In under 60 seconds the boat had gone under, according to the survivors, and the five men went into the Pacific, bobbing in heavy swells.
“You think of the next steps, but what are the next steps when you’re 15 miles in the ocean in a wind swell?” said Schwartzman. “We weren’t able to send a distress signal at all. The only thing you have out there is hope, hope that somebody finds you, hope that a helicopter flies over.”
Fortunately, the group of swimmers were military, dispatch, and medical professionals—all trained for emergencies. Bowers said the five men locked arms and started kicking and padding toward shore.
“We were looking for yellowfin tuna, then found a school of men,” Keeran, who rescued the struggling swimmers.
“It never ever occurs to you as a rescuer that you might need rescuing,”
Bowers said. “But when you do, it’s good to know that people will step up the way you would.”
Apart from the lost fishing boat, the ordeal turned out as well as it could have, with no one injured or requiring medical attention.
“We don’t consider ourselves heroes; we’re doing whatever any other fisherman would consider doing,” Keeran said. “I’m just so grateful by the grace of God, we actually did see something reflective, just the things that had to add up just to get to them.
Read the full story over on KSWB-TV.