Gary Fernandez of Kailua was alone on his 17-foot Boston Whaler early Saturday afternoon when a rogue wave struck the boat, knocking him into the ocean miles out of Kaneohe Bay.
The boat continued on as he treaded water.
For the next six hours, the 49-year-old retired Navy chief petty officer used his military training and prayer to survive the long swim back to Kaneohe.
"I'm not going to die out here," he told himself.
Fernandez, who served as a Navy search and rescue instructor for three years, said because of his training he knew how to turn his board shorts into a flotation device. After he fell into the water, he took off the shorts, scooped air into them and scrunched the ends tightly with his hands to create an air bubble the size of an ipu, or gourd drum.
He described the board shorts as his lifesaver. "I knew if I lost this, I would die," he said yesterday as he held the the light-blue plaid Quiksilver board shorts in his hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment