Swept Away: A Story of Survival by Dale Chimenti

I read Swept Away: A Story of Survival by Dale Chimenti thinking it was by one of the professors I had in college. Turns out it was someone else by the same name, but still an interesting read. Several mistakes and poor decisions resulted in Dale becoming stranded at sea, but once there, his telling of the struggle for survival and fight against isolation was truly inspiring.

Book Stats

• Title: Swept Away: A Story of Survival
• Author: Dale Chimenti
• Genre: Biography, Nonfiction
• Publication Date: 2000
• Pages: 115
• Est. Reading Time: 3 – 4 hours
• My Rating: 3/5 Stars
• Buy Now: Amazon or BAM!

Swept Away: A Story of Survival – Plot Summary

Swept Away is the harrowing, true-life, “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” story of Dale Chimenti being swept out to sea after his rented jet-ski dies while on vacation in Mexico. When the jet-ski dies, Dale and his friend Danny can still see the shore and don’t think much of it. Danny heads back to shore to get help, leaving Dale alone. Obviously, a big mistake in retrospect.

Dale then spends the next three days drifting out into the Gulf of Mexico while his wife, Lizabeth, implores the Mexican Government and U.S. Coast Guard to search for him. She also charters a plane to search herself. Very luckily, Dale is eventually rescued by the German freighter Almania over 100 miles from shore.

Lucky to be Alive

The Almania was two days behind schedule and slightly off course out of the major shipping lanes, making Dale’s rescue all the more improbable.

“In conventional parlance, by the grace of God and all the powers of the universe converging in the same place at the same time, all for the purpose of saving one sure to be dead sonofabitch.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

At first, I was very curious to learn how my professor had ended up in this predicament since he seemed like a smart and cautious individual. Even after I realized this wasn’t my professor, due to a lack of military service and higher education, it was fascinating to see how a bit of ego and brief lapse in judgement nearly led to disaster.

Mistakes Were Made

Several mistakes led to Dale being Swept Away…

Strangely enough, Dale did not even want to go out on the jet-ski and writes that he’s not a great swimmer and is somewhat afraid of the ocean. However, his ego would not allow him to chicken out when Danny suggested it.

“Hell, if I hesitated even a second, he would sense it and I would be in danger of destroying my reputation as a bad ass.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

Once they went out, I think they got a little carried away and went too far from shore, although they could still see the hotel. The real mistakes came, however, once Dale’s jet-ski stalled. There had been very little training before they left the beach and neither of them could restart it. They at least did discuss trying to tow the jet-ski back (but didn’t have any rope or means to do it) or Dale abandoning the jet-ski to ride back with Danny. Unfortunately, the fear of having to pay for the jet-ski led them to split up.

“Squinting at his back in the bright glare of the sun, I was struck by the realization that I had just made the mistake of my life. In the span of just a few moments Danny disappeared from sight.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

“How it is that both Danny and I, in our not insubstantial collective experience did not see the signs of trouble will forever remain a mystery to me.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

Later, Dale decides to abandon the jet-ski which I think was another mistake. It was taking on water though and starting to sink so this one can be forgiven. However, by this point, he was already out of sight of land so maybe he should have made the decision to swim for it sooner.

Would I Have Survived?

It’s easy to second-guess someone after the fact. Knowing what happened, I’d like to think that I would have come up with a clever solution to tow the jet-ski or made the decision to abandon it and ride back with my friend. If not, having realized it was a mistake once my friend was out of sight, I’d probably have tried to swim for shore right away or stuck with the jet-ski until it sank. Who knows how those scenarios would have turned out though.

At least Dale was wearing a life jacket and his use of his swimsuit to protect his head from the sun and catch rainwater was pretty clever.

“Danny’s insistence that I wear a life jacket would figure prominently as the pivotal ingredient in keeping me alive long enough to strive for some new goals in my life.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

Quotes

“Handle the little problems quickly and don’t sweat the big stuff. Perceive of a problem as being big and surely it will grow even bigger. Ignore it, and the passage of time will undoubtedly alter its course.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

“Survival, like life itself, was a constant succession of adjustments. Waiting would be tough but I could do it.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

“There was never a doubt that my wife faced a much more horrifying immediate future than I. I would surely die but she would face a life wondering what really happened to her husband.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

“Like everything else, an illusion. Reality had become nothing more than a series of mirages, hallucinations, and deceptions. There was nothing left for me to believe in.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

“I never harbored the illusion, in my entire life, that I would accomplish anything that would result in anyone asking for my autograph. Nothing had altered that fact. I didn’t feel worthy to affix my signature to their papers. I was embarrassed. I had accomplished nothing that qualified for preferential status outside of dragging my sorry butt out of the drink, and that wasn’t good enough.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

A Few More Quotes I Found Amusing

Despite the harrowing experience, I found the author to be quite light-hearted and amusing at several parts. For instance, his description of their morning vacation routine to claim spots by the pool/beach:

“Get chairs early, plant flag, and to hell with the rest of the poor slobs who don’t have the foresight to stake an early claim.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

“Danny and I practice the art of pickpocketing. Just for fun, but very slick and we always return the merchandise. Except for pens. We treat pens as exempt from “Thou Shalt Not Steal.” After all, life is fraught with peril. Caveat Emptor. Lose your pen? Too bad for you. Pay attention. We could have kept the cash.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

I also found the gift that the captain of the Almania gave Dale quite interesting.

“[The captain,] with an outstretched hand and with dramatic flourish, handed me the envelope and said “Happy Birthday.” He had plotted my pick-up point on the navigational chart. 86/22 22/30. In his eyes, my place of birth, my second life.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

Swept Away: A Story of Survival – Final Thoughts

Although perhaps Dale should not have gotten himself into this situation, his will to survive is quite inspiring. While hopefully none of us ever find ourselves in a similar life or death situation, Dale leaves us with a message of never giving up that can apply to anything:

“But he never gave up. He hung on, stubbornly, and eventually was spotted by the crew of a ship and rescued. What if he had given up just one hour before help arrived? Fortunately, it wasn’t this man’s nature to quit. And so he hung on. How many entrepreneurs have succeeded simply because they hung in there a little longer after everyone was telling them it was no use? No matter how tough it was, they were too stubborn to let despair take over.”

– Dale Chimenti, Swept Away: A Story of Survival

It’s not my favorite book, but Swept Away: A Story of Survival is a short, inspiring, and entertaining read. Get it now on Amazon or BAM!

Do you like “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” stories? How do you think you’d have handled Dale’s situation of being Swept Away?