A giant whale sank a boat belonging to a crew of sailors in the Pacific Ocean before they were rescued from certain death in a story reminiscent of novels. Rick Rodriguez from Florida and three of his friends spent 10 hours on a life raft and dinghy after the whale sank their 13.41-meter long vessel named "Rain Dancer." The group had planned a three-week sailing trip from the Galapagos Islands to French Polynesia, approximately 3,500 miles away in the South Pacific, but disaster struck after 13 days.
Rodriguez stated that around 1:30 PM, while enjoying pizza, he heard a loud commotion, and the back half of the boat violently tilted to the right. The crew members, each from their own vantage point, saw a whale collide with the boat. Five seconds later, an alarm went off warning of water flooding the vessel. Rodriguez sent a distress call via radio and his location on a distress signal picked up by the Peruvian Coast Guard, who contacted the U.S. Coast Guard in California.
As saltwater seeped into the boat, the crew gathered food, emergency equipment, and fresh water, and launched a life raft and dinghy, taking enough water for a week along with a device to collect rainwater and food for three weeks. They also had a phone, a satellite Wi-Fi hotspot, and a nearly depleted external battery.
Rodriguez sent a message to his sailor friend Tommy Joyce, who was sailing the same route, writing: "This is not a joke, we hit a whale and the boat sank," and texted his brother: "Tell mom I'll be okay." After turning off the Wi-Fi hotspot for two hours to conserve battery power, Rodriguez received a reassuring message from Joyce. Hours later, he and his crew were picked up by another vessel that had received their loud calls, coordinating with Joyce and Peruvian officials.
