we knew some point they'd
see and know something was wrong.
So anyways, we just sat and kind of waited and we were just like,
this is crazy, you know, and, and, and just talking like like
normal, but just sure somebody was going to come by and we kept
looking up and raising our hands and, but I, I don't recall, I'm
sure there was people, you know, things in the distance, but
definitely they could not have seen us on shore and there
wasn't a lot of people at the time.
So we'd end up just sitting talking.
And as it just kept getting later and later we were, I, I
was, you know, I kept saying to them, I said, I think we're
drifting further out. We're not going in.
They would no, no, no, we're going in.
The currents are are are going north.
We might hit a little bit north, but we're we're going back in.
What's the weather like? It was it was warm.
It was warm, but the water was cold.
Was it still stormy? No, and it had that had ended.
And again, it was more like a a storm on shore.
We got rained on in the very beginning and stuff, but after
that it it wasn't it was it was just an odd an odd storm and but
it was still cloudy. There was no lightning, so, you
know, that was good. But yeah, we just didn't.
I just kept seeing that we were going further out and.
So you're the one of everybody saying we're going out.
Yeah. And, and, and they just, you
know, I think everybody was in denial pretty much just thinking
we were going to get rescued. And so I was always, you know, I
was thinking row, row, row your boat.
Yeah, right. Right, singing, riding the storm
out, you know, just trying to make fun of stuff or, or keep it
lively. And then even at one point
before it got dark, they were actually, we're all talking
about, Oh my God, we're going to be, you know, probably in the
newspaper and, and let's, we're first thing we're going to do is
have strawberry margaritas or, you know, whatever, have a party
and this is going to be something to talk about and all
that. And unfortunately it just kept
getting darker and darker and, and, and nobody, nobody came.
So yeah, it was probably, why can't you tell you how many
hours? So it, it would have just been
probably 3 or 4 hours before it started getting dark.
And all I could see, I remember seeing a few lights at a time
coming on in the shore and I was going, Oh my God, it's really
getting it's, it's night time. They were coming out.
You know, I could see lights over here coming on.
Come on, come on. And once again, I said this, you
know, nobody's going to find us out here.
So we need to go while we can still see shore.
And it was Daniel that said no, because this is when sharks
feed. This is the time the sharks
feed. If he said, if you swim, there's
there's no way, he said there's no way you can make it.
And so again, we had, they still had the hope that somebody would
be out there and, and find us. And they said, surely they're
going to see that boat, our launch, you know, on the trailer
and somebody's going to come and get us.
So we just stayed on. So the, you know, as we were
sitting there, the waves were still weren't getting rained on
that I recall. But the, you know, the waves
were still coming up more and whether it was that pontoon that
was just getting more and more water in it, we were, we were
sinking. So at some point we had to take,
you know, our legs didn't, weren't up above the water
anymore. We had to straddle.
So we were straddling. And that's when after once it
got dark that I was getting a little bit worried because of
the plankton. It was fluorescent plankton all
around. And you know, if we moved much,
it was just all glowing and stuff around it, which was cool,
but not when your legs are in there and you worry about shark
And but there was just nothing we could do.
And we sat there and honestly, I can't remember.
It's been so long ago now, the timing of when this happened
with him. I think it might have been after
the fact because at one point we heard a helicopter.
And so I'm assuming that would have been around that 11:00-ish
time at night. We heard a helicopter coming and
you could tell it was coming from New Smyrna, which was
South. And so we figured it might be
Coast Guard. And the helicopter came.
We saw the lights. Were they looking for you?
We think they were looking for us because, yeah, there was
lights in the water, so obviously.
Did you have any lights with you at all?
No, luckily there was a moon out for a while and then with the
plankton and stuff, but and then you can see the lights on shore.
So that was that was really about it.
But the once the helicopter came, we were going OK, OK, it's
surely you know, they're going to see us and everything.
Well, they just went around and nothing from that and went away
and then it was probably an hour or so later, a couple hours.
So we think that they probably connected to send another search
party out because Daniels, we heard something in the distance
again from New Smyrna Beach. And Daniel goes, that's a Coast
Guard cutter, I can tell by the engine.
And we're going, OK, great, you know, thank God.
And then maybe the helicopter didn't see us or whatever.
And so we waited. And it's chug, chug, chug.
So it took way long, you know, another hour or so before it
even got close to it to us. And Nessa was getting close.
It wasn't that far away. So we had white, the couple of
us had white T-shirts or something we had on or with us.
And I can whistle really loud. So I was whistling and we were
raising the the thing and it turned its engines off.
And so we were, you know, pretty sure that it didn't.
Oh my God, they've heard us. You know, we were just flipping
out saying yes, yes, yes. We're screaming top of our
lungs, raising our hands, raising the the white thing and,
you know, just thinking, Oh my God, we're rescue, you know,
wonderful, wonderful and, and and just kept waiting and
waiting and waiting. And next thing we know, it
turned on the engine and, and moved on and.
Yeah. What was that moment like?
At that moment, we were like, oh, shoot.
Oh crap. Yeah, at that moment that was
that was like heart sinks to your toes because that was a
helicopter and a ship and they don't see you and, you know,
you're really just bobbing around as little, you know,
peanut in the water. And so that was that was our oh,
crap moment. And so from that point, you
know, we can still see shore, but it was way, you know, barely
seeing the lights and stuff. And we knew we were just going
out further and further, but there was nothing we could do.
It had to be like 1:00 in the morning by that time.
And you know, we were cold. So we just tried to scoop close
to each other and huddle and, and, you know, try and keep
warm. And and then like I said, I'm
pretty sure it was after the after that incident, because at
one point then Daniel was sitting up front and then it
was, I think it was Christy, then Randy, then myself, or
maybe she was right in front of me.
I can't remember. But at one point, because we're
getting tired, you know, but I feel, I feel the thing moving
and I see Daniel slipping off the front.
And so he gets in there. We're going, Daniel, wake up,
you know, whatever, get up. Well, we didn't know.
So we're saying, Daniel, get back on here and he goes, no, I
can't believe I did this to you guys.
And he goes just the, the, the hole will come up more if I'm
off of it. And he kind of like was going
floating away and stuff like he was just going to let himself
drown or whatever. And so we're flipping out
because, you know, once again, for me, it's not just about him.
He. He was in the water.
Yeah, yeah.
Full like fully. Full in the water and kind of
out of it so and that's what I was afraid of.
And once again, you know, shark just goes through your mind.
So it's like you're not going to be any help to us in the water.
It's it's not going to be any better with you in the water.
And so we had to, you know, really convince him to get back
on. It's not his fault.
Don't worry about it. We're all going to stick
together. And, you know, he came back up
on, you know, and stayed with us.
And so it got pretty quiet. And I just remember, remember
Christy got really quiet. And the rest of us, I kept, you
know, I kept trying to talk or, or do you know, whatever, just
to keep us awake. And, you know, I'm sure they
were talking too. But I just remember Christy was
really, really quiet through the night.
And and then at some point it had gotten really, really dark.
And I guess I don't know what I was thinking back then.
I was going, what happened to the moon?
Because I mean, it got really dark and it stayed dark what
felt like hours. And I was, you know, because
we're all kind of out of it. I was going, is this the end of
the world or something? Because nothing, the sun didn't
come up. I didn't see the moon again.
It was pitch black out there besides what's in the water.
And and I'm sure that was just like being out of it.
But yeah, it was that was kind of scary for me.
And so we just sat and sat and sat and tried to stay awake and
we were cold and out of it, hadn't eaten and hadn't had any
water. That was worst.
We didn't never had it. Yeah, because we lost that water
bottle. So we never had any water.
Oh man. And of course, that makes you
psychologically going, oh, my God, I got the dryest throat,
you know, I'm going to die. But yeah, we didn't have any
water. So that was it.
I mean, that it the hours just ticked on and on and on.
And after the boat, the ship came, there was nothing.
Didn't hear anything. Nothing.
It was just the rest of the night there.
And so basically what ended up happening was because I, we lost
the lights on the shore at some point in the night, they were
gone. And that's what I was telling
everybody. We are way out now and couldn't
see anything. So again, you're disoriented
because it's pitch black. So I don't know where the shore
is. I don't know where the horizon.
I don't know if we're going left, right, you know where
we're going. And so we made it all through
the night. And then at some point, whether
it mean probably 5:00 in the morning, I don't know, 435
whatever the crack of dawn there was like you could literally see
it on the horizon. There was a light at the bottom.
And as soon as that happened, I said that's, that's the horizon.
Shore's the other way. I said if we lose this and we
can't see shore, we're, we're not.
I said we're, we're dying out here.
There's no boats you can start to see, you know, and we're neck
deep in water. You had, you know, we're already
getting jellyfish things. And I just said, you know, we're
either going to die or we're going to die or we're going to
die. So I'd rather die fighting, you
know, whether die trying. And so we just talked about it.
And again, as as light was coming up, I was going, you
know, we got to go. We got to go because we're not
going to know where the horizon is, you know, once it once it's
up. And, and so we talked about it
and Christy was the only one that was, you know, saying I
can't swim that well. And I told her, don't worry
that, you know, the Ocean's salt water.
So it's very buoyant. So you can flip around and
float. We'll all stay with you.
I don't remember. I think in one of these
articles, Daniel said that he had talked about it also with
her and, and with all of us. And, you know, we all decided to
go ahead because it was, we were neck deep in water, freezing, no
sleep. And yeah, so we decided to take
off and. Was everybody in agreement at
that moment? Like, yeah, we better.
Just yeah, she was hesitant, but yeah, she was, yeah, she had to
go. We just, so don't worry, you
know, we're not swimming fast, nothing like that.
And again, anytime you're tired, just turn over and float or
float the whole time. Backstroke, you know, a little
bit. And it's just a lot easier in
the ocean that it is in a, in, in a pool, you know, and it's,
we'll just stay together in line and see what happens.
And, and so we started swimming and I started swimming freestyle
and I've was, have always been, had my eyes open.
I always opened my eyes in the water back then didn't use
goggles or anything, didn't care.
And it started within like 15 first 1520 minutes, it started
getting to me. I was like, I don't know if I
really want to see what's up there.
And plus it was salt water, you know, it was bothering me.
And then, you know, I, I'd close my, close my eyes, but I'd, I'd
stop, I'd flip around and look at everybody and make sure
everybody's we're still in line and all that.
And, But then at one point I started feeling jellyfish things
on, on my face, right around my eyes.
So I said, OK, I'm not going to do this.
I'm going to because for some reason, I thought if I swam the
freestyle, I'd be like more more direct, where with backstroke
I'd maybe be flailing a little bit where where I was going.
And so I turned over and was doing backstroke.
And I just realized that if I just, you know, skim my arms
instead of taking them so deep that it didn't, you know, hit
the hit the jellyfish as much so you could kind of whatever, just
see fill their tops, maybe a few stings on your back.
But this wasn't as bad. And then, yeah, just swam.
But it was only like an hour into the swim that I don't know
if I heard her or I realized something and I just stopped and
looked back and then I heard her screaming.
And Randy was her boyfriend was in front of her.
So he was coming towards me and she was in the back.
So and then Daniel was coming up from behind her.
So I just, you know, when I saw her, it was a scream, but then I
saw her shoot straight up and, and she was, she was pale
anyways and blonde hair, but I was close enough to be able to
see that, that, that she just like like really white, like
like blooded drain from her body.
I mean, that's, that's what I my first thought.
And then plus with that and she was yelling shark and I was
going, Oh my God. Because I mean, it was just like
in Jaws when straight up and straight down.
And she did that twice and then went face down in the water.
And so by that time Randy had hurt her.
He had turned around and you know, he was going, he was like,
I think she's drowning, you know, and and I was like, no,
she yelled shark. I think she got bit by a shark
and and he goes, you know, he goes, he goes, I don't know, I
don't know. He said, but I'm going, I got to
go back and help her. So he turned around and she and
Daniel was coming up from behind.
So I was he trying to yell to him that it was a shark, you
know, whatever. And and they just, they kept
swimming towards her. And I was like, we're too far
from the boat. There's nothing I can do.
So, you know, it's I, I just, I said I can't, I just got to, I'm
just got to keep swimming. Hopefully I can get, you know,
somebody else see us stop for help or I'll be at least make it
and get some help, you know, when I get to shore or whatever.
And I just had no idea. And so I just kept swimming and
I could hear yelling and all this kind of stuff.
Not her at all, just the two guys yelling.
But I had no idea. I just, like I said, I just kept
swimming and, and I was trying to keep my bearings so I would
go where I was supposed to be going.
And it was probably a couple hours into the swim where I
could finally start seeing some of the tall buildings.
I I really can't remember how long it was, but as I was
swimming I could finally see something where I knew I was
still going right correctly to the to the beach.
But after she was attacked I never saw the guys again.
And so. From the moment you heard that
she was screaming to when you how long was it before she was
gone? Minutes.
Yeah, it was minutes. It was literally that it got her
later, Randy said. Yeah, she had lost her leg.
The whole when they got to her that that took a took the whole
leg. They were able to find her.
Oh, yeah, 'cause they were right there.
We were all right there. So they actually went back to
her and I guess I found out this, this later that they
actually tried to, you know, take her from the neck.
He's, I can't remember. I don't think that she was alive
at all or able to talk or shock. I, I, I don't know when they
first got to her. She might have still been, but I
just, it's just hard to believe because like I said, I saw all
the blood drained from her body and they told me later that
she's so they, you know, they, they tried, they thought maybe
they were going to try and find the boat, get her back to the
boat or something, but at some point they just had to leave
her. They couldn't, you know, they
couldn't, it wasn't too long that they were carrying her.
So, so, so, yeah, so right after that had happened and I was
swimming, you know, just kept swimming.
I was doing backstroke very shortly after is when I, I just
saw like a Gray object. I could feel it.
I almost felt more like the waves, like underneath me or
something. So I just looked to the side and
I felt a bump just on my, on my thigh and, and then it just, you
know, and then it went off. It wasn't a mouth or anything
like that, but it was definitely the, you know, whether it's a
shark or fish or whatever. For me, it was a shark because
it was, it was large and Gray. But I was so scared and that I
just, you know, I couldn't, I didn't want to comprehend or
think anything. And, and I, and I said this
right away, it was like in that in a nanosecond, it was like,
I'm a fish. I'm bigger than you and you're
not, you're not going to get me. And I literally put my mind
mindset that I was, I was a fish and I belonged in the water.
It was the craziest thing. And I just started stroking so
calmly and I just kept going. And that was nothing, nothing
happened at that point. And so again, I kept swimming
and. And the guys are nowhere
insight. They're no you, I lost them
within 15/10/15. You can't see because of the
waves, everything else. So I never saw them after I
after they I got far enough or or after they stopped their
conversation. I don't know what happened
Wasn't too long after that. So I couldn't hear.
I couldn't do anything, you know nothing.
So I didn't know if they were dead or alive.
And so, you know, it was just my survival.
That's it. That's all I thought about.
I was pretty, like I said, I could tell I was kind of
hallucinating. I had a little brother who
passed away when he was 1 and I was 5.
And so, you know, I talked to him and, and then way into this,
into the swim, getting pretty close and I was pretty tired.
I, I was thinking about just floating, just letting go and
float. And I knew it was the current
was going north and I thought, I wonder where my body's going to
land. But at that moment I'm like
floating and I look over and all of a sudden I see to the north a
little bit this like a feeding frenzy.
And so that woke me up like that.
And I don't know if it's Barracuda, I don't know if it's
shark, I don't know what it is. But all it was was just a
feeding frenzy and to a little bit, you know, to the north, I
could see it, all the water and the splashing and stuff.
And so that woke me up and I said, OK, I'll just keep
stroking a little bit further. And I started swimming again.
And, and then probably one of the things that happened to me
was I, I was, because I was following this cloud and I kept
telling people afterwards I, yeah, I said this cloud, it took
me the end of the edge of the cloud, took me straight to the
shore and they're going clouds move.
I said, I don't know, I saw this edge of the cloud and for hours
and hours I just watched it because I was doing backstroke.
And every time I looked up, I was still going straight into
the into the shore. And but also then at one point
when I was doing that, I saw a pier and a pier was jutting out
into the water. And, you know, it's coming
towards me, this pier. And I was looking at it and I
was going, OK, I know, I know there's no pier there, so I must
be hallucinating. So I knew at that moment I was
going so I can make a choice. Don't want to get on the pier or
don't want to go ahead and keep fighting and try and survive.
So that, that was my, my thought at the moment that that was
probably if I, you know, if I'd lost myself or whatever and
wanted to get on the pier, that I, I just would have drowned or
whatever. And so I just, you know,
continue to swim at that point, I could seashore.
There still weren't boats out, I guess because of the storm
before. And again, like I said, it's
kind of end of season and nothing I could do except
continue. Oh, and then that's when it was
that I, that I heard. I think it was after that that I
saw that peer. That's when I heard voices.
And I thought I was hallucinating, but I realized I
was, you know, 2 male voices going back and forth to each
other. And so I whistled my loud
whistle and they yelled back or whistled back or something.
And there was no conversation. I think it was just a loud
whistle and echo. But I knew they were alive and I
could tell they were north of me.
I couldn't see them at all but where I was hearing it from.
So I said, Oh my God, they're alive.
And and you know, I'm sure Christy couldn't have been with
them, but I had no idea how far, you know, with things echoing
and stuff, how far they really were.
So I just again, just kept swimming my direction where I
knew I was going and yeah, made it all the way to where the RIP
currents were and wasn't expecting that I'd made it all
that way. And there was 1 lifeguard there
and it just like in in the movies, he was talking to a girl
in a bikini. So he wasn't looking out.
There's a girl standing right below him.
And I kept seeing him looking down at the girl, you talking to
her. And I'm hitting the shoreline
and but I can't break the RIP current.
I'm too tired. And so I'm trying to flail my
arms, I'm whistling. And then I remember, OK, side
stroke, do side stroke. Even back then we knew that.
So I started doing side stroke trying to get through the RIP
current and I was finally able to get to the RIP current.
And that's when I, I was whistling again and, and
flailing my arms. And that's when he saw me.
And back in the day, the lifeguard stands had, you know,
they're out on the beach and then there was a, a main
lifeguard tower or somewhere else.
So in the lifeguard stand, they had this flag long pole with a
flag. So he, I saw him pull that out
and start doing this, which will flag the next stand and the next
stand and the next stand. So then get some, you know, help
down there. And, and then he jumped down,
jumped in and was swimming towards me.
And I asked, oh, I can't believe this finally.
And he's coming towards me and I had, I'd been wearing a bikini,
so I, my top had come untied or something.
So he's trying to grab me. And I don't even think they had
those boards or anything back then.
I can't remember what it was, but he's trying to grab me and
I'm trying to get my bathing suit top on tied back up and
he's going to leave that alone. Just getting the shore.
Yeah. And I get it done.
And yeah, he helps drag me back into shore and he's like yelling
at me. He's what the hell are you
doing? We got red flag warnings out.
He said you're not supposed to be out here.
And he goes, I don't care if you're a lifeguard or not.
There's no swimming out here. You know better.
I said I'm not a lifeguard. And I said I just swam.
I've been out in the ocean for about 24 hours and I think I
just swam like 5 or 6 miles. I've been out there for at least
nine hours because I knew at that time, I don't know how,
whether he told me what time it was.
It was 3:00 in the afternoon, 3:30 when I got there.
I probably been swimming like 9 hours.
And, you know, he just laughed. No, but he just laughed.
He didn't. He was like, yeah, right.
And then he started looking me up and down and saw all the man
of war stings and I was had overexposure, you know, sunburn
and all that kind of stuff. I said there's still a boat out
there and there's two guys. I said one of the girls that was
with us, I believe was killed by a shark.
And he was just like, what? He was just like, yeah.
And so I said please, if you can, you know, get somebody
because I think the two guys might still be alive.
And so. Yeah, so they, the, the, the
beach truck came roaring in and they took me in and, and I told,
tried telling the story and they took me to the lifeguard stand,
got me some. I remember the Big Gulp was all
they had there. Big Gulp, Coca-Cola and I yeah.
So do you, do you want some? I said yes, I just drank the
whole thing and, and then I think I passed out and, and then
they had called an ambulance and continued to ask me the story
and, and all that, trying to get the information.
I told them information about the guys and, and so I think
they were a little bit north of me.
And you know, just as briefly as I could that yes, we were in a
catamaran. We were out there, we're out
there all night. I saw the girl get attacked by a
shark. So it was a big, huge deal and
and then being the responsible when I asked if I could use a
phone because I was supposed to be at work at 4:00.
And can I use the phone to call the Daytona Hilton?
Yes. You're going to call into work.
Yes. So I had to call and I called
and spoke to my manager and I said I can't tell you anything
right now, but I can't be into work.
And you know, when you're a waitress and bartender, that's
very important that you're there, right?
Right. So she was very upset with me.
And I said, I can't tell you. You'll know.
You'll know in the morning. And so that was it.
And so from there, they took me to the hospital.
And by that time, somehow it was full of press already and the
police. And so when I got there, a
policeman came out. Actually, I was in a car.
I don't think I was in an ambulance.
They'd driven me, a policeman came out and said I'm going to
take you in the back way because there's all all this press out
here and I need to get your statement and all that.
So I went in the back way to the hospital and got in there and
they just liquids, liquids sprayed stuff on my body for the
the stings. And, and the guy came in, the
captain or whatever came in and start asking me the questions
about what had happened. And I told him, and at the end
of it, he told me that the information was that everybody
was found and they were all at a different hospital.
And I said, and Christy, the girl, he said they said
everybody. And I was like, Oh my God, I
can't believe that, you know, but I just figured maybe they'd
rescued out out there. I had no clue.
So I was supposed to stay overnight in the hospital.
I said no. I said I can, I can walk.
I'll call my roommate and she can come get me.
And and I think I'll be OK. And they were just telling me
hydrate and all that. I didn't have hypothermia.
So that was crazy because that's what Daniel or Randy end up he
was in the hospital for because he had hypothermia really bad.
And yeah, so my roommate, I guess they call my roommate and
I probably fell asleep for a while.
And when I woke up, they said she was had come, but when she
found out what happened, that she had passed out.
She had passed out in the hall, but they were getting her
together so she could Take Me Home.
So yeah. So I went home.
And back then, we just had the home phones.
But the phone started ringing and one of the first phone calls
was my boss. And she goes, oh, my God, I just
saw this on the news. I'm so sorry I yelled at you.
It was already on that nightly news.
She said, what in the world? She said, you don't have to tell
me anything, You know, I'll talk to you, talk to you when you
feel better. But it was just funny.
And then after that, it was just all the press, whoever could get
a hold of me via the phone, they were just calling.
And, yeah, so the first night, I finally had to just tell my
roommate just to, you know, not answer anymore or to tell him I
can't talk. Then I went to bed and.
Slept and I remember that first night sleeping and it was just
complete rocking, rocking, rocking.
I didn't have any nightmares but I woke up yes with the whole
thing in my head but. How did the other two guys make
it back? They swam.
I heard that Randy was picked up offshore.
That's her. The boyfriend that he was picked
up, whether it be a helicopter or something.
I heard that Daniel made it to shore, but they were almost 5
miles north of me. So that's what the thing was
with the National Geographic photographer that later talked
to me because about the currents.
And there was an incredible undertow.
And so it was incredible that I was able to swim straight into
shore pretty much from the boat. And those guys had made almost 5
miles north of me, four or five miles north of me because they
went more with the current. Were they together?
I don't think so. They probably were close, but I
just know I don't know anything about Daniel.
Like I said, he got shore. Somebody must have been a
lifeguard or something because they when I read one of the
articles later, he had made a comment to them.
So I don't know if it's the police that got there and spoke
to him, but he apparently didn't go to the hospital.
He refused everything. Yeah, he refused everything.
This is what Randy told me later is that he, he left, he went to
Key West. He was like really messed up in
the head and went to Key West to his dad's.
So nobody really kind of talked to him.
I think Randy talked to him a little bit.
But he he, yeah, I never spoke to him again, never saw him.
Wow, really. Yeah.
Either anybody? No, I went to see, went to the
hospital to see Daniel and talk to him.
And then he was like I said, he was just upset.
This is probably 3 or 4 days and afterwards because all the
articles were coming out and, and he was reading everything.
His parents had come in and, you know, they were showing him all
the stuff and Oh no, that's not right.
That's not right, you know. So he was like, when I came in
there, I said you can give your, your account or whatever
happened to you. I just gave my account what
happened to me. So it kind of, I was like kind
of pissed me off. This is not a time to be
arguing, dude, you know? So I just kind of left that and
I didn't see him again afterwards.
I never saw him after after that.
Wow, really? We've never spoken ever since
and don't know what he's up to. No.
And like I said, we had, you know, we didn't have cell
phones, we didn't have e-mail, all that kind of stuff.
So we didn't even. Know how did you last night?
Not at all. I mean just that was his
girlfriend. I met her a few times.
They both went worked at Emory Riddle.
He was actually going, I think to be a pilot and Emory Riddle,
but she was just working, I think an admin there or
something, but I'm not for sure. But they were dating.
So they were my absolute right next door neighbors for a while,
but she would come and go. I think she was from Chicago, so
she wasn't really living there permanently.
So I met her quite a few times, but we weren't friends and I
wasn't even that good of friends with him either, just neighbors.
So that's yeah. So it was the probably the worst
blind date I've ever been on in my.
Life. But yeah, so, you know, I didn't
think I could get any worse. But the next day after it
happened, I get a call and it was from an attorney and he told
me who he was. He's from Daytona and and
explained to me that Christie's parents had already been
contacted, I believe from Chicago.
They'd already flown in last night and they'd already
contacted an attorney and they asked if they could speak to me
about what happened. And I was this is the next day.
So I said OK. And so I went to their hotel.
My roommate took me to their hotel and went in, started and
had the conversation with them. And the only thing I tried to
do, I stayed calm and and I just tried to, I wanted to hurt them
to feel like she was at peace. I, I told her about on the, on
the boat through the night that she got been really calm,
whether she knew something was going to happen.
Not that a horrible thing was going to happen, but I knew she
was, she was making peace or something.
And I also told him that, you know, I thought maybe the only
reason, maybe why she was, she wasn't flailing, she was
swimming. OK, but maybe she was on her
period. Maybe that was why somehow she
was attacked and they were going.
She wasn't attacked. You guys left her to drown.
She wasn't killed by a shot. Yeah.
You guys left her to drown. You left my daughter.
And I was saying, no, that's not what happened.
That I I saw it. And, you know, they just didn't
want to believe it. So even after recanting the
whole story, recanting the whole story.
And that was the first time I had to do the full, full story.
At the end of it, they asked if I could do 2 favors for him.
And they said sure. And they said, if we give you
the keys, can you can you please go pick up Christy's car from
the beach? Yeah.
What? Yes, and I was they.
Asked you to pick up her car. Wow.
OK. Yeah.
And then as I was getting ready to go, I said, OK, well, I can
probably, you know, see if my roommate will do that and, and
and then as I was getting ready and can you do, can we get
another favor? Is there any way you can go if
it's the McDonald's or Burger King just down the corner?
I guess they didn't have a car with them.
They'd flown in and taking a taxi.
I don't know. They asked me to go get them
cheeseburgers and bring it back. Yes.
And that's the that's the honest truth.
And that's when I walked out of there and I said, did this
really happen to me or is is? Sounds like her parents.
Were am I just a storyteller? Wow, that's yeah, it was the
weirdest is. That just wait, was that like a
coping mechanism? I mean, that's, that's just
really odd. That's about to ask the person
who just survived this situation with their daughter who just
died to. Go pick up her car.
That's weird. Yes, it was very and I went and
told my roommate and honestly, I don't remember after that.
I know we went and got her car. I don't know if I got the
cheeseburgers. I don't remember that probably
did. But yes, it was it was at that
moment where it kind of clicked in my head like OK, and I'd
already told the story already on on the, you know, via phone
or whatever. So I kept repeating the story
and I was going, I mean, it literally was like a, I didn't
have time to grieve. I didn't have time to, to do
anything. I was thinking, am I, was I
really in this incident or am I just the storyteller, the
person? That's seen.
This and yeah and then right after the the second day or
something, which is I have one of the pictures here of what
they took. They had to call me and actually
asked me one of the reporters and they come from come up from
Miami, but they were like a European something.
Oh, we drove all the way from Miami or flew in from Miami and
we want to see if you put your bikini on and go down to the
boat dock where they were supposed to bring the boat in
and maybe take some pictures down there.
I was like, no, Oh my gosh, no, no.
And in the end I found out the boat didn't make it.
Coast Guard went to, they did find the boat, but as they were
trying to bring it back in, hauling it, it broke up.
So they never got the boat all the way back to the to the yard.
But yeah, it was, it was, it was pretty surreal.
And again, the I didn't call my parents right away.
I called my brother the next day in California.
And I was like, no, no, because I was like, I didn't know.
It was just, it was such a weird thing.
I was like, OK, well, this is just going to wash over, you
know, I just, I didn't take it as I mean, I knew it was a big
deal, but it was more about her, not not me.
And so I didn't call them. So I called my brother and the
same thing happened when I was talking to him.
I guess he kind of got pale or something.
I remember his roommate got on and said hold on, what happened?
He said, because your brother's like not feeling good.
I was telling my brother a story and I was like, OK, so anyways,
my brother said yes, we have to tell.
You have to tell mom and dad what happened.
And they lived in Indiana and, and so I don't even remember
when I called him afterwards. I waited for him to fly.
He said I'm flying down there right now.
And so he flew down and, and, and stayed with me for a few
days. I talked to my parents and, and
the yeah. And then it was then it was all
kinds of stuff, like people contact me saying like, we
didn't tell my, I didn't tell my grandma.
So it's up in Indiana. Also, my parents decided not to
tell her at the time, you know, right away.
And so she ended up getting calls from people in another
state saying, isn't this your granddaughter?
Because it was all over the United States.
I mean, the newspapers everywhere.
Yeah. I was very, very, very
interesting. And then the attorney, he ended
up contacting me again and taking me out to lunch.
I told him what had happened with, with the parents.
And he goes, look, he said, you know, they're obviously they're
very upset and they don't know, you know, they, they feel like
you guys left her, but they also know, you know, I've convinced
them that yes, it was a, a boat. It could have been a boat
manufacturing defects because catamarans aren't supposed to
sink. Oh yeah, OK.
And so that's how it all started where I guess they actually
started a lawsuit against NACRA boat manufacturer.
So John Robinson was the attorney, has to remember him,
very nice person. He asked me if I do a couple
things for him, if I would go with him to the boat dealership,
but not as like almost as a not a spy, but don't tell them who
you are because I'm going to ask yeah, we want to ask some
questions to to about this, this boat and all.
So I went with him to that And and of course he knew about the
accident already. Didn't know who we were.
But you know, he said, Oh yeah, they should, they didn't have
life jackets. They shouldn't have never left
that boat. The boat never would have sunk
on all this kind of stuff. And I just, you know, whatever,
I was hung out with him for a few days and he told me that
there was probably going to be a lawsuit and that he'd be in
contact with me because he'd already seen Randy in the
hospital. And he said he's not in a good
state of mind to be able to talk or recall and things like that.
And so I said, OK, I said I'm had already thought about moving
to Atlanta this end of end of summer and I've been down there
a few years and went and lived in Vero Beach.
And then I moved up to Daytona for a couple years.
But I was kind of ready, you know, to get out of the at the
party, party scene. And it wasn't even about the the
accident. I already kind of knew things
happen. And for me, things happen always
whenever I'm about to make a move.
And this was a big thing. So I said, OK, I guess it's time
for me to go. So I let him know that.
So, you know, he had whatever didn't have e-mail, I guess an
address or phone number I had of my parents.
I think I gave it to him and later was called after I moved
there and stuff for the deposition and all that.
I had to go down, back down for the court case.
But you know, in between that it was before I left again in
Daytona, I was a bar person. So I was going to, you know, the
same bars and things like that and listen to music and, and so
every time I went in, it was everybody knew who I was.
There was just free drinks and, you know, Oh my God, that's the
story, you know, So I was like the, the little, little Daytona
hero or something. I said, I'm not a hero.
I'm not a hero, I'm not a hero. A girl died, you know, I just
did what I could to survive. And it was, it was funny.
A guy that I had dated a little bit before, he, we didn't date
very long, but he saw me one night and he's like, Oh my God,
my parents want to meet you. My parents want to meet you and
stuff. I was like, OK, whatever.
So that. Yeah.
So, so that was, that was, that was different.
And and again, I think all that kept me from from grieving
really. I, I couldn't really, it became
a story to me. And that's how that's how I
survived, you know, not really having to go back.
I mean, I did have obviously thoughts of it all the time
right after I couldn't get into dark water again.
That was one of the reasons when I moved to to Georgia, I don't
know how long I was up there, six months or something.
And I was bartending up there and I actually, one of the
bartenders was 10 years older than me and we made really good
friends right away. And one night I was out with her
at another bar and I just looked at this bartender and and Rita,
my friend looked at me and she's like, what's wrong?
I said, she said, you look like you saw a ghost.
And I said, oh, my God, I haven't told you this, but.
And we were good friends. I just didn't ever bring it up
to anybody after I left Florida. And I told her she looked like
somebody that I knew. And this bartender looked like
Christy reminded me of Christy. So I ended up telling her,
starting to tell her the story. And she just like went stop,
stop, Wait a minute. I said, she goes, you're not the
girl that survived, are you? And I said, I said, yeah, I
survived. She goes, oh, my God, my mom
lives in Naples. She said, I used to, I heard
about this story up here in Atlanta.
And I kept calling my mom saying, you got to find out who
that girl is. That's incredible.
How did she survive? And and, you know, the articles,
send me the articles and all this kind of stuff.
So it was like, you know, she knew the whole thing.
And yeah, again, that was like a soul connection or whatever.
But it was, it was through her afterwards that she, she ended
up talking me in to go and live on a 32 foot, 32 foot sailboat
in in the Caribbean, what with two people.
We didn't know what because back then, yes, yes, we were up in
Atlanta bartending and she had always loved, I don't know, I
think, I think she like captains and see things.
How far, How long after this? Less than a year.
Yeah, I was up there. You were able to get out on a
sailboat and live on it. Yeah, lived on it.
And she had she had back in the back in the 80s, it was pretty,
pretty good times where fun times where there wasn't as much
dangerous people think she had actually been writing to
somebody in the yachting from a yachting magazine article, this
captain who liked to take crew that he would take female crew
free, but you'd have to pay, you know, bring some pitch in for
the food. I'm still stuck on the fact that
you're living on a sailboat. Yes.
Less than a year later, yeah. I can't.
Well, I wanted to get over my fear, 'cause I love, love the
ocean. That's impressive.
And it's not dark water, so it was in the Caribbean, so I knew
I'd be, you know, in the Clearwater.
But yes, that was a tale. You think that that's looking
back on that, do you feel like that was a that had to have been
a positive thing for you to do right like that, that was
probably set some other things in motion for you to get over.
Absolutely. And that's why I did it.
It was just because I I loved. That's impressive that you did
it, that you had enough. Wow.
Yeah, that's, that's love the ocean.
And I, I didn't think, I didn't think lightning was strike
twice. So that was the other reason.
So I said, let me take this opportunity.
And yeah, we left and we're out there two or three months we
lived out there, I guess. And yeah, the the one thing when
I when we went and actually met, I actually met the captain and
she met, she met him for the first time.
And when we're getting ready to leave Miami, he goes, OK, so I
guess Rita, you're the more experienced sailor.
And she and she was like, yeah, I sailed Lake MI, you know, like
10 years ago or whatever. My family had a thing.
He goes, what do you mean? Have you ever ocean sail sailed
in the ocean? And she said, no, just on Lake
MI. But, you know, it's pretty
rough. And he was like, oh, my God.
He goes, what happens if something happens to me out
here? And we hadn't thought of
anything. I don't know anything about
sailing. I don't know how to swim.
But I didn't know anything about sailing.
So at the dock, he gets out, runs into the bar and comes out
with another man, young guy named Beezer.
This guy's going with us. You guys are not.
Yeah, this guy's going with us. You don't know how to sail in
the ocean. I don't know if we're going to
make it across the. We got to go across the Bermuda
Triangle. And and, and he said that I was
going, Rita, I told you I could do anything.
He said go go across the Bermuda Triangle.
Oh my gosh. So the first night was like I
was down in my bunk just like freaking out.
Of course there was a storm and all this kind of stuff to get
across. So that was that was my intro to
all that. And he didn't know anything
about my story either. He didn't know.
When did did they find out while you were out there?
He he did weeks into it, we were out, out and about.
And all of a sudden I hear, I mean, I feel the boat, he's
healing the boat decide he goes that way.
He goes, these are taken and he runs downstairs and he comes
back up with a shotgun and I, I was like, what?
He goes. We're going to shark hunting.
Oh my gosh, so. You see shark in the water, so
he's go to shark hunting for real.
And so the boat's healing or just a 32 foot sail, you know, I
mean, you like touch the water. I'm seeing shark fins out there
and I just like, you know, flipping out.
So I just go to, you know, downstairs and Rita comes down
and, you know, I was like, Oh my God, I'm like, I can't see, I
can't watch this. And I still didn't say anything.
But she ended up going upstairs and telling them, you know, you
got to hear the story so that I had to sit down with them with
the story. And that captain, he was so nice
to me after he was, you know, he's an older man because she
was 10 years old and I think he was 10 years old and she was
like 20 years. He was wonderful, wonderful,
wonderful. The rest of the trip was
wonderful. He tried, you know, treating me
like a daughter and make sure I was OK.
And, and he actually took me a lot of ironic things happened
because I, he took me to Spanish Wells and he goes, I need to
meet somebody. And so we got off on Spanish
Wells, which at that time he had to go just by boat.
And it was the only island that it was only white people lived
there. So they, they were like one of
the first places to take Australian slaves.
And, and you know, if, if the black people came, it was just
to, to do the, the gardens or whatever.
Weird island actually had some like deliverance stuff like meet
across like kids and things like that.
Everyone's blue eyed blonde, but he took me to meet this guy
named Roy Pinter Pinter Pinter Pinter.
And he was a a diver like a, a spear fisherman.
But that dove really deep. And at one point he was in a
contest or something like that. And he had gone down and and
spearfish. I think it was free.
I don't think he no.
He did have a mask yeah. I think it was free diving,
though he didn't use the the equipment.
So he was down deep got something.
And as he was coming back up, he he was holding like this.
He felt a tug on it. When he turned it was a shark
and the shark got him in the face.
What? Oh man, yes, got him and and the
mask stopped it from you know the all like all underneath here
was was bit, but you know whatever the shark got off.
Well, I guess he was just a really loved man on the island.
And so, you know, the people that were out there saw whatever
they were able to get him up to the boat and to a small plane or
helicopter. They flew him to Miami and saved
him And but he still had, you know, stitches and stuff like
that. But he he wanted me to meet him
because this the man to this day and I don't know how many years
that he was just smile on his face the whole time.
Happiest man in the world. We talked and talked and just,
you know, just had a just said, yeah, this is it happened and,
you know, just move on with your life and stuff like that.
So that's it was pretty cool, yeah.
What's life like been what's life been like for you since I
mean, this is a long time it. Was right that's in the back in
the 80s yeah. And that was the 80s, my good
years. And after, after that happened,
I also ended up when I came back to Georgia, Rita went to work
for Windjammer. And that's How I Met the owner's
son. She sent him up to her house
where I was living in Georgia and, and met him.
He goes, oh, we got a new boat, new ship going out.
If you want to bartend, you can do it and come on, come on down,
you can do that. So I, I was on the, the, the
next night he was getting on the Windjammer, which is like the
pirate ships and stuff. And it was a maiden voyage.
So they had a lot of celebrities leaving local or whatever, but
other, other celebrities too. And it just so happened that I
found out which I didn't know who he was at the time, but Joe
Alvis, my, my friend Rita, who was the purser, told me, you
know who Joe Alvis is. I said, no, she said she, he's
the director of Jaws three. He's on here.
And so yes, he's on here. And so she had all my articles
that her mom had sent. She's always carried him around
and stuff and 'cause I guess she, I think she wanted to show
the captain or something. And so.
Total coincidence. Total coincidence.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we're going, you know, we
went out. Yeah.
I mean, it's just, yeah, very just crazy.
And so we sailed off and I have like this, I don't know, the
first night or second night that she had, I guess spoken to him
and, and said, told him a little bit about me.
And so he wanted to know more. She said I have articles.
So I have, he actually came to the bar, you know, met me
obviously. And.
And then I have the picture of him reading my article, one of
the articles about the story. And he was just like amazed and
aghast. And he said, Oh my God, if I
ever do another shark movie, I'm calling you.
And I was like, OK, hey, he said, we don't have cell phones
back then, so you know how you're going to call me.
But but yeah. And.
And so those just, again, ironic things that happen and.
Yep. Are you still, do you, do you
have PTSD? Do.
You. No, Oh, no, I never.
I never had it as far as I know. Every once in a while, because I
still like when I moved to Georgia away from the ocean,
then I would would lap swim, you know, at the the Y or something.
And when I was laps swimming more back then, yeah, after I
swam for a while, then I start seeing things and even in the
pools. So that kind of stuff happened
to me, but. How many years after that?
It would have been a few years, a couple years, but nothing
again. I don't tell the story ever,
unless there's something that I just know I'm supposed to tell
it, like something comes up with somebody, random person or
whatever. And I know this is something
they need to hear. And so it's not like I, you
know, I dwell on it or, or, or think about it, think about it
that much. Well, and, you know, and in the
end, I, I moved to South America for like 15 years and, you know,
people didn't, nobody knew about it down there.
And I just live my life normal and, you know, and yeah, just
had my kids and, and just kept moving on.
Yeah. So what are your what are your
kids think of your story? Yeah, they're amazed.
They're they're amazed. My daughter's always like, not
an anniversary, but something comes up.
She'll, you know, she'll say something or want me to post
something. And, and Joss just had their
50th anniversary in Martha's Vineyard.
And I almost was going to go because Joe Alvis is still
alive. And I actually went on his
Facebook page and, and sent him a picture of the picture of him
back then. But I don't know if he reads the
Facebook page or if it's somebody else, you know, an
assistant or whatever. But I, I thought about going to
the reunion because I knew he was going to be Yeah.
But I didn't, I didn't go. It was this summer.
And in the end, it's like, yeah. So it OK, I ask everybody this
now, obviously we don't, you know, Christie, it's a terrible
thing that happened. But if you could go back and
pull this from ever happening to you, if it was, you know, if you
could have been off the boat somehow, if if you could pull
this out of your life, would you?
Oh. Of course not.
No, no, because it all led to everything else.
That's what you know, especially the sailboats afterwards and
having that experience and working on Windjammer.
I mean, these are to me. I write.
I've actually written a memoir that hasn't been published.
Looking for an editor? You hear that?
Anybody listening? Looking for an editor I have
written about 340 pages 350. Pagesemailcontact@danbeckeroutdoors.com.
Yes, please. Yes, please.
I mean, most people say it should be made into a movie.
And so I went to Scarlett. I was.
Actually. Thinking that I wanted Scarlett
Johansson. You're, you're, you're gonna
read the comments of this podcast and it's gonna be like,
where's the movie? I wanted Scarlett Johansson to
be my to be me many years ago, Garlett.
But you are watching. But now?
Now she's too old. Sorry Scarlett, but that was
only 20 back then. Wow.
But yes, that's people that have heard it.
Oh my God, this, this would be a great movie.
And and again, yeah, I wrote, I wrote the memoir for myself and
my kids because I've had a whole lot more experiences, not terror
experiences of just moving out of the country, starting a
business, the whole learning another language and, you know,
and things like that. And, and, and traveling just so
I've, I've survived. So I have a good bit a lot of
crazy times in the 80s too. And, and, but yeah, putting it
all down needs to be condensed. The, you know, who cares about
what that happened? You know, there's, there's
important things that happened or whatever.
And I don't know how to edit that kind of stuff.
But yes, I'm, I'm definitely interested in, in publishing.
All my friends are interested that I published, but I just
don't really, I don't really know how after I wrote it.
So we'll see about that. Yeah, yeah.
Wow. I am, I am, I'm, I'm amazed.
I, I, I feel like I could have asked you 1000 more questions.
If you, if you retold that story again and you, you told it in
such great detail. I feel like you've told it quite
a few times. Yeah, yeah.
But it's, it's in my memory banks, thank God still.
And yeah, the other thing I, I, I just, I remember is, you know,
people to ask me about the spirituality or whatever.
How do you feel about God? You know, afterwards and things
like that and. That was on my list of questions
to ask you. For sure, yeah and I had not I
was raised in in the church, but I've been away from it and I, I,
I just yeah, organized religion wasn't wasn't it for me.
So but I've always had it, you know, relationship, spiritual
and and knowing that God or higher powers up there.
But when I got out of there, like I said, I mostly talked,
you know people thought, Oh my God, didn't you, you know, thank
God after you came out and all this and I said, well, you know
I in a way I did, but I mostly talked to my brother who had
passed away, who I feel was an Angel as I was swimming, you
know how for guidance and things like that.
But when I did get out, I noticed after I was out of the
hospital, after I kind of got my head back together, that
everything looked greener, brighter.
And I, and I said I, the big thing that I noticed was that
when I was around little children, even babies, the way
they would look at me and it was like, oh, he gives me tingles
today. You know, back then that I felt
like there was just something, you know, something because they
would look at me with such love and stuff and I didn't even know
him. So there's some kind of a aura
or, you know, something that came through with that.
But yeah, wow, that was pretty cool.
Wow.