Customer Reviews

Not Without Hope

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

On February 28, 2009 four friends... excited as little kids... headed out on a fishing trip in Clearwater, Florida. The fact that all four young men were exceptionally physically fit makes the tragedy at sea that occurred hours later even more shocking to their loved ones... and the world at large. The four men were Nick Schuyler a physical trainer... Will Bleakley a former college football player... Corey Smith a professional football player... and Marquis Cooper a professional football player. The "excuse" for the fishing trip (as if an excuse was needed)... was that Marquis was getting ready to head out to the Oakland Raiders training camp. Marquis owned a twenty-one-foot, three-thousand-plus-pound boat and he wanted to get one more day of fishing in before succumbing to the brutality of an NFL training camp. All the guys were almost giddy with anticipation. Will and Nick were best friends and Corey and Marquis were new friends and training associates. Sandwiches were made... beer was packed... and Marquis had an unbelievable collection of fishing necessities.

The morning of the fishing trip Nick's Dad Stu who knew of the fella's fishing trip woke up early "TURNED ON THE TELEVISION AND SAW THAT A FORCEFUL UPPER AIR DISTURBANCE WAS APPROACHING THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES FROM THE NORTHWEST." Stu called his son and his call went directly to voice mail: "NICK, IF YOU GET THIS MESSAGE, HEAD BACK EARLY. A BIG STORM'S COMING IN."

What would follow is the death of three of the four men. This story is told in an unrelenting... heart pounding... literally spell binding manner... that will continue to assault your senses... as assuredly as the next wave would unmercifully pound Nick, Will, Corey... and Marquis. The author (Nick) states: "THIS IS WHAT I RECALL AFTER BEING IN THE WATER FOR FORTY-THREE HOURS, FRIGID AND ACHING AND SCARED, SO HUNGRY AND THIRSTY THAT I FELT I WAS EATING MY TEETH. THIS IS THE BEST I CAN DO AFTER HAVING THREE FRIENDS DIE, TWO OF THEM IN MY ARMS. THE SADDEST THING ABOUT THIS STORY IS, I AM THE ONLY ONE LEFT TO TELL IT."

What led to this disaster was their anchor getting stuck when they decided to head back. When normal efforts to dislodge the anchor failed... they made (according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) a deadly mistake: "IMPROPER TYING OF THE ANCHOR LINE TO AN EYE BRACKET ON THE PORT SIDE OF THE BOAT'S TRANSOM: ATTEMPTING TO THROTTLE FORWARD TO PULL THE ANCHOR FREE: AND FAILURE TO LEAVE ENOUGH SLACK IN THE LINE, WHICH LED THE STERN TO SUBMERGE AND THE BOAT TO CAPSIZE." Please believe me this is not a "spoiler". The author then takes you through a first person account of every frigid wave... crashing onto and into each man who was clinging in one way or another to the over turned boat AND EACH OTHER. The mental as well as the physical beating these poor souls were forced to endure... will undoubtedly affect every reader possessing even the smallest bit of empathy. As these brave young men held on for their very life... they each... in their own way show bits of heroism... bits of love... endure agonizing pain... and whether they know it or not... have their mental capacities drained... and stolen from them... by mother nature. As the hours pass in tortuous and murderous fashion... what once was... "A LOT OF "OH MY G-DS"... "OH MY G-D, IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?" NOW IT WAS, "OH MY G-D, IS THIS IT?"

The feeling of helplessness that the reader is immersed in is so visceral... that at a point in the story when the author says we have now been in the water for twenty-hours... I thought that I/we had been through so much already... that I must have misread the beginning of the book when it said he was in the water for forty-three hours. I actually went back to the beginning twice to make sure I had read it correctly.

COAST GUARD NOTE: "In the water, boaters would also have quickly become susceptible to hypothermia as their body temperatures dropped below 95 degrees. Blood vessels in the arms and legs would begin constricting, rerouting blood to the body's core to protect the heart, lungs, and brain with sufficient heat. Shivering would progress to clumsiness of the hands, quick and shallow breathing, blue lips, confusion, slurred speech, and irrational and confrontational behavior."

And then it got worse! And Nick was alone. You will not be able to put this book down till you're done reading it... and then I guarantee you... you still will not be done with it for a long time.

Personal Note: Since I live in the California bay area and I am an Oakland Raider season ticket holder I followed this story closely as it was happening. I would not only like to share my sorrowful prayers with all the family members of the victims... but I would also like to tell Marquis Cooper's Father that the way he handled himself... and presented himself... when hope was being lost... displayed so much dignity... class... and love... that would make any Father and son in the world proud. G-d bless!

I followed this story on the news as it was happening and live in the same area, but I am one who only heard what was on TV or in the paper and we all know how they easily twist the facts. I wanted to know more and how it really happened. I bought this book and could not put it down. It is so detailed, it makes you/me feel like I really knew him, and the others. Every time I say something like.... its cold, in my mind I think its not bad at all compared to what they went through, in the water! This was a very SAD story and I shed a few tears for the men and families, but think the worst is those who dare criticize someone who lost his 3 best friends. I would love to see the tables turned.....

This was one of the best non-fiction books I've read in a long time. It's disturbing, but truthful. You know the ending, but this explains how everything went down that weekend. I cried a few days, and laughed a few, but mostly read it so intensely that I couldn't help from turning page after page despite the fact that my clock read 3:00 a.m. just a few pages from the end of the book.

Not without hope was an interesting and inspiring account of survival. It was a very easy read and a real page turner. Only Nick knows what happened out there and I can only hope for his sanity that his accounts were accurate. I would have a difficult time going on with my life after such a tragic ordeal.

"Not Without Hope" is a very inspiring and real account of survival and loss written by Nick Schuyler. As I read it from the comfort of my own home, I was also carried away on the rough waves of the Mexican Gulf with Marquis Cooper, Corey Smith, Will Bleakley and Nick Schuyler. I experienced the very human mistakes as well as their sense of teamwork and friendship towards one another. I felt and empathetic loss as Nick described losing one friend, and another and another.

We all make simple human mistakes everyday. We seldom think about the consequences; not thinking things through completely. In this case of survival at sea led to the deaths of some very fine young men with promising futures.

I learned alot from this book. I used to think of athletes especially football players as "dumb jocks." I no longer judge athletes this way. I think of them as loyal, hardworking individuals who love their families and are dedicated to improving themselves. I am less judgemental because of this book.

Every time I work out now, I think about Nick Schuyler and what he went through to survive. I think about the extra effort it took him and his friends to save one another. I try to put that extra effort into my own life.

"Not Without Hope" is not only a very honest book from one man's mind, but a lesson for all of us not to take life or nature for granted. The waves of life will carry you. It is up to us to have the strength to ride the waves. This is a good book for any one who has ever faced a personal tragedy. Who hasn't?

Nick is not one to dive beneath life's surface now, before, or during the accident. There is is a sense that more is waiting to be told.

When his friends counted on him to help retrieve life jackets from the boat, he refused to dive under. But 24 hours later when Nick was the sole survivor, he suddenly was able to search under the craft.

When Corey wanted a chance to climb on the boat, Nick fought him off. Then he justifies it by saying, "There isn't room." Why didn't they take turns on the boat? Why was Corey always the one left in the water? Nick says that Corey went crazy at the end. Maybe Corey was mad as hell that Nick would not share the safe spot.

Maybe Corey was mad as hell that Nick took it upon himself to declare Marquis's death. Nick let Marquis float away and fifteen minutes later, Nick says, Corey went crazy on him. Did Nick have any prior experience in declaring people dead? And once Marquis was gone, why wouldn't Nick let Corey on? Nick says he was holding on to Corey for Corey's sake but maybe Nick was holding Corey OFF the boat. Only Nick knows and only Nick will always know. I wonder how any of us would handle ourselves out in the middle of a stormy ocean when that human survival instinct kicks in.

Nick details his efforts to save the others and the tale as told is spellbinding but only because it offers insight into one man's death defying efforts to survive deep, frigid, roiling waters. Without a doubt, Nick battled the elements. His fortitude is inspirational. But a surface kind of guy comes off shallow in the telling of his story.

I read this book without putting it down in less than a day, despite being out of the country with lots of other interesting things to do. Afterwards, I was so fascinated that I spent hours googling it to find out more.

It's about four friends, all of them very physically fit and three of them football players, who go out on a male bonding trip to fish. Then something so stupid happens that could have ended up being trivial, had they not made a deadly mistake, a mistake which causes the ensuing tragedy. The account is riveting and heart pounding and bothered me long after I finished reading it.

A year later, I still think of how sad the whole thing is.

For other books that I found gripping and well worth reading, see my other reviews or my listmania list. I am an avid reader of true adventure and/or survival stories.

Sad but what a great read. I absolutely loved this book and I feel so bad for the author who had to write this and feel all those feelings again. What a sad story to read but the author lived through. Made me appreciate how lucky I am.

I live in the Tampa Bay area of FL about 10 miles from where they launched their boat! So this was real close to home for me. I'm glad Nick was able to tell what really happend to the others since there was so much going on during the news when this happend. You didn't know what to beleive. Still hard to imagine that anyone could survive when the water was that cold and stormy out. Kinda wish the book lasted a little longer to tell more but since it was written so quick after the accident, I guess that was all there was to tell.

I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must have been for Nick to relive this tragic event in such detail, putting it all on paper for the rest of us to read. However, I am glad he did. This was a terrible story, yet an excellent read. The great detail and all of the overwhelming emotions that the author poured into this book made it an incredible story of hope and survival. I highly suggest reading this book.