Newport Beach Man Describes Harrowing Journey After Becoming Stranded At Sea
NEWPORT BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A Newport Beach man involved in a rescue at sea while on a surfing excursion described the ordeal in a one-on-one interview with CBS2.
Pete Nevins was one of seven surfers who became stranded in a life raft in the Indian Ocean after watching their chartered yacht sink as a GoPro camera rolled on the harrowing journey.
Nevins was then left to wonder exactly where off the Indonesian coast they were adrift and when they might be saved.
The incident happened on the second day of an expensive luxury surf trip.
The group had a few things in their favor: they were eight miles from land and the captain did manage, before their boat sank, to send a mayday signal. Also, the surfers had water and emergency food.
Yet, still, they were alone in rough seas.
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"We're safe now. We're off the boat. You know, we don't know how long it's going to be but we knew we were inside of land so we knew that if we had to, we had the boats, we could tow to land," he said. "We didn't know what land that was. I mean, it was a jungle, you know?"
For hours, the surfers floated.
Meantime, two crew-members and a guest took a small skiff towed behind the big boat that sank to try and find help.
"'Alright guys, light off one of the smoke things,' so we light off the smoke thing, we threw it up," he said.
Fellow boaters who heard the distress call had been searching for the surfers.
Before noon, a rescue was underway.
"You know, he comes up, and we're just like, 'Oh, thank God,' " he said. "It was just the best thing you've ever seen. You're just like, 'Thank you!' "
The surfers lost their belongings, but have made it safely home.
