When two Newport Beach fishermen headed out for a routine trip, they had no idea they were about to pull off a miraculous cruise ship employee rescue right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Sean Norton and Grant Garrett were out fishing for marlin near Catalina Island on a Friday morning. By noon they were making their way back home when their boat’s captain noticed something strange bobbing in the water. They were nearly 20 miles off the coast of Southern California. It was just open water everywhere you looked.
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s a human being. Stop the boat; let’s get all of our lines in.'” Garrett said.
They didn’t just keep driving or assume it was ocean debris. Most of us would have second-guessed what we saw out in the open water, but they immediately stopped what they were doing and reached out.
The fishermen rushed to the side of the boat to help the 37-year-old man who was treading water in the swells. Norton explained the desperate moments of pulling the stranger to safety.
“Grant and I each got an arm and lifted him up,” Norton said. “He was in total shock.”
Once the man caught his breath and came to his senses, he shared who he was. He was a pianist working on Royal Caribbean’s 14-deck cruise ship, Ovation of the Seas. The massive ship was on its way from Ensenada, Mexico, back to the Los Angeles area.
“The only thing he said to me was, ‘Thank you. I thought I was gonna die,'” Norton recalled.
The crew immediately put out an emergency maritime call for help and a group of Newport Beach lifeguards responded to the scene. Battalion Chief Adam Yacenda noted the sheer isolation of the rescue spot.
“It was approximately 15 to 20 miles offshore, pretty much in the middle of the ocean,” he said.
Authorities believe the pianist went overboard around 2:30 in the morning. That means he was treading water in the dark and then the blistering sun for roughly nine hours before the fishermen finally spotted him. The U.S. Coast Guard is still investigating exactly how he ended up in the ocean. He was rushed to the hospital and is expected to survive.
The men who saved him know exactly why he is still alive. The weather conditions were completely abnormal for the area.
“You have this crazy super El Niño year. This guy was in the water for probably 10 hours, but the water’s 76 degrees,” Norton said. “A different year, no way he makes it.”
Royal Caribbean Group released a statement saying, “We are providing support and assistance to our crew member during this difficult time. To respect the privacy of our employee, we have no additional details to share.”
The fishermen were just thankful that the fish they were chasing took them off their usual path that morning.
“Yeah, I’m glad we were there, and it’s, uh, I’m glad he’s doing okay,” Garrett added.
Surviving nine hours in the open ocean is almost impossible. In normal conditions a person’s body would just shut down from pure exhaustion or severe hypothermia out there, not to mention the very real threat of deadly predators circling below.
No human strength can outlast the Pacific Ocean on its own. But God’s hand was holding this man up. The Lord didn’t just keep him alive for all those hours and protect him from the deadly things in the water. He actually directed two fishermen right into his path for his rescue.
It makes me smile a bit to think how God has always had a special place for fishermen.
Is there anywhere God cannot reach? We can only imagine the sheer size and depth of the Pacific Ocean, but even out there we were able to witness God’s miraculous intervention. It reminds us of the beautiful promise in Psalm 139 that if we settle on the far side of the sea even there His hand will guide us and His right hand will hold us fast.
You might be in a season of life right now where you feel completely stranded in the middle of the ocean. You might look ahead and not see a single ray of hope anywhere. But you need to believe this today. The Lord God Jehovah who created the heavens and the earth and every living thing is right there with you. He is Almighty and He can do the great things that human hands could never even attempt.
Just as the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, His grace is sufficient for you. If God can save this man in the middle of the ocean, He can absolutely bring a change to your situation too. Trust Him because He is the One who has authority over everything.
Please pray for this man’s full physical recovery and for his peace of mind as he heals from this terrifying experience.
WATCH: Two Fishermen Go Off Course and Find a Cruise Ship Worker Treading Water
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