Josh and his 2 friends, Zach and Steve, just finished their sophomore year of college at Florida State University. To celebrate, they booked a sport fishing trip with an old family friend of Zach’s. They drove to a marina outside of Miami to meet the Captain and board the boat. The waves rocked the boat and splashed up the sides as they went to board.

“Permission to come aboard Captain?”, asked Zach

“Permission approved”, said the captain, Gary, from the back of the boat.

The boys gathered up their gear and grouped around the boardwalk leading to the boat. They each took turns piling their bags into the small cargo hold in the front of the boat.

“Hey Zach! It’s been so long since I saw you last”

“Thanks man. I’m glad this worked out,” said Zach. “I look forward to catching up with you while pulling in some big Mahi Mahi.”

As they got settled on the boat, the Cummins diesel engine roared to life and they glided out of the marina. They were cruising through the warm south Florida waters for a good hour or so before they reached the fishing grounds.

“Rig up some mackerel bout’ nine inch long on a hook through the eye socket, toss' em out, and let' em swim around. The dolphin (another name for Mahi Mahi) should be biting this time of year and we are in the spots of “massive schools as big and as far as the eye can see” so we should be hooked up in no time,” yelled Gary from behind the helm as they neared the waters.

They had their lines in the water for a little over an hour with nothing but line tugs from the ocean currents.

“Lets go try a new spot?” Asked Gary. Zach and Josh agreed, then the engines began the continuous drowning roar as they sped away.

A few minutes later, the boat started shaking and slowing down.

“What happened man?!?”

“Oh bloody hell the damn pump busted off the bolts and now she is not holding out the water!!” These words struck the boys like a baseball bat to the chest. They could feel the boat start slowly sinking into the cold ocean.

“Look Josh! An Island! If we could swim there we would be safe as long as we get rescued,” said Zach.

“But if we stay with the boat, we have a higher chance of getting rescued since they will find the wreckage. There are also sharks in the water, so if we stay, there is a chance we are no longer on the top of the food chain. I think we could probably make it to the island and survive off fish and coconuts,” exclaimed Josh.

“If we are gonna go guys, we better go now while we have a chance to gather up the gear. I personally think we should go to the island and we have a higher chance of survival there than staying with the boat,” said Gary.

They gathered up the gear they needed and hopped off the edge of the boat into the water and began the swim in the shark infested south Florida waters.