I know you are not very surprised. But was he?

Florida is the greatest, and your pal is, too.

This is an amazing story. Your site is top shelf. Thanks for that. Very cool. Hope you won some kind of 'Blog Award', or whatever Bloggers seem to be blogging about nowadays. You surely deserve it.

Was Monroe ever bit by a dead bee, ala 'To Have and Have Not'?

It's amazing, the things that seem so insignificant until suddenly, they're not.

Wow, an amazing story of in-the-nick-of-time-heroism, sharp eyes, split seconds, and prayers being answered out in the open ocean. I'm surprised, though, how hard it is to get someone to crew. I guess that's how it is in Florida, maybe, when going out on a boat may be relatively commonplace. I kept thinking, I would have loved to have gone with him!

Beautiful boat, by the way.

If the people had been lost at sea, some would argue that the tragedy proves God does not exist. Yet, amazing grace, they "once were lost and now are found," so surely that proves that God does exist. Right?

... Sound of crickets chirping.

(I don't mean you, Gerard.)

Get outta here! That's a great yarn.

Now I want to know who those guys were and what they thought they were doing out there.

That's an incredible story. Of course, at the end I was hoping they would shout "America! Cuba Libre!"

Bravo Zulu to your friend.

Mikey NTH, USCG Aux.

As we say in AA....another Godincidence.

Thanks, Gerard.

Wasn't that from a Travis McGee story?

Travis McGee. He spun a good tale and made his characters believable and interesting--"The Busted Flush" might be as good a boat name as I've ever heard. And this story does ring a bell; I have read something either very much like it, or it, before.

Dan:

"McGee" was the character...the author was John D. McDonald.

"Slip F-18, Bahia Mar, Ft. Lauderdale" sounds like a pretty good address right now. This afternoon was the first time in four days that we creeped above zero here in Minnesnowta.

Blackwing1: Don't jump to conclusions. The South, from what I hear, is currently in the middle of a vicious cold snap -- it's actually warmer in Alaska than it is in Alabama right now.

Blackwing1: I knew that...really...I mean it.

Wowzer! I think the moral of the story is you should give in to the temptation if you want a beer.

Seriously though, your friend is the arch-typical "common hero". Bravo.

With all respect, Tank Slapper, please do not mis-use the word "hero". Monroe took no extraordinary risks or efforts to do what he did. He was serious, paying attention to what he saw, and did the right thing promptly. Monroe is not a hero, but he's something almost as good -- he's a man.

John D. MacDonald wrote a non-Travis McGee novel, THE LAST ONE LEFT, which opens with a scene very much like this one. I suppose in the maritime culture of the Florida coast, incidents like this are fairly common, although Monroe's luck and presence of mind certainly isn't.

I liked this story the last time you posted it too.

Inspiring story.

p.s. He looks very fair skinned. Please remind your friend he needs to wear a little sun screen!

Great story five years on.

Yes indeed, Bravo Zulu.

If Monroe ever needs some crew, give him my email address, please.

I'd be an honor.

I've done that run several times, but on the other side of the state, in the gulf. The water is a little calmer but it still beats you to death. When we hit the dock I thought all my guts were jumbled so it took about 14 Stella Artois's to get them back in order. The last run was in a 26' Donzi with (2) Chevy 350's and we skimmed the whitecaps at about 70mph the whole way with Dark Side of the Moon playing at 250 watts. Just under 5 hours from Sugarloaf Key to Useppa Island.

That's my kind of boat trip sniper.

We'll just float along here at the dock, thank you. When the winds whip up to stead 35knts and there's 2-3 ft rollers in the river, we might as well be on a boat run on the ocean. After 24-48 hours on the boat in winds like that, only rum will do.

We've been living aboard for a year, and in that time they've lost 3 people right here at the marina. They drove their car off the road and into the pluff mud at high tide. Lost a dock hand the year before. The water... she doesn't give up before you do.

Thanks for AMERICAN DIGEST and for your constant attention to the "doings" of manking, Gerard .. I've admired your presence for a long time but this is the first time of communicating with you .. I have "lifted" topics from your page quite a few times with full attribution of course and I give you here the marvelous salvation of a regular day on the ocean ... Thanks again and keep us all honest!! Blessings to you and yours ... ;-)

Great story--very inspiring. But I'm confused.

He's going from the Keys to Lauderdale so he's heading north. He turns "...to my right to put [my beer] down" and sees the sinking boat--east of his location. In fact, he says he turns his boat "out to sea" to check out the situation--to the east.

But later he says that the Stream "...would have taken them north much faster than they could have swum east."

Shouldn't that be "swum west?" Or am I missing something?

My mistake. They would have swum west. Fixed. Thank you.