Live To Tell: Black Wave

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

(CBS)  16 Months After John’s Recovery | The Night Of The Wreck

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John Silverwood: Ben never stopped. Ben was always thinking.

Amelia Silverwood: He's like, "Look, we need to get off this boat because it's collapsing, you know, different parts are breaking off. It's dangerous."

John: The boat was disintegrating. There was very little of it left and if he didn't get the little kids off, they were gonna die right there.

Amelia: Ben was looking at the reef, looking at the tides and the moon and all that stuff, trying to actually set up a plan.

John: He could see a piece of reef that was about the size of a twin mattress.

Ben Silverwood: I saw a little bit of reef at about 1:30 in the morning.

Jean Silverwood: There was a ledge. There was a little coral ledge probably about 100 feet away that he noticed had never been submerged.

John: He said, "I'm going in." He jumped off into the surf.

Ben: Timed it between waves and I basically bolted.

John: And when he did, he took a canister of flares and he took the distress signal with him.

Amelia: He's like, "I'll get some pillows, set up something on the sharp reef."

Ben: I got my little sister Camille and Amelia got Jack.

Jean: They brought the two little ones over to the reef.

John: Ben gave Jack the job of holding the emergency beacon. And little Jack held that thing tight to himself for the rest of the night. And you just wondered, "Is anybody gonna hear us, is anybody gonna know?"


Coast Guard Station, Alameda, Calif.

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Ernie Delli Gatti: It was between four and six hours before we got a clear signal on where their location was. The Emerald Jane was approximately 350 nautical miles west of Tahiti Papeete. It's desolated, there's nothing out there. The closest civilization is about maybe 10 to 12 miles away. We notified out counterparts down in Tahiti.

The French initially said they were going to launch a helicopter, but it wouldn't be until first light. They went ahead and launched their helicopters approximately 6 o'clock in the morning. Almost 12 hours had lapsed since the first emergency beacon had gone off. We did not know exactly what the extent of their injuries were, so we needed a jet to get out there quickly.

Jean: Ben was screaming and he said, "We gotta get dad off of here. You know the kids are fine, we gotta get dad off the boat." And I said, "Well how are we gonna do that?"

John: If they try to get me off the boat into the surf, I'll be dead in a heartbeat.

Jean: The life raft's stuck in between the two holes that have jackknifed together and we couldn’t get that out; it was just like in there like a donut. He said, "I don't know. I don’t know how we're gonna do that."

John: There’s no way to get me off the boat, and Jean and Ben have to face the fact that maybe they've gotta cut their losses. They have to take care of the kids, because there’s no way to save me.

Jean: We have to get this life raft off or else John’s gonna die on this boat.

John: I was dying. I could feel it.

Ernie Delli Gatti: We contacted our counterparts down there in Tahiti and pushed for a jet to take off immediately. It would be on scene within roughly 45 minutes and they would be able to be followed up with a helicopter in the event that there was a distress out there and they needed additional assistance.

[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?!!!!??