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Former Coast Guard Captain Saved his life with Snorkeling Vest while Swimming in Pacific Ocean

Former Coast Guard Captain Saved his life with Snorkeling Vest while Swimming in Pacific Ocean

Written by Fernando Lopez
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Published on March 17, 2010

Captain Dave Truitt former Flotilla commander of the Coast Guard Auxiliary and skipper of the Intrigue one of the main USCGAUX rescue boats in Chicago is well known in the Chicago maritime community, as chairman of the “Chicago Marine Heritage Society” which sponsors many of Chicago’s well known Marine events and the preservation of many sunken 19 century mercenary boats that litter the floor of lake Michigan and he also serves as captain of the famous “Christmas Ship” that lightens up the hearts of many Chicagoan families on the holidays.

He has seen his share of marine rescues which served him well on a swim he took in the Pacific Ocean that turned nearly deadly, and it wasn’t a vessel or chopper that saved his life it was a simple yellow ScubaPro Snorkeling Vest that he bought from Scuba.com a week before he left on vacation that saved him from the abyss of the Pacific.

Captain Dave Truitt on the Right
Captain Dave Truitt on the Right

It all happened while vacationing on Tamarindo Beach in Costa Rica with his girlfriend Charlotte. Both, passionate swimmers who have swum in many exotic oceans and rivers around the globe, desired to swim to an island 1 mile off the beach. After all he did this stretch 6 years before without a hitch, but this time around the waves were very rough due to gusty winds that didn’t stop since their arrival.  On the 6th day of the vacation his intuition told him he could finally conquer this stretch of water.
He geared up in his usual swim protection gear,  flipper boots, gloves and his new ScubaPro Cruiser Snorkeling Vest, and as additional protection he arranged with his girlfriend and another local to kayak out to the island before him. As soon as the kayaks paddled out the captain, with an adrenaline rush of an athlete at the start of competition, dove into the ocean.

About 200 yards off the beach he looked up and scanned the horizon for the kayakers, but only saw one of them and going off course. The ferocious waves forced them back leaving his backup plan out of commission. He thought it’s just a minor diversion caused by the waves and they would correct themselves soon. He kept on swimming, to quoted the captain “I was in paradise”, his adrenaline pumping and his eyes staring towards his goal.

To reach the island one has to swim northwest of the island and then swim back east to the western edge because of  razor sharp lava rock that surround the island on the south making swimming there very dangerous. It takes a bit longer but safer. After battling his way through the ferocious waves he finally made it to the western tip of the island just 300 ft away, half his feat (he still had to swim back) seemed conquered. He turned right and started swimming to the island but the ocean had other plans that day. He got caught in a rip current, exhausted from his swim he was in a deadly situation.

He started swimming at a 10 o’clock angle towards the island so not to be in direct opposition of the currents path but he didn’t move any closer the current actually pushed him farther away he tried several different angles to no avail, after many attempts with no progress he inflated his vest to help him keep afloat and preserve the little energy he had left for his struggle with the ocean, he tried desperately again and again to reach the island but the current kept on pushing him back into the vastness of the pacific, as a former coast guard captain he quickly realized that without a fight this is certain death, so he kept on battling, but every time he though he made progress the water picked him up and pushed him back, it was like the ocean was playing a sadistic death game of chess with his life, with each of his move he threatened checkmate, but knowing that death is waiting on the other side it gave him determination to battle on, to quote the captain “I was determined not to die at sea but rather die trying” So he kept on struggling, with his energy quickly fading, but the humans will to live defies all odds when all strength has failed, miracles are out of order, the will to survive is so strong that it will cling to any illogical hope and fight with the last gram of  stamina, and so the captain kept on swimming again and again trying to reach the island that seemed so close but yet so elusive

What seemed like his 30th attempt he was finally able to grasp tips of rocks with his toes which gave him some grip of land but water rushing underneath his torso pushed him back again. He decided to turn around on his back not to let water bridge under his torso and with the heels of his feet and hands he crawled forward like a turtle. After awhile he felt big shells sticking out of the sand which gave him a stronger grip and slowly but surely he crept onto the island.

He finally stepped foot on the island, a barren one to say the least. Being in direct path of open ocean winds, no livable thing could survive here only thorny cactus trees and huge shells that dug themselves deep into the sand, but for the moment this was paradise for Captain Truitt.

He realized of course that this was just the beginning of his survival, he won his strangulation battle with an angry ocean, but the game was far from over, with no coast guard to rescue him he had to hope his girlfriend would be able to scratch together a rescue team from the locals, but first he needed to signal a sign of life that he arrived to the island because no one on the beach in their right mind would think he ever made it, swimming back was of course not an option

An anxious crowd had gathered on the beach by now scanning the ocean for signs of him, but no one saw him, desperation started to grow, but his girlfriend Charlotte kept assuring everyone that Dave never turns around when he goes he goes and gets there, but with no sign of life it was hard to convince.

Island as seen from Beach (with Telephoto Lens)
Island as seen from Beach (with Telephoto Lens)

The problem was that the island seemed much closer to the beach then it actually is because with no other objects in the field of vision from the beach to the island the perception of distance makes the island appear much closer then its actual distance, they were convinced that if they can’t see him then he is not actually there.
Back on the island his first instinct was to signal the folk on the beach, he took off his vest and started waving it, but his survival mode kicked in and as a veteran seaman he knew that what the ocean didn’t do the equators sun will finish, he went a bit higher up ground and built himself a hovel by weaving leaves together and hanging it  on cactus trees to protect him from the sun, and laid down to gather strength from his exhaustion, every 15 minutes he went out and waved his vest in the direction of the beach but to no avail.

After numerous attempts waving the vest with his hands and raised on a branch he came up with an idea to deflect the yellow of the vest in the direction of the beach it was maybe desperate logic but with no alternatives everything goes, It worked like magic, while Charlotte who has peripheral vision was running up and down the beach with hotel staff and others searching for him on the island she caught the glimpse of the yellow with her left eye, it was just a glimpse but she knew it’s a signal of life and that her love is reaching out for help, she felt relieved, her intuition was correct.

A couple which made their acquaintance during this trip came up with an idea to use their camera with telephoto lens to search for him, so they went back to their hotel room to grab it and started searching through the cameras viewfinder and snapping images, at last they enlarged one of the images through the cameras screen and they saw an outline of him with the yellow vest hanging on a branch above him.

Euphoria erupted on the beach.

The hotel staff which by now joined in the search arranged for a local to kayak to the island to bring him back, the captain was watching as the kayak paddled out, but after half the distance he saw him turn around, he knew the reason was because the guy thought he is much closer to the island and since he could see him it was no use to battle the rough sea, back on the beach Charlotte convinced him to try again that she could see him, so he went back once more, the captain knew that a kayak rescue will not work since there is no way they could both get into the kayak and paddle out without overturning, they needed a launch boat in order for both to be able to get in and get off the island as soon as he arrived he tried to explaining it to the local with the little Spanish he knew, but the guy who was huge wasn’t convinced so the captain went into the bow of the kayak, but soon the wave throw him up in the air and overturned him landing on rock cutting a gash in his foot, reluctantly the kayaker went back overturning his kayak several times on rocks pretty hard.

ResuerSmashedIntoRocks
Rescuer Smashes Into Rocks on His Way Back

 

Meanwhile the captain saw a party boat coming in from the ocean, he started waving and yelling to them but they didn’t hear his cries for help.

Back on the beach they arranged for a launch boat with two other people to go to the island and déjà vu to the dismay of the captain he saw him returning midway again the same perception of distance illusion, but this time around they had a cell phone on them so they called to the people on the beach that they could not see him but they assured them that they could see them via the telephoto lens, so the turned around and finally reached the island.

Launcher Aprroaches Island
Launcher Aprroaches Island

but getting everybody into the launcher and back into the ocean wasn’t an easy task either, being in the coast guard he knew a thing or 2 about getting into a boat, so with scraps of Spanish he tried to explain to them that he needs to get into the ship by the bow and someone should push them out but the guy insisted in the middle of the boat and everyone in it so he went into the middle and again the tried to sail out and the wave picked them up threw them on the rocks and cut an even deeper wound in his foot, frustrated he forced them to listen to his instruction he went into the bow the other rescuer stayed on the beach and pushed them into the ocean and then they threw him a line and reeled him into the boat.

After a four hour ordeal he was finally on his way to safety and the outstretched arms of his girlfriend.

Captain Overjoyed Upon Reaching Shore
Captain Reaching Shore
Charlotte is Overjoyed
Charlotte is Overjoyed
With The Rescue Team
With The Rescue Team

Captain Truitt has seen his share of marine rescues, swam in many oceans around the globe, scuba and free dived to great depths nothing he said scared him like this 4 hour ordeal, but as they say what doesn’t’ break you will make you stronger, two days later the captain was back for a one mile swim in a river South West of town with crocodiles up stream.

It’s amazing how a simple Snorkeling vest has so many safety applications, Captain Truitt pointed out.

  1. It preserves your body temperature
  2. Protects your from the sun
  3. Serves as a float in emergencies
  4. The yellow is a great signaling beacon

During his ordeal the captain ruptured the bladder of his Snorkeling vest so Leisure Pro sent him a new one

ScubaproVest
The ScubaPro Cruiser Snorkeling Vest that Save the Captains Life