The rescued trio with Jeff (far left) and Ashley Rainsosek of Beeville (far right), their rescuers.

July 23rd I was looking forward to a fun-filled day of fishing in the Gulf with Dora and Scotty. We reached the 9-mile marker and fished a while and did not catch any. We decided to go fish for red snapper, so we settled in for a 1-2 hour boat ride out. The report for the day was 1-3 foot seas, but as the day progressed we were seeing 3-5 foot waves.

Some time later, maybe 45 minutes into the boat ride, Scotty was concerned the boat was having a problem. As he came to the back of the boat we saw the boat taking on water.
Here we were maybe 18-20 miles out in the Gulf and definitely were not expecting this to happen. Scotty said, “Get the life vests and get to the front of the boat. We are going down.”

When I rushed to get the life vests, the water was knee-deep in the hull, I started praying and continued praying throughout the rest of the day. Scotty emptied the Yeti ice chest, grabbed a few bottles of water, and sent out distress signals as we went to the front of the boat. Now we were clinging to the railing, as the back of the boat was completely submerged. Scotty somehow tied the Yete to the boat (who knew a Yeti ice chest would float). as the boat was tipping to the side. We were huddled, still clinging to the railing, and were then thrust into the water. Dora kept telling me do not let go of the Yeti and stay together!

As we surfaced, there we were, in 3-5 foot swells, swallowing saltwater, hanging on to one another with waves crashing over us. We were secured to the Yeti, attached to the boat which was submerged upside down in the water with a portion of the hull sticking up.

Scotty told us that this boat was guaranteed not to sink completely. OK!! So as we were riding the 3-5 foot swells after some time, when Scotty was convinced the boat was not going to sink completely, he told us he was going to get up on the boat. It wasn’t easy with the boat being slippery and nothing to hang on to, but he was determined and now he sat straddling the upside down boat as the waves continued to crash over us. He looked at me and said, “It’s your turn.”

I was thinking there was no way that was happening. I made several unsuccessful attempts. I told Scotty I could not do it. He said to try one more time and use the waves to help propel me up. As I attempted one more time, he was able to reach out and help pull me up as he was balancing himself on the boat.

Here Scotty and I sit straddled across the bottom of the boat with Dora still clinging to the Yeti as we fell into the rhythm of the waves as they crashed over us. Now we needed to help Dora up on the boat. Let me mention that Dora is over 80 years old! She has been in the water since the boat went down probably about an hour.

After a brief struggle, Dora was lying across the boat nauseous and throwing up because she had swallowed so much saltwater. After some time, Dora was able to get to a sitting position So here we are Scotty, Dora, and I sitting, straddled across the upside-down boat, looking at the vastness of the Gulf.

We watched as a big ship in the distance slowly faded away. We also saw a fishing boat go by but they did not see us. Again Scotty was sending distress calls and SOS. (Later we found out they never reached the Coast Guard.)

As time passed, we settled into the rocking of the waves, sitting straddled on the boat, realizing how uncomfortable it was as we could not find a position that did not hurt, but glad we were out of the water thanks to Scotty.

As I continued to pray to God, I started realizing the severity of our present circumstances and looking in every direction and seeing water and waves, more water and waves, I asked God, “When are we going to get rescued? Are we going to be here ‘til dark, through the night – days?”

When my thoughts turned to thinking about sharks, I started singing Amazing Grace. When I sang the verses and ran out of words, I started humming. As I looked out over the water we saw a boat. Scotty took his life vest off and started waving it in the air and they were able to see the yellow reflective color. We had such a huge sigh of relief as we watched the boat coming toward us. We were PRAISING GOD and THANKING HIM!

I am so thankful that God gave Scotty the determination and strength to get us up on the boat, (I might mention that he had supernatural strength to do so.) and thankful that with Dora’s iron clad grip on my arm as we were holding on to the Yeti, there was no way I was going to drift away.

Boat (bottom-up) in the water

Rescued Boat