Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

5 Aggies survive harrowing 26-hour drift in Gulf
By Calli Turner
The Battalion Texas A&M
June 09, 2008

Four students and a safety officer were rescued in the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday morning after their boat capsized during the Regata de Amigos race to Veracruz, Mexico. An additional safety officer, Roger Stone, 53, was found dead at sea 27 miles southeast of Freeport, Texas, at 3:47 Sunday afternoon.

Three of the students - Steven Guy of The Woodlands, Texas, Joe Savana of Sugar Land, Texas, and Travis Wright of League City, Texas - attend Texas A&M-Galveston, and the fourth student - Ross James Busby, a senior mechanical engineering major of The Woodlands - attends Texas A&M-College Station.

They were accompanied by two safety officers - Steve Conway of Texas A&M-Galveston and Stone, a Galveston resident, according to a news release.

A helicopter crew from Air Station Houston rescued the four students and Conway at 2 a.m. Sunday after they spent 26 hours in the water. They were found 23 miles south of Freeport. The five were taken to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for treatment.

Robert Barlow of Texas Sailing said the keel - the lead or iron fin on the bottom of the boat used for stability - was to blame for the incident.

"[The sailboat] capsized because the keel was torn off," he said. "It's very unusual for that to happen.

"Another possibility is there's a lot of oil equipment in the Gulf so they potentially could have hit something."

Barlow said regattas require radio check-ins for safety purposes, which alerted officials.

"They failed to do a check-in and that's how they knew they were missing."

Jessica Cady, class of 2008, said she was worried when she heard the news.

"One of our mutual friends called me at 2:30 this morning. Of course I freaked out," Cady said.

Cady met Busby in the 2004-2005 school year through church and they were neighbors in summer 2006.

Cady said she had lunch with Busby before he left and they spoke of the regatta.

"He was very excited," she said.

"He didn't know if he could go because of his internship, but he found an internship that could let him leave for two weeks."

She learned of the rescue through Facebook.

"Our friend was in contact with [Busby's] parents," she said.

Cady said she felt relief when she heard of the rescue.

"All I could think of was at lunch before he left, I only got to see him for 15 minutes because I had to run out for work. That can't be the last time I'd see him. It wouldn't be fair to him or to me."

Marsha Canright, director of media relations for the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, said the five are in good condition.

"They were suffering from dehydration, exhaustion and sunburn," Canright said.

"They're all sleeping and resting and all of them have seen their family members. We expect them to be released tomorrow."

The Regata de Amigos begins in Galveston and finishes in Veracruz, Mexico. The race began June 6 and is expected to span two weeks. This is the 40th anniversary of the regatta.

Barlow said the regatta is a long-standing regatta with very few incidents.

"This is a testament to the organization of the regatta," Barlow said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

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