One woman was lost at sea for days — forced to drink her own urine to survive before being rescued
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NEED TO KNOW
- In 1989, a couple went out on what was meant to be a seven-day sailing trip — and one of them never came home
- Janet Culver shared her survival story with PEOPLE at the time
- Culver would be lost at sea for days — forced to drink her own urine to survive before being rescued
A couple who met through a newspaper personal ad would see their relationship end in tragedy after a sailing trip went horribly awry.
It was 1988 when Janet Culver and Nicholas Abbott Jr. met. "Nick," as she called him, was a 50-year-old former commodities broker who left Wall Street to spend more time following his passion: sailing. Janet was a 48-year-old legal secretary based in New Jersey.
Just five months after they met, they decided to embark on "the trip of their lives," as PEOPLE detailed in a 1989 story. Nick had been contracted to sail from St. George, Bermuda, to Greenport, Long Island, a journey of about 700 miles that was scheduled to take seven days aboard a 37-foot sailboat named Anaulis.
As PEOPLE detailed in its story, "If everything went according to plan, the trip might have ended with a wedding announcement."
But as Janet herself told PEOPLE, the dream would soon turn to a nightmare.
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"It was a postcard perfect day when we left Bermuda on the Anaulis — blue sky, nice breeze and sun for a romantic departure," Janet told PEOPLE at the time.
The couple set out on Wednesday, July 12, 1989, with Janet telling PEOPLE she was "really impressed" by the vessel, which was equipped with "electronic controls, a refrigerator and cabinets stocked with canned food."
But a storm hit the first night, taking Janet down with seasickness and leading to lashing rain that lasted four days.
"The waves were about 10 feet high, and we had to stay attached to a lifeline at all times," Janet told PEOPLE. "On deck we'd get hit by the spray as we plunged into the troughs, then ride up to the top of the next wave. Up and down, day and night. Sometimes a rogue wave would hit us from the side and drench us. I couldn't believe I was doing this."
On night four, a loud sound woke Janet from her sleep, and she scrambled up to the deck to see Nick trying to balance the boat after the main sail came loose. Soon after, Nick discovered two inch-wide holes on the inside of the hull, attempting to patch them with putty. Then, the propeller shaft came loose, leaving a hole some two feet in diameter in the stern hull. That was when the water came pouring in.
Within ten minutes, the water was up to the kitchen counters and the couple made the decision to gather food and get in the safety raft.
"Once we were in the raft, we pushed away in the dark. The waves weren't too high, so we could see the boat lights for a long time, watching the outline slowly recede," Janet recounted.
Small holes in the bottom of the raft meant the couple spent days in two or three inches of seawater, huddling beneath a Space Blanket to keep each other warm.
The couple spent the first day talking, Janet said, fantasizing about a life abroad sailing the Greek islands, or even having children together.
"Later the first day, when the huge waves started up, we stopped dreaming and got serious about survival," Janet said.
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Sixteen-foot waves (in sets of two or three) began hitting the couple as they survived on cold cuts and drank 7 Up.
"Every time a big wave would hit us and we had to bail [water out of the raft], we would reward ourselves with a sip of 7 Up, and after that ran out, Coke," she said.
Three days later, the sun broke through. Then a a rogue wave capsized the raft. The couple was able to right it and climb back in, but lost everything within except a half-filled Coke bottle. Sunburnt, the couple began to experience sores made worse by the salt water.
There were bright spots — such as when Nick fashioned a spear gun out of a heavy nylon line and fishing hook fastened to an oar and caught a small fish. But he was deteriorating fast, his hands bloody from the harpoon and his skin burnt.
"After about eight or nine days on the raft, we ran out of water and were forced to drink our own urine," Janet told PEOPLE. "It sounds awful now, but in those circumstances you do what's necessary to stay alive."
On the 10th day, Nick started acting peculiar. "He looked delirious, maybe even slightly deranged. I wasn't much better, though I still had my senses," Janet later said.
That evening, Nick took off all his clothes, said, "Life isn't worth living like this," slipped out of the raft, and swam away, never to be seen again.
But Janet persisted, describing herself as a "puny, bony creature slumped at one end of the raft, wishing a fish would jump in."
Amazingly, on the fourth day by herself, a fish did jump in. Janet grabbed it, cutting off its fin and tail and scraping the scales off so excitedly she nearly missed a large sailboat a quarter-mile away.
"I stuck the fish in my pocket, then started waving the orange life jacket above my head," she told PEOPLE. "They saw me and headed straight for the raft."
Janet was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital near Hamilton, Bermuda, where she recuperated from sunburn and anemia and spoke to PEOPLE about the ordeal.
''Each day I stayed alive was another chance to be rescued,'' she said. ''Something deep inside told me to hang on one more day, one more day.''
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