PLACENCIA, Belize (26 Oct 2005) -- John Bain twice had watched the sun set as he drifted in the Caribbean Sea, and as a third sunset approached, he thought he might not survive another night. Battered by waves, parched by the sun and saltwater and stung by a jellyfish, the 50-year-old Wisconsin lawyer thought of his family as he pondered how a weekend dive trip off Belize had ended with him and three other divers floating at sea for nearly three days, no dive boat or rescue in sight. "There's a time or two when I wondered about giving it up," Bain said. "But I just didn't." Bain spoke by phone from a Belize City hospital, where he was treated for hypothermia, sunburn and other injuries. He left the hospital Wednesday; two other divers, including one from Oregon, were still recovering. The body of Columbus, Ind., native Abigail Brinkman, 28, was found floating in the area where Bain, along with Nancy Masters, 38, a nurse from Portland, Ore., and Yutaka Maeda, 34, a Japanese national, were rescued 2 ½ days after they went into the water. The four were part of a 12-member dive trip that left South Silk Caye off the tiny Central American nation Saturday morning despite a small craft warning and rough seas in the wake of Hurricane Wilma. After the boat began having mechanical problems, most of the expedition got off at an island, but the four divers continued on the trip. "There were reports the anchor broke, the engine stopped, and the radio wasn't working," said Marco Prouty, an official with the U.S. Embassy in Belize. Belizean authorities were investigating. Bain, a Racine, Wis., attorney, said the engine stopped once and was repaired, but then it stopped a second time and the boat began to drift. The divers decided to try to swim back to South Silk Caye, which he said was still in sight. Bain, an experienced diver, said the water was still a "bit rough" from Hurricane Wilma, but he wasn't concerned about going out. "If you're down diving, it really doesn't matter," he said of the surface conditions. The group, however, found the conditions harsher than expected, Masters told Indianapolis television station WTHR. "Once we got into the water, we realized that the waves were much larger than they even appeared," she said. Bain said the group became separated. He said he and Maeda were together the first two days, strapped together at one point because Bain's buoyancy vest, which helps divers stay afloat, wasn't working properly. | | Med student Abby Brinkman died on a scuba diving trip with Advanced Diving of Placencia Belize. The two eventually became separated, leaving Bain to face his third night at sea alone. If it was like the others, he would spend it shivering uncontrollably, and wheezing from the salt water he had ingested. He would spend it trying to avoid being slammed by waves and blowing into his buoyancy vest every few minutes to keep it inflated. As darkness approached, he saw what he thought was a search plane, which he said passed by at least twice in 40 minutes but apparently didn't see him. Help finally arrived Monday evening, when a recreational boat pulled Bain aboard. The other two survivors were picked up by a Belize Defense Forces boat, which also recovered the body of Brinkman, who was not wearing a wetsuit. Bain said thoughts of his family kept him going. He said he'll probably dive again. But the memories of his days — and nights — in the water won't fade soon. "You have no sense of direction," Bain said. "It gets cold, and there's nothing you can do but just wait it out. The nights last a long time." |
