Live To Tell: Black Wave

A Shipwreck On The High Seas Forces A Mother To Make An Unthinkable Choice

(CBS)  Ten Months Before The Wreck

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Amelia Silverwood: I was so over being on the boat with my family.

Jack Silverwood: You can't spend a lot of time with them or else you'll get really annoying.

Amelia: I felt really frustrated almost all the time. All I want to do is go home.

Jean Silverwood: There were many challenges living on board a boat the size of an RV with your husband and four kids. My kids would fight a lot; John and I would fight a lot. We'd all be fighting and yelling at each other.

Ben Silverwood: I was going crazy because I had nothing to do; wake up, eat breakfast, study a little bit, then sit around. I was really mad about it.

Jean: Ben would disappear off the boat and come back hours later and we'd be worried about where he went, but he'd have to get away from us.

Ben: There's a couple points where I lost my temper, to say the least. I threw stuff around the cabin, kicked the door open, ran all around the boat screaming and yelling and ripped a couple posters down my walls. I was starting to think that I'd be out there forever. I wouldn't ever go back home.


The Night Of The Wreck

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Jean: Ben was crying. He was standing over John, apologizing to him. "Dad, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for the horrible things I did during the trip. You know, I'm so sorry. I love you."

Ben: I didn't want him to feel guilty that he'd brought me on that boat. I just wanted to comfort him.

Amelia: My dad would, you know, he'd bear the pain, but sometimes he'd scream.

Jean: It was horrible to watch somebody that you love go through that.

Amelia: He prayed for us the whole time; he never was praying for himself.

Jean: "Please help my wife and my kids survive this." He then asked me to bring the kids over to him. And he was kinda saying goodbye to them.

Amelia: He'd telling us that he's about to die.

Ben: I was pretty sure he was gonna die.

Camille Silverwood: I was sad to see if my dad was really gonna die or not or if we were gonna make it out.

Jean: My youngest daughter, Camille said, "I just want daddy to stop hurting." And an emotion came over me that was just unbelievable - to have my sweet daughter saying this to me.

I just thought in my mind, "Well we're not gonna say goodbye. We're gonna get you off the boat, we're gonna get ourselves off the boat. We're gonna try to do whatever we can."


Coast Guard Station, Alameda, Calif.

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Ernie Delli Gatti, Search and Rescue Controller, U.S. Coast Guard: The first emergency beacon signal that came in was approximately 10 p.m. Pacific Standard Time and it was registered to the Silverwoods who lived in San Diego, Calif.

We did not know their location. We did not know if they were in San Diego or where in the world that they were.

The first thing we did here is that we attempted to contact their home telephone number.

And when that failed, we started talking to the family members. They had told us that they had left Tahiti at least three to five days prior. They went ahead and told us that both John and Jean were experienced sailors and John would not turn on the beacon unless he was in some sort of emergency situation.

[dixxson]

These kind of adventures are good for adults, but Kid?
The Ohio river froze once and officials could not keep people off the ice!
They took their Kids! And often fell through. Had to be rescued!
A Lady reported on the internet yesterday, that her 9 yr old boy had asked to ride
the subway alone. She Let Him! And Rationalized Her decision to the Media!
To me All these kind of people are as "LOONY as the "QUINTUPLET MOM".

[mavrik36able]

look, when i was 15 we went white water rafting on class 5+ rapids in west virgina. was i scared? yes did i want to do it? YES! there are people out there that are actually intrested in living life to the fullest thats what these people were doing and having talked to the family i know the children were glad to have gone sailing, if not glad to have had the accident

[maria391-2009]

Good grief--what a pathetic family!! They brought this on themselves--and as to the wife's dredging up the husband's decades old drinking problem? It made me dislike his family more (just when I though *that* wasn't possible).

I don't get the comments supporting this irresponsible family. They got everything they deserved.

[b41hxs]

Like many other posters I found the title hysterical. Like a 70s flashback. ?Coming soon to a theater near you, Irwin Allens BLACK WAVE starring Charlton Heston as Dad??.

As for the few fools who actually are supporting this arrogant narcissist and his shrieking blond trophy wife and damming everyone for being cowards and lumps for not having the guts to ?follow their dreams? (values that differ from our own??? Try sheer stupidity) let me set you straight about a few things:

The only reason that rich jerks like this do things like that is so they can send out Christmas cards to everyone they know that read along the lines of ?Toodles everyone. Hope you are all having a great holiday with your boring, mundane lives. We on the other hand are sailing up the Rivera in our BRAND NEW YACHT. Muffin and the kids are dissecting a giant squid we just caught and they should all have their PhDs in Marine Biology by the end of the month. Bye!?

This idiot man-child uprooted his children, tore them away from their lives and endangered them because he can never possibly be wrong about anything on any subject. Most people who are successful in one area suddenly think they are an expert on everything including seamanship like old pops pegleg. Once he realized what he had gotten himself into he decided to admit his mistake only to his buddy Jack Daniels who was the sixth passenger on the S.S. Minnow. I also cringed at his wife on that little island with the people who rescued her. ?What, you mean you don?t have any blood, plasma, CAT scan machines on this dirty little island! I have a facial and massage at 3 and no plasma TV to watch my soap operas! No hot Water! No wonder you people are so smelly!?

Episode ends with the usual piano heartstring music about how it brought the family all closer together. Mark my words. When the kids are grown up in another ten years they will all realize the needless danger this smirking ****** bag put them all in and he will have to get down on his one remaining knee to beg their forgiveness.

Instead of being happy to have their affluence and great lifestyles they have to constantly keep up with the Joneses and show everyone else up. It is this mentality that has destroyed our economy. Hopefully Long John Silver has a lot less money than he did to further endanger his clan and stop playing Ned Flanders to everyone else?s Homer Simpson: ?Hidley Ho neighbor! Just parking my BRAND NEW YACHT. Be with you in a minute.? Also laughed at the final tag. ?His family won?t be joining him this time.?

[mavrik36able]

im not entirley sure you understand, i have been offshore sailing and i can tell you right now that your more likley to be killed driving to walmart than you are to die sailing. this was a freak accident that, granted, never should have happened. and dont try to tell me that if you had the money to buy what you wanted most and do what you wanted most you wouldnt. and the kids are actually glad to have gone sailing anyway, or atleast thats the impression i got when i met the dad and wife. also as for the family not going with him hes going alone because his kids are in colledge and cant just leave

[herpesfinder]

hope the family members are safe in the end

[Gratitude7]

I pray that this family has done the most important thing which is to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. I have no doubt that it was He who saved their lives.
What an awesome story!!

[msmithy]

saw the 1st two live to tell and they were pretty interesting but this last one, i switched channels after 10 minutes because I have no interest in watching a rich family who are sailing around the world get into trouble and eventually, everything will turn out o.k., boooring. rich people who have happy endings just don't make great ratings.

i don't think i'll be watching more live to tells

[MilanLA222]

Mrs. Zirinsky, the producer of the Black Wave segment should get award for being able take 3 still photos and 4 video portraits - and stretch them like a bungee for full hour while telling boring story that could be said in 5 minutes.

[ApacheOne]

Ever since I read Black Wave last year, I wanted to see this story on film, and 48 Hours did not dissappoint. Yet, some of the criticisms listed here are absolutely laughable, and seem to come from people who do not grasp life's simplest concept of risk and reward. I admire this family, and the way they reacted to a life or death crisis. In the length of a single heartbeat, their life changed forever. And while it is brutal that John had to lose his leg in this wreck, I think his family will benefit forever from this experience in ways we can hardly imagine. This would make a great movie.

[mavrik36able]

AMEN! risk and reward is a good way of putting it, you dont get something for nothing and all those to scared to do something a little dangerous should go back to their nice, safe cubicles

[Russelstages]

I viewed the program and found it authentic and interesting. I saw another clip, about this Black Wave story, some months ago. I didn't know that it would be on the "Live to Tell" segment of CBS until a couple of days before. I have been a sailor most of my life, and although I have not been in a ship wreck, such as this, I have witness the unbelievable power of Mother . I have a great respect for the ocean.
This story shows the courage of a family, when the chips are down, and the boy scout in most of us. These kids and mom did what it takes to survive a very bad situation and rescue dad. I would like to see how some of the other commenter's would handle a situation this dynamic.
The reasons for the accident are irrelevant, probably a miss calculation or out dated chart. The out come of the catastrophe is the key. The unity of this group of people, and everyone doing something to save dad, rather than panic and chaos.
I bet, if you took a pole, how many people have come this close to death and suvived. Then compound that by saying how many have come this close to death at sea, hundreds of miles from civilization. A very small percentage, probably less that 1 tenth of 1 percent. That is the story, in my eyes.
I hope the Gods of Neptune, and Mother are as good to me, in my travels.
RussellStages

[mavrik36able]

i agree totally, some people just dont have the perspective that experience sailing provides and so are somewhat ignorant in the finer points of wreck survival

[oliver1099]

This is nothing but a badly-overdramatized version of a relatively minor incident, brought on by a narcissistic dufus. Story: Dufus grounds his boat on a reef, breaking the hull and taking on water. Mast falls on Dufus' leg, injuring him, and ultimately causing an amputation. Family dramatizes minor incidents, eg. pulling mast off Dufus' leg, as 'heroics'. CBS collaboates by showing "Hawaii 5-0" style towering wave (which would surely have splintered craft) as transition to commercial break cut-ins. Also by allowing family to deliver carefully rehearsed statements about their suppossed family catharsis, to raise interest in other themes underling their book deal. "We all LEARNED something....." blah blah blah "Family is IMPORTANT !!! (duuuuuuh!!)

Family is rescued after only SIX HOURS on reef, by local family and worldwide chain of civil servants and French navy, which spent tens of thousands of dollars on copters and a jet plane to locate their signal and take them to hospital.

Dufus, who now needs a new boat, starts rehearsing book pitch before the kids are even dried off. CBS obliges, showing cover of Dufus' book during transition to commercials. Dufus takes book profits and buys new boat. Watch out, taxpayers!! Where is the STORY here?!!!!??

[snowleopard73]

I blame CBS for this low budget... I can't even find the words to describe my feelings. The Silverwoods are about as inarticulate as a family can get! My clock didn't move one minute in that hour... I found myself praying for commercials and weather alerts!!! And someone earlier suggested that we might be jealous of this disfunctional 'family'? Between my dad, my son, and myself, we served 47 years in the commecial fleet and the U.S. Navy so I feel qualified to note that everyone on shipboard is dependant on everyone else for their LIVES! If a boat drifts due to problems with a mast or boom, when repaired you had better have someone qualified to take a sextant reading so you KNOW WHERE YOU ARE! Why didn't someone man the engine to stay on course while they made repairs? Let's face it, this is family dumb. Maybe next time they'll try a hot air balloon!
snowleopard73

[troglobyte]

Quote: "It does seem that there should be a law against placing one's children in harm's way. I have no more sympathy for this pair of irresponsible people than I have for "adventurers" who suffer hideous frostbite as they climb Mt. Everest. "

A law against placing one's children in harms way would be nice. Maybe it would stop war.

[mavrik36able]

also i would rather get frostbite climbing mount everest than get it shoveling out my driveway

[judy05]

I thought the program was terrific.

Good gracious, what DREADFUL diatribes from people who probably never took a real risk in their lives, and certainly nothing of this magnitude.. yes, the parents subjected their children to risks that they, themselves, were willing to take but their aim was to enrich all of their lives.. and it doesn't seem like the children came out mentally or emotionally damaged, albeit they were wonderfully transformed --at a high price I must admit.. I have to ask myself how world peace will ever be reached when such narrow views of what's "right" are used as measuring sticks against those whose values differ from our own.. and the material cost of saving the family is thrown up by so many.. it does go to show that most people's values have a bottom line (not unlike corrupt politicians).. and is and looks like it will always remain MONEY.

[Slrman]

I see a lot of comments from people who were not there, have probably never been on a sailboat any time in their lives and know nothing about it. Yes, they are willing to criticize people based upon a TV show that probably had little to do with the reality.

I agree that they should share the profits from this both from CBS and book sales with the people who helped them. But perhaps they are doing that and CBS just didn't think it would improve the ratings to mention it. I also suspect that the social "tensions" may have been exaggerated for the ratings benefit.

[sailforfun]

Sounds like most of the comments are from losers who have NO sense of adventure or maybe their idea of adventure is programing a new remote from their easy chair.

I would venture to say that alot of the comments come from people who don't spend any time with their family.

Most "church" people are compasionate and would help most anyone in need of it, even Atheist! Doesn't sound to me like the Silverwoods' are in need of any money.

I say GOOD JOB Silverwoods!

[rsmik]

Can we have the mysteries back now?

[johnsie2112]

I don't believe the black wave story. They sound like incompetent sailors who veered off course (who knows, maybe Dad was drunk) and stupidly sailed into the reef. Please do not condone this irresponsible behavior by purchasing their please-pity-us book. Did the mom really expect the natives who rescued them to have blood and medical supplies?

[mavrik36able]

you dont belive it? you should meet john and tell his prothstetic leg that

[pegw]

WOW!!! It sounds to me like everybody that is against these people maybe or just a little bit jealous or don't believe people make big mistakes sometimes. It sounds like to me they were home schooling the kids & it never dawned on them that everybody would get sick & tired of each other during a trip like this. Some people just do not understand that what is fun for small children may not be fun for the older kids. I agree it was a horrible thing to happen but thank God for looking after them. You know they say God looks after fools & drunks!

[Cherokeea1]

It does seem that there should be a law against placing one's children in harm's way. I have no more sympathy for this pair of irresponsible people than I have for "adventurers" who suffer hideous frostbite as they climb Mt. Everest.

There was a time when people did not gain fame by telling everyone how big an idiot they were.

[ghalie123]

I am thinking how much effort it took to rescue this family?

A lot !!

And the rescuers should be rewarded, not the family.