In February 1955, a destroyer of the Colombian Navy, the Caldas, was traveling through the Caribbean on its way back to Colombia. It had spent the previous six months in Mobile, Alabama for repairs. A couple of hours away from port, eight members of the crew were swept overboard (the official reason was because of a storm). As soon as the ship reached port, a diligent search was undertaken for the missing crewmen, which was called off four days later, without success. A week later, a man washed up on a beach in northern Colombia. His name was Luis Alejandro Velasco, a member of the Caldas crew. This is his story.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, Velasco was the only one to reach a lifeboat. The current prevented him from reaching his shipmates, one of whom was just a few feet away, and he watched as they slipped under the water, never to return. He had no food or water, and with no land in sight, he had no idea in which direction he was traveling. In the first couple of days, he saw a search plane overhead, but it was too high to see him. As the days went on, his skin broke out in blisters, because of the constant exposure to the sun. Every day, at around 5 PM, he was visited by a group of sharks looking for dinner. He watched as they engaged in a feeding frenzy just a few feet away from him, whenever a school of fish got too close. He had started to hallucinate, so he wasn’t sure if that was actually land he was seeing in front of him. The current was carrying him toward some cliffs, so he jumped out of the lifeboat, and managed to swim the last couple of kilometers to land.

Upon his rescue and recovery, he immediately became a national hero. He was kept away from the public, and allowed to speak only to pro-government journalists (at that time, Colombia was under a military government). He made a small fortune as a product endorser, and was enjoying his 15 minutes of fame. Weeks later, he walked into the offices of a national newspaper, where Marquez was a journalist, looking to tell the whole story (until then, only bits and pieces of the story were known). It ran as a 14-part series, and was a national sensation. Things got difficult for the government when it was revealed that a) the Caldas was carrying cargo, which b) so overloaded the ship that it was unable to turn around and go back to look for the missing crewmen, and c) the cargo was contraband (like stoves and refrigerators); all of which were absolutely illegal under Colombian law.

I really liked reading this true story. It’s short and an interesting read, and it’s a very good tale of human survival under horrendous conditions. Well worth it.

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Continuing my accidental trend of novellas featuring sailors & seamen. (Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, John Steinbeck's The Pearl...)Been meaning to read GGM for ages, but a mammoth novel can be intimidating. So when I saw this slim volume on the shelf, I picked it up. Discovering in the introduction that this was actually a true story that the author covered during his time at a Colombian newspaper, serialized in 14 parts, I was initially disappointed that this wasn't a whole-cloth creation as I'd assumed; certainly this would prove less compelling than the fiction novels he's gained such acclaim for.How wrong I was.This may be only a short novella, but it's gripping, harrowing, and at times gut-wrenching in its terror. The account of this one man's 10 days at sea, unprotected from the elements, devoid of food and water, at the mercy of the shark-infested ocean ... It's ruthless, and so vivid that I was forced to go online and verify that yes, this IS actually a true story and not something made up.The final chapter is entitled "My Heroism Consisted of Not Letting Myself Die." Wow.So worth reading. ( )

Interesting little book about a man who survived being washed overboard and spent 10 days drifting on a raft before hitting land. Its well written and has a magic realism touch to it despite being a true story. But I think overall I'd rather just read The Life of Pi. ( )

This is Marquez's account of a real-life event. In 1955, eight crew members of the destroyer Caldas, were swept into the Caribbean Sea. The sole survivor, Luis Alejandro Belasco, told the true version of the events to Marquez, causing great scandal at the time.

Nothing is better than sitting in a cool theatre, watching a summer blockbuster; one gets a break from the heat and entertainment at the same time. Well, after viewing Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, the second best thing is to read a nautical tale.

This week I chose The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This true story first appeared as a series of articles in a Colombian newspaper, El Espectador. Sailor Luis Velasco was tossed overboard the Colombian naval destroyer Caladas, during a routine trip from Mobile, Alabama, to Cartagena, Colombia. He was at sea, devoid of food and water, for ten days.

Once on dry land, Velasco became an instant national hero, “kissed by beauty queens, made rich through publicity,” but unable to tell his real story. After a year of publicity rounds, sporting his unstoppable watch and inedible sneakers, he showed up on the steps of Bogota’s El Espectador.

At the time, the newspaper was in its infancy with a director, editor-in-chief and staff reporter all under the age of thirty. Colombia, ruled by military and social dictator General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, played down the true events and Velasco’s vastly publicized story had a certain sugary taste.

Author Garcia Marquez was the lone reporter assigned Velasco’s story—a story, which eventually saw the demise of El Espectador, not because of Marquez’s writing ability (he became a Nobel winner in 1982) but rather Velasco’s proof, as in photographs, to damage Pinilla’s government.

Apparently, there was some contraband loaded on the destroyer’s deck, which added instability to the craft. Were they transporting atomic weapons? Not really, they loaded on the regime’s refrigerators, washers and dryers, televisions and air conditioners. So much so, the weight and balance was out of kilter, and the ship began to list.

After midnight, an order came from the loudspeaker, “All personnel to the port side.” At 11:30 the following day, the order again reissued. This time Velasco and shipmates were on watch, not safe in their bunks. At 11:50, one of the many forceful waves knocked some crates loose, and as they began to slide into the sea, eight sailors seeking shelter from the waves went with them.

On February 28, 1955, seven crewmembers lost their lives because, “ill-secured moral and political cargo,” repressed the large destroyer from maneuvering to save them.

This is the story of one man surviving ten grueling days at sea. These few paragraphs are just the beginning; it is up to you to read a budding master at his craft.

“Aye, ‘tis good reading to be sure.” ( )