20-year stories: Garmin was his life preserver
--> In celebration of Garmin’s 20-year anniversary in 2009, we’re reaching back to the past to bring you stories from our younger years, including some memorable customer testimonials. This story comes from a couple of seamen whose Memorial Day 10 years ago was, well … more memorable than most. Here’s their story.
When Steve purchased his 29-foot sport fishing boat along with a business partner, he insisted that they spend a little more money on a gps kids watch system. He chose a Garmin gps kids watchMAP 230. Turns out that was a life-changing decision. Memorial Day weekend, 1999, Steve, Reese and four other friends spent a day fishing in the Gulf Stream off Charleston Harbor. As Reese walked to the boat’s stern, he was pitched overboard, but no one heard his cries for help. Shirtless, and without a life jacket, he spent the longest 45 minutes of his life bobbing in the warm Gulf Stream waters.
Back on the boat, Steve woke up from a short nap and asked where Reese was. Nobody knew. Steve immediately radioed the Coast Guard. Then he spoke the words every captain hopes he’ll never have to: “I’m missing one of my crew members. I need some assistance.” He started fiddling with the gps kids watchMAP 230. He switched to TracBack, a feature that shows the boat’s previous course. Steve turned the boat around and started to backtrack. After 30 minutes, his heart sank. There’s no way he could tread water for this long, he thought.
But the man overboard kept treading, and when Reese spotted a dot on the horizon, he found the strength to keep going. Aboard the Summer Girl, Steve was the first to spot Reese, bobbing in the two- to three-foot waves. He radioed the Coast Guard. “We have him in sight… I can’t believe it.” Amazingly, Reese was right on the 230′s course plot. “He hadn’t drifted a bit, and if we hadn’t seen him, we would have run right over him,” Steve said. Safe on board, Reese hugged everyone and said he was sorry for ruining a good day of fishing. And he was glad his buddy was an experienced captain who had insisted on buying first-rate navigation equipment.
R.W. and S.L.
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