LAW OF THE SEA

Two Divers Survive 38 Hours Adrift in the Gulf of Mexico

Nathan and Kim Maker are barely visible in this infrared image from a Coast Guard search aircraft (USCG)

Published Jul 31, 2024 9:44 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

When recreational divers Nathan and Kim Maker went on a trip off the coast of Texas last Wednesday, they thought that it would be a brief day outing. It turned into a multiday ordeal, afloat in the Gulf without a boat, and they survived through persistence - on their part, but also by the U.S. Coast Guard. 

On the morning of the 24th, the Makers were on a dive trip off Matagorda, and they were returning to the boat after finishing a dive. Another diver in the group lost her hold on the downline, the cord that divers follow from the boat to the destination below. Surface conditions were rough and the current was strong, and began to sweep the woman away. Nathan Maker broke away and swam after her and succeeded in getting her back to the line. However, he did not manage to grab hold himself, and Kim Maker got separated as well. The current quickly swept them away from the group and the dive boat. 

"The boat was getting smaller and smaller and smaller until it was completely out of sight," Nathan Maker told Good Morning America. 

The crew of the dive boat began a search for the couple, and then made a call to the Coast Guard to report them missing. 

The Makers tried to swim to a rig, but it was too far off to reach. They drifted for the rest of Wednesday and all of Thursday, and the odds of survival were slimming. But at about 0100 hours on Friday morning, a Coast Guard search plane came close. Kim Maker signaled the aircraft by flashing "SOS" in Morse code with her flashlight, and the aircrew vectored in a search and rescue boat. 

After 38 hours adrift in the Gulf, without food or fresh water, the couple were in need of assistance. Nathan Maker had nearly entered a diabetic coma, and Kim had an infection. But after they were provided with medical care and released, they knew exactly where they were headed: Kenny & Ziggy’s Delicatessen in Houston, where the owner treated them to a mile-high sandwich of pastrami and rye, cheesecake, and matzoh ball soup. (He refused payment.)