Carnival Valor Rescue 40 Miles off the Cost of Cuba January 22-2011?

[Compass Rose]

Did anyone hear of a rescue by the Carnival Valor of three crew members from a 38-foot trawler about 40 miles off the coast of Cuba on January 22nd or 23rd? I haven't seen any news articles or pictures. Was there anyone aboard the Valor on those days who might be able to shed some light for us regarding this? Thank you so very much!

[KenMo]

Yes, there was a piece about it on our local news tonight.

They didn't say which ship and I couldn't tell which ship it was. I guessed it was Carnival from the looks of the lifeboats.

Anyway, someone in a balcony cabin took video of the rescue. It was taking place right beneath their balcony.

[Compass Rose]

Thank you so much! The people who were rescued are friends of ours. They were in a 38-foot Marine Trader Trawler headed for Isla Mujeres. They were about 40 miles off the coast of Cuba when unpredicted weather hit and they were battered by 50 mps winds and had to abandon ship. The Carnival Valor picked the three crew members up, along with a very scared cat. I don't know more than that, but as you can imagine, we are all very concerned for our friends. It seems as though they made it onboard safe enough. If there is any information you can give me about the video, I'd appreciate it. All their wives who were at Isla Mujeres waiting for them to arrive are all heartsick, but thank God everyone is alive.

[ILov2cruise]

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/

[Compass Rose]

Thank you! We are just now watching the video of this rescue. Thank you, once again!

[cuccicruisers]

yup - saw the whole thing. we were having lunch in the washington dining room when we slowed and the engines were stopped. the ship listed and a lot of water was lost in the back adult pool.

the captain and the two passengers of the fishing vessel abandoned ship. they threw a rope but they were getting turned around in a whirlpool next to the ship. it looked like an attached dingy was causing serious problems. the boat was let go and sailed away and by the looks of the way it was handling the swells i cannot imagine it lasted very long.

it was nice to see they took the u.s. flag off with them. can't imagine the cat was very happy. thank goodness they were ok....

[Compass Rose]

Originally Posted by cuccicruisers

yup - saw the whole thing. we were having lunch in the washington dining room when we slowed and the engines were stopped. the ship listed and a lot of water was lost in the back adult pool.

the captain and the two passengers of the fishing vessel abandoned ship. they threw a rope but they were getting turned around in a whirlpool next to the ship. it looked like an attached dingy was causing serious problems. the boat was let go and sailed away and by the looks of the way it was handling the swells i cannot imagine it lasted very long.

it was nice to see they took the u.s. flag off with them. can't imagine the cat was very happy. thank goodness they were ok....

"Smudge" was not an avid sailor, but she was slowly getting used to life at sea. No, she was not a happy cat at all! This truly was my friend's whole life, but at least he is safe. Knowing him, he'll move quickly on to other adventures, but this was truly a very very bad experience. The flag was very special. Thank you for your response. Thank everyone!

[cuccicruisers]

awwww...poor smudge. i was traveling with kids and all they wanted to do was go find the cat and pet it.

[mcwebber]

Interesting story. He's apparently a fiction writer who had written about getting rescued by a cruise ship.

http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florid...by-cruise-ship

[JRDOF3]

The video you are seeing all over the news was my video, My brother (who was on the ship with my) sent it in, was pretty amazing!

[KenMo]

Originally Posted by JRDOF3

The video you are seeing all over the news was my video, My brother (who was on the ship with my) sent it in, was pretty amazing!

Other than the rescue, how was the rest of your trip?? LOL

Did you happen to see/speak to the people who were rescued?

[sanmarcosman]

Originally Posted by KenMo

Other than the rescue, how was the rest of your trip?? LOL

Did you happen to see/speak to the people who were rescued?

Any day at sea is better than a day at work....

[Compass Rose]

Originally Posted by JRDOF3

The video you are seeing all over the news was my video, My brother (who was on the ship with my) sent it in, was pretty amazing!

Thank you so much for doing that. Yes, he is a writer. He and his wife sold everything they had so they could travel around the caribbean on that trawler.

[wcurry66]

Originally Posted by mcwebber

Interesting story. He's apparently a fiction writer who had written about getting rescued by a cruise ship.

http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florid...by-cruise-ship

To the PP who knows him.. WHY was an author out on this boat? The coincidence is bound to bring up accusations of him trying to sell his book. If you know that background, it may quell the mobs

[klmorg]

This story is getting alot of press... here locally and nationally. It's a great story, and I'm glad everyone was safely rescued.

[mistygris]

WASAFIRI WANDERINGS (final) – Abandoned Ship off Cuba

January 23, 2011 – Wes DeMott (captain), Paul Rodriguez and Ken Quillen (crew), safely onboard the Carnival Cruise ship VALOR, heading toward Miami

While approximately 40 miles off the coast of Cuba and 210 miles from Isla Mujeres, Mexico, where we intended to meet our wives, a threatening weather forecast dictated that I change our heading to bring my 38’ trawler closer to Cuba as a safety precaution.

Over the next ninety minutes the winds increased to an unpredicted 50 miles per hour, creating large swells and beam seas. I changed course again and aimed for the small port of Key Julius, Cuba. With the weather to our stern, we surfed along at 1 ½ times maximum hull speed.

At one point we accelerated so fast down a large wave that the towing eye of my 13’ tender broke out of the fiberglass hull and flew at WASAFIRI. When the wave passed, we apparently settled down on top of its tow line, which still had the towing eye attached. The line and eye wrapped around our prop, severely limiting its use. I decided to dive under the boat to clear it, but the severity of the deteriorating conditions inspired Paul to insist that I didn’t, which was prudent.

The rope eventually fouled our rudder and WASAFIRI turned beam-to the waves and rolled dramatically, often as much as 45 or 50 degrees. I accepted that the boat might roll over at any time, especially when the twin 800-pound water tanks came loose and slammed around in the bilge and the refrigerator broke free of its mounts, joining a growing number of loose items shifting around in the cabins.

After several unsuccessful attempts to raise anyone on the radio, I did get a radio response from the Carnival Cruise ship VALOR, which offered its assistance. With my vessel coming apart, no hope of making port, and no tow vessels responding, I reluctantly requested that they take us aboard as we abandoned ship.

Masterful seamanship by Captain De Angelis had us aboard quickly, and I want to sincerely thank him and his wonderful crew for showing true human kindness for us as mariners and, well, just people. They also took good care of Smudge the Sea Cat, who I managed to get off board along with my American flag, which I’ll proudly fly again one day soon on another vessel.

Most of you know that my wife, Sabine, and I freed ourselves of everything but our most precious possessions before taking off on this adventure last June. We lost all of those important items with the boat. But as I write this I have a good friend waiting to fly me from the port of Miami to my wife, who will hug me, sit quietly with me for a while, and then ask me what adventure comes next. And those are what seem important to us. For life, I think, is about friendship and what happens in the dash between dates on a headstone. It feels right to me and Sabine that the far end of our dash will mark either our old age or a great but failed adventure.

Like opera, I suppose, it’s something people either understand or they don’t.

To adventure, and to those seek it . . . Wes

[cjackso8]

Originally Posted by Compass Rose

"Smudge" was not an avid sailor, but she was slowly getting used to life at sea. No, she was not a happy cat at all! This truly was my friend's whole life, but at least he is safe. Knowing him, he'll move quickly on to other adventures, but this was truly a very very bad experience. The flag was very special. Thank you for your response. Thank everyone!

I have a cat named Smudge!

[cruisinone]

We have done two rescuses at sea one time a guy had aheart attack 250 miles off of Cuba and we brought him to Cozumel. Ps he lived we saved his life. Another time a sailboat ran out of gas and there was no wind so we had to drop a life boat down and give him some gas we were about 250 miles out of Miami

[cjskids]

It's all over the news here in Naples as that is where they were from. They've showed interviews with them and all is just fine.

They are now busy discussing how he was busy writing a book about how a book is being written about a rescue at sea on a cruise ship. Making some interesting comments locally.

Here is the local story:

NAPLES, Fla: Three Southwest Florida men and a cat were rescued from their boat by crew members of a Carnival cruise ship after sending out a distress call Saturday afternoon. A cruise ship passenger caught the rescue on video.

The Naples-based Wasafiri was thrown back and forth on the water just 12 miles off the coast of Cuba around 2 p.m. Saturday.

"The rope and that toe-eye tangled up in one propeller which seriously limited our power, and it eventually got tangled in our rudder," said Wes Demott of Naples.

A Carnival cruise ship came to the rescue. One of the passengers, Carl Ray, recorded the rescue.

Passengers on the cruise ship understood the gravity of the situation as the smaller boat pulled toward the Valor.

Demott saw the video for the first time Sunday.

Demott says the boat he left behind was also his home. Priceless belongings and memories are all gone.

He says he likely won't see it again.

"The clothes we have on are the entirety of our wardrobe," said Demott.

He says he's thankful to be back on dry land.

"At the end of the day it is just stuff. Valuable stuff, but stuff," said Demott.

A man of adventure, he says this experience won't deter him from a new one--on or off the water.

None of the three men aboard the boat were hurt.

Demott tells us the other passengers were from Fort Myers and Port Charlotte.

Carnival issued the following statement:

On January 22, 2010 at approximately 2:00 p.m. the Carnival Valor engaged in the rescue of three U.S. citizens and a cat, after receiving a distress call from a nearby small craft vessel. All three individuals and the cat were brought onboard. According to the individuals rescued they departed Key West on January 20, and were headed towards the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula. The Carnival Valor was returning to the Port of Miami from a seven-day Caribbean cruise and arrived as scheduled at the port earlier this morning.

[capndinghy]

Those are some lucky sailors. I am happy to see they were rescued and do hope that their Trawler was insured. On the other hand, perhaps some Cuban will return it to Florida someday soon?