How easily could you swim 2 miles? In an Olympic-sized pool (50 meters long), you must swim 16 laps (down and back) to complete 1 mile; could you swim 32 laps? The task becomes more daunting if you suddenly find yourself overboard in Mississippi Sound as Long Beach, Miss., shrimper Mitchell Sevel did Sunday night.
A rogue wave hit the 45-foot Kar-Lyn-Dawn, causing the 30-year veteran to slip and fall overboard. The boat continued on, and the noise of the vessel's generator prevented the boat owner in the wheelhouse from hearing Sevel yelling for help. The boat continued steaming along.
According to the Biloxi Sun Herald, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources says he fell overboard about 2 miles off Pass Christian. Sevel quickly decided that he had little choice but to start swimming if he wanted to survive.
Still, he worried that he wouldn't have enough energy to swim all the way back to shore. But thoughts of his wife, Lori, kept him going.
Hours later, Sevel found his way to shore in West Past Christian, Miss. He pulled the fire alarm at the nearby Henderson Port Condos for help and was reunited with his family by 1:30 a.m. Monday. You can see the couple recount Sevel's remarkable story in the Sun Herald video below.
That Sevel could fight the current in the dark of night, and the fear that likely accompanied being alone in a vast, cold ocean is remarkable. Those resiliency lessons his father taught him truly paid off.
Of course, Gulf of Mexico shrimpers, who in recent years have dealt with an influx of cheap imported shrimp, devastating hurricanes and the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, are a pretty resilient bunch.
Sevel is a lucky man. Would the rest of us be so lucky? If you and your crew aren't using them already, consider wearing PFDs. Safety experts say they extend your survival time in the water. And today's PFDs are manufactured to be far more comfortable to wear on deck.
Nor would it hurt to invest in a personal locator beacon that you can wear. You switch it on manually to alert rescue personnel of your predicament and position. Ones that allow GPS units to be integrated into the distress signal can help rescuers home in on your position even more accurately (within 100 meters). Safety gear like PFDs and PLBs can keep you alive should you find yourself, like Sevel, going for an unexpected swim.
