Lost In The Gulf (Based On A True Story) (Edited)
Lost In The Gulf
(Based On A True Story)
By Timmy Chesney
Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith decide to go on a fishing trip with experts named Bob Smith and Bobby Jones. Marquis and Corey go to a port in Tampa, Florida to meet Bob and Bobby. They quickly find them next to a normal sized, 21 foot fishing boat with four fishing poles hanging off the back.
The four men head out on their fishing trip, and after about 15 minutes out, they stop and try to catch fish. They catch a couple, but then move on.
After a long day of fishing, night came and the fishing trip was about to end. Over the course of the day, the seas had gradually grown rough and the weather stormy. As they returned, the waves grew even bigger and tossed the boat around like toy in the bathtub. Suddenly a huge wave hit them broadsides and tipped the boat over. One fisherman, Bobby Jones, was able to scramble onto the capsized boat, even as more waves battered him. He screamed out for his friends, but they were nowhere to be seen.
Marquis Cooper is alone in the Gulf of Mexico struggling to swim when he remembers he has a gadget where he can send out a distress signal to call for help. In the blackness of the night, he reaches deep into his pocket, pulls it out, pushes the button, and activates it. Marquis knew no one was going to come immediately, if at all, but all he could do was hope.
The Coast Guard got Marquis’ signal and went out into the gulf with a search party. They searched for hours, but couldn’t find anything. Finally they saw an overturned boat with someone dangling from the hull. They took Bobby into their boat and he told them that he had been hanging on for 46 hours. When the Coast Guard checked Bobby’s temperature, the thermometer said a dangerously low, 89 degrees.
Marquis is waiting and still struggling to swim, and he doesn’t have much energy left in him. About the time he has lost all hope he sees a boat, and with his last bit of strength, he begins yelling and flailing his arms around. When the boat approaches, he sees that it says Coast Guard on it, and in a state of delerious joy, Marquis is carried into the boat and is finally safe.
Marquis and Bobby are saved. However, Corey Smith and Bob Smith are still missing and presumed dead. Marquis and Bobby were devastated about the loss of their friends, and yet all they can do is pray for them and hope that a miracle will happen.
