r/news • u/koi-lotus-water-pond • 11h ago
Cruise ship pianist rescued after nine hours treading water miles from shore | California
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/08/royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-pianist-rescue1.7k
u/RabidPlaty
10h ago
•
I donāt think thereās any way I can tread water for an hour let alone nine.
1.1k
u/koi-lotus-water-pond 10h ago
Maybe he was doing the dead man's float type of treading water that they teach you in swim class and that helped. Bc 9 hours is a hell of a long to actually tread water.
428
u/Sandee1997 9h ago
I would have died from fear of whatās in the water long before i drowned
184
u/stenzycake 9h ago
The oceans massive. Also, I donāt think shark risk is high in middle of nowhere where thereās no fish. But I havenāt watched shark week in a decade.
121
→ More replies (3)19
u/RippinFissure 9h ago
Don't some sharks tend to follow these ships to snack off of the refuse that makes it overboard?
→ More replies (2)17
u/FigaroNeptune 8h ago
Soon as I hit the water boom heart attack. Iām shitting, peeing and throwing up mid air first though. Lmao
5
11
9
u/Environmental_Top948 9h ago
I don't think I'd have survived the sunlight and like 2 hours of being at the beach is like sandpaper to my skin.
→ More replies (1)7
332
u/RabidPlaty 10h ago
I was thinking it had to be some level of floating mixed in but nine hours is still insane to me.
264
u/lertheblur 10h ago
I mean, you're literally fighting for your life. It IS crazy, but it's like lifting a car to save your baby, etc. You just do it.
→ More replies (2)107
u/RabidPlaty 10h ago
But I donāt think most people would just do it. Nine hours is a crazy amount of time.
→ More replies (11)→ More replies (1)47
u/stenzycake 9h ago
People overkill when it comes to treading salt water. Nothing like a lake or pool, itās very easy. If one is out of shape they could float in a vertical sitting position with minimal arm movement and no leg use. Not for 9 hours though.
If relaxed you could lay on your back for hours in a survival situation in calm water.
→ More replies (1)23
u/FuzzyComedian638 8h ago
One advantage of being out of shape is that fat floats. Muscle tends to sink.
→ More replies (4)69
u/waiting-for-the-sun 10h ago
Also, salt water is relatively buoyant compared to say pool water. That would help
2
u/mishonis- 4h ago
I don't understand why the dead man's float always comes up when the starfish float is way more comfortable in that you have your face up and can breathe easily.Ā
Also, why do they show the starfish float with arms and legs spread out when it's better to have your arms overhead and body arched back, legs bent at the knees.
ā¢
u/SouthernAddress5051 19m ago
also, if you're wearing long pants you can remove them, tie the legs so that they're closed, fill them with air and use that for floatation
ā¢
u/tritisan 15m ago
Heās probably alive thanks to El NiƱo. Normally the water would be cold enough to cause hypothermia within 30 minutes or so.
8
u/cranberryjuiceicepop 10h ago
I wonder if they do some training for cruise employees on what to do in this kind of situation. I remember learning in swim class how to tread water but also how to float in a way to conserve energy. It helps to be in salt water. He is so lucky and I cant wait to hear his story.
23
u/02K30C1 10h ago
The army taught us some things to do in this type of situation, like taking off your pants and using them as a floatation device.
5
→ More replies (3)10
u/cranberryjuiceicepop 10h ago
I read a really fascinating telling of how a fisherman on the east coast survived in the water, he used his heavy boots to float. Much colder water, and it was a miracle he survived.
7
u/koi-lotus-water-pond 10h ago
That's the dead man's float. However, they may renamed it since I took swim class to something more uplifting.
→ More replies (3)8
u/israeljeff 10h ago
Survival floating was what they called it in boy scouts, but they did mention it's also called dead man's float.
8
u/rhinoballet 10h ago
Yes, they do. My friend was a cruise crew member who trained on board for about 2 months, but ultimately couldn't stay because they didn't pass an open water survival test.
66
u/StretchLoud8844 9h ago
https://youtu.be/7wc2qO9ucQo?si=Jd56EI8WV8bJH5QB
Super useful knowledge for folks to be aware of. Any tight knit clothing like Jeans can be used as a make shift floatation device - and while it won't work forever, think about how much easier it is to swim if you are floating 50% of your body weight.
→ More replies (1)182
320
u/mrducci 10h ago
Salt water helps. A lot. You can practically free float in salt water, conditions depending. I am surprised that he wasn't a victim of hypothermia.
92
u/RabidPlaty 10h ago
It helps but thatās a really long time and itās not like itās the Dead Sea. In the article the rescue guy said that the water is really warm thanks to El NiƱo, around 76 degrees, any other year and the guy would have been toast.
9
u/mishonis- 5h ago
Doesn't have to be the Dead Sea. I can float in the Black Sea and it's less salty than the ocean. They say it depends on your individual body type how well you float though.
160
u/biskino 10h ago
Super el Nino, the water was exceptionally warm for that part of the world, about 72 degrees.
→ More replies (1)80
u/mrducci 10h ago edited 9h ago
You can go hypothermic in 80% water. Anything that is cooler than your body temp and causes the core temp to drop below 95.
Edit: apparently my phone like to autocorrect Ā° to %.
110
10
→ More replies (5)31
u/spoilz 10h ago
I imagine treading water helped keep his core temperature regulated.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (4)24
u/areraswen 8h ago
The article says any other year the water temps would've been a problem. This year they're warmer than normal.
→ More replies (4)61
u/Fallouttgrrl 9h ago
The Navy teaches you to tie off the ankles of your jeans to turn your pants into an improvised flotation device
You swing them up over your head to catch air and then hold the waist shut while hugging it
63
u/meowingtrashcan 8h ago
They'll find me drowned with my pants hanging off my ankles trying to get them off
8
32
u/dbu8554 9h ago
Boy scouts also.
4
u/platasnatch 9h ago
Bear Grylls for me lmao
→ More replies (2)7
u/ElfyPuffyWoofyBoo 9h ago
Camp Fire Girls! Also a Drownproofing class in college - believe it or not, it was a graduation requirement.
→ More replies (3)3
10
5
u/Groundbreaking-Fig38 8h ago
I learned that either in cub scouts or some swim class when I was a kid. I used to want to have a reason to try it... but that means danger.
5
u/brickyard37 7h ago
We practiced this technique at scout camp and I can confirm it works. You have to keep the pants wet but it's pretty effective. Haven't had to use it since then thankfully
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (7)2
54
u/devedander 10h ago
I bet you could tread water for the rest off your life.
→ More replies (1)7
u/Big-Rule5269 9h ago
A guy from our hometown treated water for 132 hours straight , minus bathroom breaks and food. The Winter Park YMCA was 4 streets down, so we would go at different times to cheer him on.
→ More replies (1)12
22
u/HellsBellsDaphne 10h ago
I try to be more horizontal than vertical. I lay back into the water so itās sort of lapping at my face, and then let my legs/feet float up to the surface. itās relaxing to me. like a water bed.
tbh Iād be so spazzed out in an actual ocean Iād go under, but ponds, pools, lakes, rivers, et c., I donāt have that problem.
→ More replies (2)9
u/Krewtan 10h ago
I tried to do that so many times in swim class but my body just didn't have the right bouyancy. I don't mind water in my ears but couldn't keep my face above water. Now 30 years later I probably have all the fat I need to keep myself afloat but never really learned how.Ā
I can tread water well enough to not die. Can swim about 15-20 feet maybe before dying. I keep a life preserver on any time i get on a boat.Ā
22
u/Car-M1lla 9h ago
Never been more grateful to be fat and have big titties. Iāve never once worried about not being able to float š©
→ More replies (2)12
4
u/Mand125 9h ago
Itās different in the ocean, the density of seawater is higher and youāre much more buoyant.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (4)3
u/WoodsLovelyDarkNDeep 7h ago
You have to have air in your lungs to do it and swallow a bit of air so that there is air in your stomach/intestines. Ā This will help to counteract your muscle mass and then only that short breaths so that no all the air escapes your lungs and you donāt sink
21
u/PureGuava86 10h ago
Arms like a pianist
16
u/ZedCee 10h ago
Swimming like your life depends on it. Ā Also years of increasing arm endurance through playing...but mostly swimming like your life depends on it.
→ More replies (1)22
u/prozach_ 10h ago
You probably have a little longer than you think when your life is on the line, but I agree. Iām dead.
3
u/Kaurifish 8h ago
This is one of the benefits of being well-padded. One floats much better.
My poor trainer can barely swim because he sinks nearly instantly.
3
u/foodank012018 8h ago
Along with the inflated pants method mentioned, salt water naturally lends more buoyancy, it's possible to float with little effort if you can relax. Though it would be understandably hard to relax in that situation.
5
u/MzScarlet03 9h ago
My stepmom used to hold a record for treading water, where she did it for 36 hours with small breaks
3
3
3
u/laserdiods 8h ago
Super human goggins whatever says when we are empty and drained and have nothing left to give, thereās another 60% left or some such shit
1
u/I_Karamazov_ 8h ago
Iām fat and I float basically doing nothing. Actually itās really hard for me to dive when I want to see something below me.
1
1
1
1
u/CitrusBelt 8h ago
An hour isn't hard at all, as long as you know how to swim & can manage not to panic for no reason?
At my high school, the only requirement for getting to do the "scuba class" was that:
a) you had an "A" in PE (not hard, as long as you dressed out every day & weren't an asshole....it was purely based on attendance & attitude)
b) you weren't too stupid to pass the "tests" on equipment
c) you could tread water for an hour without touching the sides of the pool
I don't remember anyone failing the treading portion, and that was in a situation where you KNEW you could just give up (or pretend to struggle) if you wanted to, with no waves/salt spray/etc.....
It was literally just "Don't drown in a pool for one hour", and half of the people who passed the water-treading test were the types who snuck off to smoke behind the bleachers every Tues/Thurs after the first lap on "running perimeter day".
If you can tread water for two minutes....you could do it for twelve hours, if you really needed to.
1
u/Pixel_Knight 7h ago
Itās way easier in ocean water, and even more so if you arenāt overly muscular. I challenged a friend to treading water once in a pool and we got to 45 minutes before we both just decided to call it, because it felt too easy. At the time, it felt like could literally go on for hours, and that was a pool, not the oceans. If the ocean wasnāt too choppy, you could also just spend a lot of time floating on your back too.
What a terrifying situation to be in though. He must have had some awful thoughts in that 9 hours. Glad he got rescued.
1
1
u/Accidental-Genius 7h ago
I float. I donāt mean to, I just do. When I scuba they have to tie weights to me. Maybe that guy is just a floater too?
1
u/PurpleSailor 5h ago
Positioning yourself correctly and maintaining air in your lungs while slowly using just your arms can keep you afloat. 9 hours is a long time now but it's definitely doable in a calm ocean. Even floating on just your back will just keep you out of the water enough to breathe but you've got to be careful for the little waves. Lot of times you can tie knots in the bottom of your pants and then blow air into the waist underwater using it like a flotation device. You'll have to go back under every few minutes and blow more air in but it works.
1
u/ForgettableUsername 3h ago
Pretty impressive leg muscles given that he does most of his work sitting down.
1
107
u/unearthedtrove 8h ago
At nine hours getting picked up at noon means he fell in darkness in the middle of the night, exhausted.
44
u/rolfraikou 6h ago
The super warm el nino waters likely kept this from being a story about them finding a mystery body instead.
362
u/edfitz83 10h ago
This sounds so sketchy - an employee falling overboard. Canāt wait for the follow up to come out
214
u/Sidewalk_Tomato 10h ago
Whether he hoped to end things, had a drunken accident, or was pushed, the answer is going to be interesting--but we're not going to get the follow-up unless it was #3.
59
u/Aggressive-Ask-6357 8h ago
I assume it's not #1 if he was treading water for 9 hours
80
u/Cool_Cry_9602 8h ago
People tend to regret right asfter they jump (based on survivor accounts). I would say high likelihood of alcohol though, on cruise ships (and maybe the bartender wouldn't cut off a coworker).
→ More replies (5)34
u/PxyFreakingStx 6h ago
one of the most disturbing things i ever heard was from a suicidal man who jumped off the golden gate bridge; he was one of the few survivors. he said, paraphrasing, "the moment I jumped i suddenly realized that every problem in my life could be fixed, except the fact that i had just jumped off this bridge"
having that sober realization while falling, the instant regret with those few agonizing seconds to let it sink in (pardon the pun)... it still makes me sick to think about what that must have felt like
→ More replies (9)16
u/Lord_Saren 8h ago
I mean a lot of people have that sudden realization that they want to live when they make the jump.
Look up the people who survived jumping off the Golden gate for example.
→ More replies (1)16
u/KAugsburger 7h ago
Many of the people who fall off due to being intoxicated are usually are so out of that they usually drown pretty quickly. To be fair regardless of the cause of going overboard surviving after falling off a cruise ship is pretty tough. Those ships are large enough that it can be pretty painful hitting the water. A high percentage of those who go overboard don't survive.
18
6
u/MontyDysquith 7h ago
Cruise ships have REALLY high railings, unless you're climbing over them I honestly don't know how you can fall overboard.
12
u/Knucklehead92 6h ago
Ive definitely been on ships that their railing is only 36".
Based on a quick google search, any ships built before 2010, only required 36". Any ships built since then require 42".
So I wouldnt say all cruise ships have really high railings.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (5)4
90
u/warden976
4h ago
•
When the fishermen pulled him out, they said āMan, what are you doing here?!ā
15
→ More replies (1)19
u/Nosebluhd 3h ago
Luckily they were all in the mood for a melody and he had them feeling all right.
4
253
u/budgiesmugglez 10h ago
My god what did he play
115
54
22
29
23
14
4
16
3
5
5
u/Peripatetictyl 9h ago
Piano Man, at the Catalina Wine Mixer, which was strictly 1980ās Billy Joel.
5
1
→ More replies (1)1
u/xyzzyx13 2h ago
A piece from Phillip Glass, but he didnāt have enough time to play it through the end before being rescued
39
u/2daytrending 5h ago
Nine hours in Pacific, nearly 20 miles offshore, and he somehow made it. That usually warm 76Ā°F water may have been the difference between life and death. Crazy stuff.
→ More replies (2)19
164
u/pugworthy
9h ago
•
"Hey do you know the pianist fell overboard?"
"No but hum a few bars and I can fake it."
21
u/TSAOutreachTeam 9h ago
If your pianist treads water for nine hours, please see your ship's captain immediately.
14
14
u/Mountain-Art6254 5h ago
Low key that sucks that he went overboard but, on a high note, he was rescued and is doing fine š¹
4
28
u/Foe117 8h ago
Treading water for 9 hours, a feat probably impossible unless it follows a few factors. Sea Water Bouyancy boost (compared to pool water), calm seas, and warm coastal water. If it were the north Atlantic, he would have died to hypothermia.
There is the open water swim marathon to cross the English channel, varying from 7-27 hours in warm 63-67f water. So it is generally possible.
15
u/KAugsburger 7h ago
He was definitely lucky that we are going into an El NiƱo winter. Normally the water would have been ~10Ā° F cooler. 73āĀ°F is still a bit cool to be in the water for hours without a wetsuit but it is a lot better than ~63āĀ°F.
34
41
u/Lower-Acanthaceae460 7h ago
Dude hit the lotto. Human body is so small in the ocean, it's literally a needle in a haystack
7
u/sasquatchmarley 3h ago
Well, not literally a needle in a haystack, but literally metaphorically one of those.
11
15
u/Poullafouca 6h ago
I live near there, and I am sure the elevated water temperature aided him. That poor man.
ā¢
u/Previous_Associate89 50m ago
Currently binging all seasons of I Shouldnāt Be Alive. People somehow end up in the middle of the ocean living for days. So far, no one has fallen from a cruise ship, tho.
16
u/middle-name-is-sassy 7h ago
What happened to the alarms that are supposed to go off if someone falls overboard??? Or the nets on the side? How did they not notice aboard the ship???
→ More replies (1)6
u/iamPendergast 3h ago
What nets or alarms? How would that even work. Have you not ever seen pictures of a cruise ship?? There are no nets. And no alarms.
ā¢
u/Flipkick661 50m ago
There are thermal cameras and automated alarms that sound if a human falls overboard on modern cruise ships. There are also cameras along the side watching if anything falls off the passenger balconies.
12
u/tiny_chaotic_evil 7h ago
passengers were not happy with the mandatory 3hr concert of just Chopsticks. When the pianist announced a 4th hour, the passengers and crew took action
12
81
u/Choice_Question4453 10h ago
Donāt go on cruises
The industry kills the environment
145
27
u/Namika 8h ago
A cruise is harmful because of its sheer size, but it's actually better for the environment than 3000 people each taking their own trips and each flying to each destination on their own, each renting their own cars, etc.
It's like a train compared to a car. Yes, the train uses more energy than a car, but it's transporting thousands of people at once.
Economies of scale are absolutely a thing, shipping 3000 people at once is better for the environment than 3000 people traveling separately.
15
u/nlutrhk 7h ago
It's not that obvious. A cruise ship is carrying a holiday resort with a sewage treatment plant, water desalination, swimming pool, and so on.
A plane and a passenger train don't carry all that stuff. Water treatment of surfacec water is far less energy hungry than a desalination plant.
Here is a rough calculation comparing a flight plus hotel stay to a cruise. The cruise is worse.
→ More replies (1)16
8
u/avrgwarthunderplayer 8h ago
Everything in modern life does. Mostly your car and the process required to manufacture the items you use and food you eat.
5
4
11
u/AccordingIy 10h ago
I always wonder how far people take saving the environment. Do they weave their own clothes, walk to work, grow all their own vegetables. Taking hard stance on one thing but fine with everything else is silly. You indirectly/directly contributed to the health of the environment in everything you do
11
u/SomeAussiePrick 8h ago
Ah yes, because Terry driving to the supermarket to buy vegetables IS basically the same as a floating ecological disaster dumping waste all across the ocean for weeks at a time.
6
u/LeonidasSpacemanMD 6h ago
Ok but thereās a whole spectrum of things between those two so where do you draw the line? Thatās the point, do I give up air travel? Do I have to make sure the goods Iām buying arenāt being shipped on giant tankers? The number of actions I do every day that promote fossil fuel usage is probably way way more than I realize
13
u/AdCreepy5165 9h ago
Well there is a wide margin between,'Lets go full doomsday preper and live in a cabin in the hills' and 'lets not party for a weekend on an expensive, hazard prone floating box run by predatory corporations.'
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (5)11
u/saryndipitous 9h ago
Are you being defensive here or actually wondering?
When you live in a first world country where nobody denies themselves anything, you have be start somewhere. If you can stop the worst parts and see that it isnāt all that painful, you can start on some other things too. Itās a progression.
Avoiding cruise ships and international travel are early steps.
People here often complain about huge celebrities jetting around, and that is a concern, but in first world countries, every one of us is kind of like those celebrities in comparison to many other countries.
16
u/149244179 8h ago
International travel is extremely important. Half the problems in the world are because people have opinions based on "us" vs "them". A large part of that is because people are insulated and never meet and experience other cultures.
It is a lot harder to accept a bomb being dropped on people you have personally met compared to nameless faces.
→ More replies (2)20
u/BenCub3d 8h ago
Avoiding international travel is an early step? God damn. IMO, international travel is one of the most rewarding things you can do in your life. Seeing the entire world is one of the best ways you can spend your time. That does not feel like an easy little thing to cut out at all.
→ More replies (1)12
u/bluesmaker 8h ago
You can also help by suggesting reasonable actions. No cruise ships is reasonable. They are not good for a multitude of reasons. But no international travel? Youāve just made tons of people not want to agree with you. Failure. International travel is one of the greatest, most pleasurable, humbling, and interesting things you can do for a vacation (if you can afford it). Perhaps start with āflying lessā because that is really what you seem to mean.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (2)6
u/archlich 7h ago
Cruise ships are a drop in the bucket for pollution. Want to stop it? Stop cargo ships, oil tankers, and donāt have kids, and donāt eat meat, in fact maybe take yourself out of the equation. A lifetime of living creates a ton of pollution.
→ More replies (1)2
u/ReimerReason 8h ago
98% of industries destroy the environment.
I including the device maker you typed your message on, and the power source used to power said device.
1
→ More replies (1)ā¢
3
3
u/Carbon311 6h ago
Is there any information on the Cruise ship knowing or not knowing this guy was missing? Like when he didn't show up for his duty
15
21
2
3
6
4
u/fubarfire 10h ago
How do people keep falling off these cruise ships?
1
u/Friendly_Impress_345 6h ago
Alcohol and lack of walls/ high railings because they donāt want to block the view.
3
4
1
1
1
u/altiuscitiusfortius 6h ago
Global warming saved his life.
The ocean is 4 degrees warmer than it should be this year. He would have died of hypothermia in colder water
0
u/Due_Butterfly_7195 10h ago
Donāt shoot me. Iām just the piano player. Maybe someone was offended by their playing š¤£
1
1
1.3k
u/Skijump135 11h ago
That's so insanely unlikely oh my god. Glad he was found alive