By Chad Love

An Alaskan fisherman thrown into the sea when his boat sank survived a night adrift by turning a four-foot plastic tub into an impromptu lifeboat.

From this story in the Seattle Times:
A fisherman who spent a night adrift in a 4-by-4 foot plastic fish bin after his boat sank off Alaska says he gave himself pep talks and sang "Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" to keep his spirits up.

His fellow crewmember managed to get into a survival suit and washed ashore on a beach after his own night afloat. A Coast Guard helicopter hoisted Ryan Harris, 19, of Sitka, from his plastic "lifeboat" on Saturday, more than 24 hours after the boat sank on Friday, the Daily Sitka Sentinel reported Monday.

According to the story, Harris and fellow fisherman Stonie Huffman were fishing for coho salmon when the hydraulics failed on their 28-foot boat. The two men fixed the problem, but when they decided to return to port they ran into high waves, one of which flipped the boat and dumped the men into the sea. Huffman, who had managed to put on a survival suit, was later found alive on a beach. Harris, meanwhile, had managed to climb into a four-foot plastic fish bin, spending the night bobbing on the waves before being rescued by the Coast Guard the next day.

Comments (5)

from ENO wrote 39 weeks 5 days ago

I would like to nominate this guy as a guest blogger for Field and Stream.

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from RockySquirrel wrote 39 weeks 5 days ago

I second that nomination.

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from wannabe1 wrote 39 weeks 4 days ago

Ryan Harris is more of a man than Chuck Norris will ever be. It is unreal that he survived that.

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from Ralph the Rifleman wrote 38 weeks 1 day ago

This was a miracle he survived!

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from missedit wrote 17 weeks 3 days ago

A bad day at sea sir!!!
Give that man a star!!!

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from ENO wrote 39 weeks 5 days ago

I would like to nominate this guy as a guest blogger for Field and Stream.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from RockySquirrel wrote 39 weeks 5 days ago

I second that nomination.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from wannabe1 wrote 39 weeks 4 days ago

Ryan Harris is more of a man than Chuck Norris will ever be. It is unreal that he survived that.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Ralph the Rifleman wrote 38 weeks 1 day ago

This was a miracle he survived!

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from missedit wrote 17 weeks 3 days ago

A bad day at sea sir!!!
Give that man a star!!!

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Post a Comment

 

All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.