Five Against the Sea

by Ron Arias

It was January 19, 1988. The waters were calm and the skies cloudless as five fishermen set off on a week-long trip off the Costa Rican coast. Five days later, their twenty-nine-foot wooden craft was foundering against thirty-foot waves as a dreaded north wind -- El Norte -- struck with full force. Set adrift in a badly leaking vessel, they faced the perils of more storms, shark attacks, near-madness, a mutiny, and bouts of starvation and thirst. Continuously bailing, the five men endured a record 142 days lost at sea -- until they were rescued 4,500 miles across the Pacific Ocean.

Genres: Nonfiction, Survival

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 1989

Reviews

[Lola · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't usually like books about the sea but I read this one through to the end because I liked the auth0r's writing style.
Five fishermen left Costa Rica & planned to fish for a week. Their catch would be sold to support their families. They encountered a north wind that caused 30 foot waves which destroyed their small boat badly. The radio didn't work either. They drifted for five months during which they ran out of food & water.
Meanwhile, their families at home were trying to get publicity about the missing boat & went to various offices to try to get ships & planes to go look for the men. They weren't successful.
This book is the interesting ways the men used in order to survive.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting true story

[Jeanie Wolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing tale of five men struggling to survive for months on the sea in a leaky little fishing boat. It was an unputdownable book that I highly recommend!

[Becky Brinkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five Against the Sea is on the top of my list of "books that should be made into movies." This true story is so compelling that it needs to be on the big screen. Five poor souls go fishing in a rickety boat to support their families and are sucked out to the wide Pacific by a storm. Their fight to survive against all odds with creativity and fortitude is amazing. Meanwhile, their families never give up hope and fight to try to find and save them.
Review by Becky Brinkley, author of Whatever Happened to Lil' Bobby Burton?: A True Story

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! This book is full of courage and team work. There are times when they consider killing one person or another, but they continue to work together and rely on each other. Each person is clever in their own way and can contribute to survival. Five months at sea, yet they stay pretty healthy. Amazing story of survival.

[Faye howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of the survival of five fishermen off the coast of Costa Rica. There boat was leaky and the lived on fish, turles, sharks and rain water. I guess if hungry enough you'll eat whatever to survive.

[Val Wilkerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 men leave for a fishing trip from Costa Rica, end up drifting 4500 miles across the Pacific, 142 days at sea....true story.....which I found very well written & interesting

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story about team work, survival, and the human spirit.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting tail of survival.

[David Vanness]

My copy is the Large Print hardback

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amazing story of survival.