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Adrift in the Pacific
Aired September 25, 2002 - 13:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Imagine spending three months adrift in the ocean. A California man is safe today after enduring such a sea adventure.
Rescuers say his ordeal was a cross between Gilligan's Island and Robinson Caruso.
Paul Bloom of CNN affiliate KUSI bring us this incredible story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL BLOOM, KUSI AFFILATE: The rickety sailboat was a speck on the water when an antidrug surveillance plane spotted it. The plane's crew radioed the guided-missile frigate McClusky (ph), saying it appeared to be a vessel in distress.
CAPT. JERRY BRAGG, U.S. NAVY: McClusky (ph) took her an hour to proceed to the station, and she sent her small boat over, her rigid- haul inflatable boat, with her search and rescue team, and they went on board and met Mr. Richard Van Pham.
BLOOM: Met, indeed. Richard Pham was understandably elated to meet his rescuers. He told them had set sail from Long Beach to Catalina in early June, just a pleasure trip, but a storm snapped his mast, the boat's radio broke, and then the outboard motor conked out. Pham was alone, drifting and drifting. His voyage turned into a battle for survival. He captured birds and ate them. He captured and killed a sea turtle, brought it up onboard, and he's been slowly using all of the wood supply on the ship as a cooking fire.
And so you can imagine after 3 1/2 months, he was absolutely ecstatic and happy. And really, to tell you the truth, this has emotionally affected the crew of the McClusky (ph), too.
BLOOM: The 26-foot sailboat with the broken mast traveled more than 2,500 miles, carried by the current, farther and farther south. Pham said he knew he would have to run into some other boat through all of those busy sea lanes, but he didn't, for 3 1/2 months.
On a satellite telephone, the skipper of the USS McClusky (ph), Commander Gary Parriot (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody in the crew is just actually flabbergasted that this guy survived as well as he did for as long as he did.
BLOOM: Richard Pham lost 40 pounds drifting out there. His skin turned dark brown from the unrelenting sun. But he's alive with a story to tell that rivals anything in the movies.
From San Diego, Paul Bloom for CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 25, 2002 - 13:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Imagine spending three months adrift in the ocean. A California man is safe today after enduring such a sea adventure.
Rescuers say his ordeal was a cross between Gilligan's Island and Robinson Caruso.
Paul Bloom of CNN affiliate KUSI bring us this incredible story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL BLOOM, KUSI AFFILATE: The rickety sailboat was a speck on the water when an antidrug surveillance plane spotted it. The plane's crew radioed the guided-missile frigate McClusky (ph), saying it appeared to be a vessel in distress.
CAPT. JERRY BRAGG, U.S. NAVY: McClusky (ph) took her an hour to proceed to the station, and she sent her small boat over, her rigid- haul inflatable boat, with her search and rescue team, and they went on board and met Mr. Richard Van Pham.
BLOOM: Met, indeed. Richard Pham was understandably elated to meet his rescuers. He told them had set sail from Long Beach to Catalina in early June, just a pleasure trip, but a storm snapped his mast, the boat's radio broke, and then the outboard motor conked out. Pham was alone, drifting and drifting. His voyage turned into a battle for survival. He captured birds and ate them. He captured and killed a sea turtle, brought it up onboard, and he's been slowly using all of the wood supply on the ship as a cooking fire.
And so you can imagine after 3 1/2 months, he was absolutely ecstatic and happy. And really, to tell you the truth, this has emotionally affected the crew of the McClusky (ph), too.
BLOOM: The 26-foot sailboat with the broken mast traveled more than 2,500 miles, carried by the current, farther and farther south. Pham said he knew he would have to run into some other boat through all of those busy sea lanes, but he didn't, for 3 1/2 months.
On a satellite telephone, the skipper of the USS McClusky (ph), Commander Gary Parriot (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody in the crew is just actually flabbergasted that this guy survived as well as he did for as long as he did.
BLOOM: Richard Pham lost 40 pounds drifting out there. His skin turned dark brown from the unrelenting sun. But he's alive with a story to tell that rivals anything in the movies.
From San Diego, Paul Bloom for CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
