Timothy and Paula Allen, 52 and 48, were diving in the middle of the day from their anchored 7m leisure boat when they were caught by an unexpected current. They surfaced some distance from the vessel, and could not get back onboard.
The pair were whisked off into the Gulf of Mexico for the afternoon, the night and the next morning, during which time four boats passed by but failed to spot them. Hypothermia, dehydration and hallucinations took hold.
Finally they saw a distant boat moor up to a buoy and raise a diving flag. By good fortune the current was taking them in its direction, although they still needed to swim to fine-tune their approach.
The boat’s occupants – Patrick Pinder Jnr, 18, and his brother Garrett, 17 - were tending the boat and snorkelling while their father, Patrick, scuba-dived. The boys spotted the Allens when the couple reached within 100-150m of the boat.
The boys dropped the mooring and motored over to take the drifting divers aboard, Paula Allen being too weak to help herself. Patrick Pinder surfaced from his dive, boarded and an emergency call was put out to the Coastguard.
The Allens were evacuated and hospitalised. Timothy Allen was released soon afterwards, but his wife needed several days in hospital to recover. Their boat was recovered.
Timothy Allen has said that the pair will not let their experience put them off diving – but that they have learned their lesson regarding the need for the dive-boat to be manned.
They had compounded that error by not informing the Coastguard of their planned outing and expected time of return. This failing, too, would not occur again, said Allen.
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