The 38-Hour Float in Shark-Infested Water

Kim and Nathan Maker spent about 38 hours in the Gulf of Mexico after being swept away from their dive boat off the Texas coast. (Digital Illustration: GoBeyondLocal)

The 38-Hour Float in Shark-Infested Water

Rain was falling hard over the Gulf of Mexico on 24 July 2024 when Kim and Nathan Maker lost sight of their dive boat.

The married couple from Edmond, Oklahoma, had been diving with a group off the Texas coast. The weather had deteriorated while the divers were returning to the surface, and strong current and heavy swell were making it difficult to stay with the boat.

Another diver lost her grip on the downline, the rope used by the divers to return toward the boat. Nathan swam after her and managed to help her back to the line. In doing so, he lost his own hold.

Kim was also separated from the line. Then a large swell passed over the couple. When it cleared, the boat and the other divers were no longer within sight.

The other divers searched for Kim and Nathan while the storm continued. Rain reduced visibility, while wind, waves and current made it difficult to cover the water around the boat.

The search eventually had to stop, and the boat crew reported the couple missing to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Makers were now alone in the Gulf with the boat moving farther away.

Nathan later recalled watching the vessel become smaller until it disappeared completely. With no way to swim back to it, the couple took stock of what they had and tethered themselves together.

They could at least keep physical contact with each other while they tried to work out what to do next.

An oil rig was visible in the distance, so they began swimming towards it. They also knew they had to keep moving because their body temperatures were dropping.

Kim later explained that continuing to swim helped them stay warm. They moved through the water until exhaustion forced them to slow down, then continued again.

The couple used a dive watch to keep track of the passing hours. Kim also said they used it as a compass while trying to work out their direction in the open water.

Back on land, the disappearance had already become a search-and-rescue operation. Coast Guard stations sent aircraft and boats into the Gulf to look for the missing divers.

The search covered a huge area. Coast Guard crews eventually examined more than 1,600 square miles of water during roughly 36 hours of searching.

Kim and Nathan could sometimes see aircraft in the distance. Kim later recalled watching planes pass to the south or west and hoping the next aircraft would search their section.

None of the early sightings led rescuers to them.

The hours in the water were also taking a physical toll. The couple had no food or fresh water, and prolonged exposure left them dehydrated and badly sunburned. Jellyfish repeatedly stung them.

Nathan's condition became particularly serious. His family later said he was close to entering a diabetic coma when rescuers finally reached him.

Night came, and the couple stayed in the Gulf.

Kim later described becoming so exhausted that she would realise her eyes had closed. Nathan told her that he could feel his body beginning to shut down. At one point, he told her that if he could no longer continue, she should cut the tether and keep going without him.

They nevertheless stayed together.

By then, the Coast Guard search had continued for more than a day. The couple had no way of knowing exactly where the aircraft were looking, but they kept watching the sky for signs of a search plane.

Then they saw another aircraft.

Kim and Nathan had dive flashlights with them. As the plane approached, Kim used her light to signal SOS in Morse code. She had learned Morse code from her father.

The aircraft crew saw the flashes and reported the couple's position to the Coast Guard. The aircraft was an HC-144 Ocean Sentry, and the sighting gave rescuers a precise location to work from.

A Coast Guard cutter, the Edgar Culbertson, was sent toward the divers' position.

Kim and Nathan had spent about 38 hours adrift by the time the rescue vessel reached them roughly 20 miles offshore.

Coast Guard crew members lifted Kim and Nathan aboard the Edgar Culbertson and transported them to land for emergency medical treatment.