Late last month there was an amazing boating survival story in the news. Most fortunately, the two men who were thrown out of the boat by a rogue wave managed to swim ashore and are fine to this day. I mention ‘to this day’ because the incident occurred back in August of 2008 off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. So why am I writing about it now in March 2012?

We truly live in a remarkable time when products that enhance the enjoyment and safety of the boating experience seem
to be progressing exponentially.

Human survival at sea is always an amazing thing, but even more so, on January 25, 2012, the boat from which the men were washed overboard—a 26-foot yellow-hulled Regulator (regulatormarine.com) outboard-powered center console named Queen Bee—washed ashore on the northwest coast of Spain! Rusty and covered with barnacles, yes, but still entirely intact.

Doing the math, that’s 41 months or almost 31⁄2 years that the boat remained afloat. And it wasn’t like that hull was bobbing around in some calm tropical lagoon, either. The incident occurred in the North Atlantic, an area notorious for savagely rough seas and extreme temperature swings, the sort of stuff that has crippled giant drilling platforms and brought seamen on large cargo vessels to their knees. Yeah, THAT North Atlantic, and it’s the only route the boat could have taken across, riding piggyback on the Gulf Stream.

Thinking back to my younger days, I remember wooden boats that would not last very long unless you properly maintained them and slopped on numerous coats of paint. Even then, they’d eventually succumb to the wear and tear inflicted by the marine environment, no matter how much care they received. So when I think of this boat staying intact enough to remain afloat all that time and in THOSE conditions, I think it’s an incredible testament to the quality of materials and construction that goes into a modern boat. Moreover, in one of the reports I read, U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson, Lieutenant Joe Klinker, even commented, “It probably could have floated for another three years.”

From polarized sunglasses to mini EPIRB’s and hand-held satphones; pod propulsion systems to pop-up cleats; UV resistant clothing to Spectra lines; Kevlar or Carbon Fiber hulls to quiet and efficient four-stroke outboards; VIS systems to broadband radars with touchscreens; and now this boat which defied all odds of survival against the rigors of the sea… we truly live in a remarkable time when products that enhance the enjoyment and safety of the boating experience seem to be progressing exponentially.

What will the next few years bring? It’s exciting to think about!