The Current - Lost at sea for 52 hours: How seven fishermen survived

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

When seven fishermen disappeared off Newfoundland’s coast this summer, everyone feared the worst. But as hours turned into days and hope dwindled, the men were found — alive. The ‘Lucky 7’ share their harrowing brush with death in our documentary Lost at Sea.

There are two kinds of Canadians. Those who feel something when they hear this music. And those who've been missing out so far. I'm Chris Howden. And I'm Nile Coxall. We are the co-hosts of As It Happens. And every day we speak with people at the center of the day's most hard hitting, heartbreaking, and sometimes hilarious news stories.

Also, we have puns. Here Why As It Happens is one of Canada's longest running and most beloved shows. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway and this is The Current Podcast. One year ago, seven fishermen had the scare of their lives and survived to tell their incredible story. Here is Matt Galloway to introduce the documentary we first brought you in the aftermath of their rescue.

Matt Galloway, Director, The New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New

York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New Times, New York Times, New York Times, New York Times, New Times, New York Times, New York Times, New they don't have much time. Right out in front of my bridge, sat there for three days, waiting. Every time I see a vehicle, it's that Andy. It's that Andy.

In my mind, I was losing it. And then they picked up some debris and stuff like that. Well, that's when I flip. Like, I said, what I see, they're gone, right? When seven fishermen disappeared off the northeast coast of Newfoundland in July, just about everyone from one tip of that province to the other was gripped by dread. Because we knew that this was going to be a regional funeral. The food was ready, the place was booked. We were ready to help this town go through one of the worst things,

worst disasters that it ever could be and then bang. After 52 hours, the impossible. But those fishers have been found in a life raft. All seven men were found safe. Everyone just erupted in the house and I was like, what is going on? My dad ran down the hallway. She said, mom, they got them all found, they're all alive. And I fell to the floor again.

The men were found floating in a raft nearly 300 kilometers from shore. They'd survived on sips of water and sugar cubes. Michael Tiller is the mayor of New West Valley, the out port where most of the men are from. And you were in bed and you were just shaking. It's like, oh my God, I can't believe they're found. This can't be right. You know. This does not happen. It does not happen. Not seven. Something would have happened where somebody would have broke their legs, somebody wouldn't have been able to swim, somebody would not have made it back in.

But damn it, we got one in the West Valley. We got one for the province. We got one for the country. The world. But very few people know what it was actually like to be lost at sea for 52 hours. Our producer, Mary Catherine McIntosh visited with all seven men and discovered a story at sea so harrowing it rarely returns to land to be told.

The life raft was so small the men had to hug their knees to their chest just to fit in it. But to understand how they survived, first you have to meet them. Andy is one of the deckhands. He first started on the boats at 13 as a night watchman. By 15 he was fishing in Greenland. And I was getting in trouble at school. I was walking to school and say, you say where was you two yesterday Andy? I said I was working. Where were you working? I said working on the bullet night watcher. Davey's the jokester of the bunch. On the raft he made the men laugh by pretending to be a reporter. He used a flashlight for a microphone and asked, how's your fishing trip

going so far? I was just sitting in the life raft and looking at all the boys and I said, you know, this is not the end of the world for us. This, this is just a funny moment, you know, you've got to keep everybody's spirits up. Toby is the baby of the crew, just 20 at the time. He can't swim. No fear for water. Still no fear for water at all.

Are you going to take swimming lessons or? No. I wish you would take swimming lessons. Harold is the oldest. At 62 he told the captain before they set out it would be his last trip. Two decades ago he survived another fire at sea. I can't swim. That's scary as hell.

Robbie had only been sober for two months when he boarded the boat. Yeah, this year was sucked. Financially it sucks. Everything sucks about it. Like, if I can get through this year now, and start next year, I'll be happy. Jordan doesn't talk about what happened on the raft. Like I said, this is the first time I've pretty much talked about it since it happened. I'm pretty, like, I'm a quiet guy.

I keep some emotions. I act tough and all that, and I try to deal with shit myself. And finally there's Captain Eugene. He had only moments to order his crew to jump from a burning boat. Then he took charge on the raft and tried to keep the men from panicking for more than 50 hours. Like yes, we're all grown men, we always try to put the tough side out. But I mean, when you're in situations like this like there is no tough side. I mean if you're emotional and just let it go.

Day one, the fire. The men were expected back to the wharf about lunchtime the next day with a boat full of turbot. Well it was like a normal day normal trip just finishing up couldn't wait getting out of it. We was told we were gonna have a couple days off so everyone's talking about they had planned to do. Getting supper ready I was up in the wheelhouse and the alarm goes off. When Eugene come up he looked at the alarm panel and seen that was engine room smoke and when Robbie got up he just happened to turn and that's when he looked in the locker he seen the smoke coming out the door of the locker. I heard fire, fire and I woke up out of the bunk and I couldn't see nothing with smoke so I just by memory I went for the ladder to go up in the

wheelhouse as soon as I went up in the wheelhouse, I grabbed five suits out of the closet. We never had a chance to do anything. Like, before you knew it, like when you had five minutes, we were out on the deck. The smoke was that thick, couldn't even see each other, really. And at this time, Tovey and Eugene was there at the fire stage, just trying to put the fire out. And it wouldn't work work and then Eugene said we ban

the ship, ban the ship and threw the life rafts overboard. We tried to get some life rafts, some suits out. Two people that never had the suits was Toby and Arro. Two people that couldn't swim. That's how ironic everything worked out. Because it was just too fast. It was just too fast, yeah. We didn't, we wasn't even thinking about who could swim and who couldn't. And at this time we were trying to get around the flames that was coming up through the stack and vent.

And then I jumped in from the roof into the raft and then Robbie, he pretty much almost landed on me. Here's he jumped right behind me. All the rest of them jumped. I remember me and Arrol was the last ones on because well it's better to get them in the water so they could catch us. Me and Arrol couldn't swim right. Arrol didn't want to jump very bad at all. He hesitated a lot actually. We told him Arrol was either burn or try to live right. Me and Eugene got planned together and boys wouldn't jump. Eugene was I hesitated a lot actually. What we told him was that I was either burn or try to live, right? Me and Eugene got a plan together and the boys wouldn't jump.

Eugene was yelling at the boys, telling them they had to jump or they were going to burn. And they said, you can't, you're too scared, you can't swim. And I said to Harold, I said to Harold, jump, I'll be there to get you. And I told him not to panic. I said, if you panic, I've got to get you and I told him not to panic I said if you panics I gotta let you go And I got Harold back to the raft and got Toby to jump You got no time to think do what you got to do to live I Pretty much caught Toby Marum The Andy lost his glasses never anyone he don't know word

I'm simply... Andy lost his glasses and everything when he got overboard. So he was basically on the back of the raft kicking. And Davey was too for a while. Trying to get the boat away from the... The raft away from the boat because the raft was starting to catch on fire too at one point. We had a hard time getting away from the boat. She's engulfed in flames at this point.

Even in the top of the raft there's holes burned in the raft. How that raft never melted and deflated all of it as American as itself. So me and Eugene got two paddles, one out each door, and me and Eugene just paddled as hard as we could to get around the bow of the boat. And we got around the bow of the boat and then the tide took us away from the boat. We just drifted away from the boat and watched her burn. Like there was a few times I shut my eyes and I don't back up just to see that it was real, right? It was like just so surreal. But I mean for the boys we were just sat there staring at each other. But once we got on the raft and got away safe distance from the boat and all that and then we all said, you know what would be good right now?

Smoke. And one of the boys undone their suits and took it with half-packed smokes and with a grin on their face and we all were happy. And we said, oh well we're airborne now and we're trying to make these smokes last. I take it was an hour later, they were all gone. Stayed a panic for the first half hour of it, but then you kind of calm down a bit because we thought for sure one of the three May days that we put out was heard. We figured well, within three hours, four hours most, someone's going to have us. But when sun rose the next morning, we kind of figured out this is not gonna happen like that

there wasn't a draft to win yeah the fog never actually set in till around suppertime just when the search started when we got the fog just when search started you can't see two feet in front of you. The only way we could see outside, we had to open up a door. That was like a tent. That's what I would call it. It was a floatable tent, what do you call it? So we had to open up the door.

When we looked at the door, you couldn't... You wouldn't be able to see five feet in front of you. It was just death thick. Like weird planes that were probably 100 feet away from us, 200 feet maybe. And it was there and we were here and no... We couldn't do much.

So we was doing sitting and listening. And one thing that was there, I think, like we used to hear a helicopter and then all of a sudden you hear it slowly go away. Hour later then you hear another one and then the column you think is getting sudden the deer slowly go away. An hour later then the deer another one and then the colony think he's getting closer and then slowly go away. As they did the grid define us for the wooden miss nutty. One point in time that everybody had whistles on their suits and we used count one, two, three and then everybody

whistles same time with the whistles. You can hear this chow for getting closer to these roots. Like it was getting so close and then it would turn and it would go back to its other root. And then when it come back again it would be getting closer. But at the last of it it seemed so close. And we actually were actually saying to each other, you know what, this time we're getting there. And then the sounds started getting weaker and weaker and weaker. And then we never heard this no more. Another one of our words is actually that, well, we knew online that nobody thought we was alive.

Right? And well, how long is they gonna keep searching for us? As you know, they're not gonna search for weeks. Day one was quiet. Nobody really said much. But then day two come around, but then the frustration kicked in and nobody can get comfortable and people were starting to get a little bit moody and the mood was switching. Well, the boys used to do a lot of grumbling with me because I would sleep for probably

two or three hours at a time And like the boys were barely getting any sleep and probably minutes or maybe half an hour if they got that So when I used to wake up, I was like, oh The boys are just there with their legs and feet up over the top of me everywhere They knew I they knew I was gonna be sleeping pretty good Me and Andy like we're good. We're friends but We got that loveate relationship, you know what I mean? We get on each other's nerves on a good day on the boat when everything's going good and in the ref, you know, complaining about not

being comfortable, moving around a lot and then wanting to switch out with people and then he switch out with them and then he switch out with them and then he say, oh, that's not comfortable. I'm going to switch out again. And so he was moving around lots and we were just sick of it. You know what I mean? Hey, I'm Jill Deacon and I'm excited to share my new podcast with you. A Love Affair with the Unknown is conversations with smart, funny people navigating life's

unknowns with courage and candor, something we could all use during these wildly uncertain times. Me and I started to cry and I realized I haven't dealt with anything. My family's motto was, I'm not going to be able to handle that. Listen and subscribe to A Love Affair with the Unknown wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Tuesday. And then one night me and Eugene was up, because it was up middle of the night there and all of a sudden the well right down the back, she went very far, just boom.

I said, wow. And I didn't want to say it like that, it was just a a tot right? Sat in a raft there and we heard just picking that raft and looked at the door and a bunch of birds were floating around the raft picking that raft with a beak So I was trying to hit him with the paddle get him away from the raft But well and that I don't know I might have been asleep then I was pretty emotional. So I was pretty zoned out sometimes. There was a bottle of grab-all there. So during daytime we used to take grab-all. There was always somebody else to keep them all out looking around. But for most of it, everybody had turns eating the grab-all to relax because we couldn't move couldn't do nothing the life raft wouldn't much for seven men there Could third day she was starting to soft on the bottom

While the third day was getting really rough Everybody lost her strength everybody lost Like you know start you start to think more than a three days in day three There to put in words Because I noticed that the Florida rap was getting weak. We didn't want to make anybody worry more than what they ever hear.

This rap ain't going to last much longer. All this thing in it, I guess all the stupid shit that I done in this life, I guess this is payback in my eyes. So I said, well, I guess I deserved it. I just went like that. I guess if my time was up, my time was up. But then I said, like I said, I was thinking about a little girl in there and when I got back I said, you know what, this is a second chance now.

So I'm going to turn the table and I haven't drank in a long time. I had two kids up in Alberta and, you know, the last few years I haven't been there for much and I've just, lots of emotion missing my kids and not thinking I was gonna see them again and stuff like that so the kids was the hardest part thinking about the kids. Now you don't make me upset. I was in sitting in that raft I was looking back on the choices I made in the last few years and I was kind of hating myself for not being a better dad than I know I can be and I was hoping that I'd get back

land so I could tell them how much I loved them and stuff. Well and then we had a little small sponge, something to do dishes with and a little small container and that's what we with, and a little small container. And that's what we was doing, getting the water out. So we soaked water up, squeezed it in that one, and passed it to the other follow, and he dumped it all over. So that's what we had to take water out of her. You were bailing out water with a cup and a sponge.

That's all we had. It was a little small piece of that sponge, soak up water, put it in a container smaller than a mug, and pass that out and pass it to the next person. Third day, the boys were getting cold, the last two with the suits. And so we started cuddling to each other basically. When I was at my lowest point in the raft, me and Jordan was pretty close friends. So we start cuddling to each other amazingly. When I was at my lowest point in the raft, me and Jordan was pretty close friends.

His grandfather and my grandfather got lost in the sea. I just was panicking one day and I remember actually going over and he was lid down. I actually put my head on his chest and that's the best snap I had when I was out there. He just cuddled me and said like he said love and friendship and yeah it was good. It was so uncomfortable. Toby's the young one. Toby thought he was gonna die, he froze. I was like look at Jordan, I said don't give a ho at me, you just met a dead little girl. Keep that as a positive. Like George and I went over the raft at one point. He's just frustrated. He's a big boy

and you can't move. You're so uncomfortable. And I just looked at him and said, just think about your little girl. And I told him, he was like, he started crying. He was just that cold. He just didn't know. He just thought he was going to die. He was just so worried. He wouldn't go see his mom and dad again. All going back to me, you know? He'd rub his arm or something.

Oh, I'd done everything to him. He'd in me arms like a baby. Covering him and cuddling him. Keeping him warm. You know what I'm saying. I said it once. I said once, I was at the end of it, it wasn't handy. I was getting pissed off with the handy and that. I was in my head to jump out.

I just didn't want to be in that raft no more. It's just depressing. I lost my family that I was already here. Well, me and my sister split up. So that was running through my mind a lot. Like all the stupid decisions and everything that I made in life. Just thinking to myself, that was just it. Like, is this really it? Like, I'm not going to see my kids no more.

And it was just so depressing. I remember once just looking up at the sky and saying, Grandma, I must go home. Because my grandmother lost her husband in the water. And the sky lit up. The sky actually broke open and this is the woman you got found. So I'm praying to God that maybe that's who was looking out for us. And I can remember now, I opened up my eyes and Davy was across from me there and everybody else was asleep.

I kind of glanced alight because it's not hard to find light out in the centre of the ocean with no light. I was debating what to say and stuff, I didn't want to put a panic to no one. And I said, boy, I gotta say something. I said, Davy, is she getting loud? And I said, Eugene, there's lights out there, Eugene. I mean, after a while, sometimes you hear things from hoping you hear things, you know, if what I'm trying to say. Yeah, so I said, no, that's definitely a chopper. So I opened up the door and I stuck my head in a life breath. And when I looked looked up there was a chopper going over my head and the fog is all cleared. And I said, holy god, so I mean at this point I had one flare left.

So you had used everything else? Everything used, all I had left was this one flare. I kept reading the fine print and it said only use if you have sight of a Vistle or an aircraft. So I must have read that about a hundred times throughout the day right so I lift this flare up in the air and I say it wouldn't like no more than about 30 seconds after that I seen the helicopter start to turn around so it was dark enough that I actually used my flashlight and I put the flashlight up I start turning on and off on and off continuously because that's a distress call from the pilot's eyes he told me that he had night vision so by me flicking this flashlight on and off he said it was like a cigarette lighter and it led him right to my raft.

And the chopper got louder and louder and louder and then it got to the point it was almost deafening and you could see the top of the raft flapping in the wind, a lot of relief. A lot of relief. There's no word to put on that feeling. No way to describe it. You have to live through it to understand it. I seen the diver come down. So the diver came down off the helicopter, jumped in the water, swam up to the raft and he said, how many people on board? I said seven. He said, how many of them? I said seven. He said, you're a hero.

He said, you got the whole province, country, world praying for you. He said, he said, he said simply amazing. And while time went really fast, Dan, it felt like only minutes it was on board until he asked me to make phone calls on him. It was amazing. Well, as soon as we got on the boat,

we all, I had to go to the shower first before I got checked over and that because, you know. You had to use the bathroom in your suit. Yeah, you couldn't take your suit off. You had to use the washroom in your suit. So the first thing I got was a shower and then I got checked over and then got a pack of smokes. And then I went to the kitchen and I fell to the plate up as high as I could get it because I was hungry but then I sat down and I had one spoon full and then I couldn't eat no more I was full.

I didn't know how hungry I was until I actually got onto the boat. When I got on the coast guard then I got to read for three days. First thing I ate was three Grotty sandwiches that they had left over from their dinner and then they cooked chicken fingers, fries and the gravy. I mean like if there's such thing as saying they they give us the clothes after back they did because they actually went through their own clothes bags and they give us their their pants, their shirts. Dad's not a really soft guy or anything, but he was on the war front when I came in.

He was broke down in tears on his hands and knees. He was pretty bad. I'd never seen my old man like like that before so it was pretty hard to see him like that. It hurt. Because I always blamed, for years I blamed, oh you don't care about me, you don't care about me, but you do. It's just me that don't, that's too scared to open up. For the 52 hours in the life raft and getting home and I know it first three weeks when I was in Ireland

what happened to us I mean I just looked at it like a picture and then after the third week I mean I just I had a major, major breakdown. I had to go on my anxiety pills just to take the edge off of it. Just having those flashbacks in your mind, like everything, like it's every day. And to me, like the only way I could go back at the, the card with my brother, you know, I just said to put everything behind me and just go, go, go, don't stop. But everybody says to me, is you going back again?

And I says to everybody, I said, do you get in the car accident? Do you go back to work? Do you get back in the car after you had accidents, accidents? Doctions, something I always did. And I tell the kids, stay in school. If I already wouldn't have to do it, hey, more or less. So that is it.

It's just who we are. I don't know how I will feel until I actually get to her again. I might not make it 20 feet underwater and I might say, do you want to bring me back? The way I feel right now, I would probably jump on it and I would go. Alexa, remember daddy? You did grow? Remember daddy? You dance girl? When I got on the reg she wouldn't let go of my hand. She's just, she's a dance girl. I had one finger and her little hand was right around

my one finger and she would not let go. Those fishermen are now known as the Lucky Seven. They are skipper Eugene Carter, Andy Hunt, Robbie Firmage, Harold Howell, Toby Petal, Jordan King and Davy Tiller. That documentary was produced by Mary Catherine McIntosh and Elizabeth Hoth with the CBC's audio documentary unit. You've been listening to The Current Podcast. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon.