Seven Boaters

"I guess we're all one phone call from our knees."

I heard that line in a song recently and felt a lump in my stomach thinking about the reality of it.  Only a few days later I got a true taste of the bitterness.

I woke up yesterday morning, came downstairs to relax, started making a cup of hot tea ... turned my cell phone on to see ...

Voicemail

Mom and Dad 4:29 AM

Mom and Dad 6:12 AM

Mom and Dad 7:49 AM

I could have easily thrown up at that point.  

Fortunate for me, my agony began and ended within 90 seconds.

Sort of summarized below ... Mom's voice ...

VM#1 - You need to call me.

VM#2 - Jody and Xander are missing.  Their boat sank.

VM#3 - They have been found.

The waves of emotion that I felt during those few minutes are enough to bring tears to my eyes right now.  Just the thought of them in the ocean for 20 hours makes my heart ache.  I can't imagine being in that situation and I'm an adventure/suffering/survival junkie.  Thinking about it terrifies me ... for myself. The thought of Xander being in that situation is excruciating for me and I'm not even his mother.  

Crystal knew something was wrong when she didn't hear from Jody that evening.  They had been off the coast of Charleston, SC fishing with Jody's family that day.  She got a call at midnight saying that they had not returned to shore as planned.  Listening to her tell the story is quite an amazing thing.  I assumed that she lost her mind at that point, but she didn't.  She said that she got down on her knees and started praying ... praying ... praying ... and God told her that they were okay.  At that point, she got off of her knees and got into bed ... and slept until 5:00 AM.  She got the news at 6:00 AM that they had been found and that they were alive.  People say why don't miracles happen anymore?  I say they do happen -every day.

Seven boaters were on board that day (Jody, Xander, Roger, Rex, Rodney, Caleb, and Tyler ... Boy's Day Fishing).  They were approximately 30 miles offshore when the boat was hit by a 20 foot wave on Saturday morning at 10:00 AM.  It started taking on water and began to sink.  They swam away from the boat - afraid that the water would drag them if the boat plunged to the bottom of the ocean.  However, the boat never completely submerged. They eventually swam back to the boat and tied themselves off to it.  "One of our rescue flight mechanics had noticed something at the surface of the sea that looked something like a debris field. The only light he had to assist him in the search was the moonlight," Evanson said Sunday.  Thank God for the moon.

It's so simple.  I love Xander with all of me.  I think about him and his days more than anybody could possibly imagine.  I am incredibly proud of him and excited about his future.  The thought of his life ending is crushing for me. I pray for him often.  I pray that God will protect him ... because he is a little adventure junkie too ;).  

Naturally, we pray when things are going bad.  I find joy in thanking God for the good things.

"Thank you Lord for protecting my sister's family".

Labor Day Weekend 2010

(CNN) -- Seven people, including three children, who were missing since Saturday night were rescued Sunday morning about 25 miles off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

"They were cold, they were tired, but most importantly, they were alive," said Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher Evanson of the Coast Guard station in Jacksonville, Florida.

All seven were aboard a 38-foot powerboat that sank after the engine compartment flooded, the Coast Guard said in a statement. All were wearing life jackets.

Evanson told CNN Radio that airborne search crews were running low on fuel and were "getting ready to call it a night" when something was spotted in the moonlit water.

Video: Seven survive 20 hours in sea

RELATED TOPICS

• Charleston (South Carolina)
• U.S. Coast Guard
• Accidents and Disasters

"One of our rescue flight mechanics had noticed something at the surface of the sea that looked something like a debris field. The only light he had to assist him in the search was the moonlight," Evanson said Sunday.

"He notified the flight commander and they made a turn and they approached that area where the debris field was and it turned out to be the swimmers, all seven of them floating, actually clinging to a cooler, floating in the water."

That all seven were wearing life jackets "was a major factor in the fact that we were able to save their lives," Evanson said. "It could have been much different had they not had life jackets."

Searchers were first alerted to the situation after the wife of one person on the boat contacted authorities to say the seven hadn't come home on time. Rescue crews located the missing boaters at 6:02 a.m. Sunday.

Evanson said those on the boat "made the decision to abandon ship" after the engine compartment started to flood but he said they were unable to call for help because they had no emergency communications equipment.

"They didn't have a VHF radio. They didn't have an emergency position indicating radio beacon ... that can pinpoint the location of a distress when a boat sinks. There was no signaling flares, nothing," Evanson said.

"It's a very fortunate situation ... that the rescue crew was able to identify these individuals utilizing just the moonlight."

7 boaters saved in moonlight rescue off South Carolina coast