התמלול המלא של 3 Terrifying TRUE Boating Horror Stories

kept scanning the trees, which were just about as pitch 72 00:03:36.990 --> 00:03:39.629 black from where we were sitting. She said she kept 73 00:03:39.650 --> 00:03:43.189 hearing noises from the trees, noises that sounded like movement. 74 00:03:44.090 --> 00:03:46.210 I told her it was probably an animal, to which 75 00:03:46.250 --> 00:03:48.550 she brought up what we had told her earlier, that 76 00:03:48.569 --> 00:03:50.729 we had never seen an animal on the island before. 77 00:03:51.719 --> 00:03:53.680 I reminded her that we had also never been on 78 00:03:53.699 --> 00:03:56.300 the island overnight before, and that it was probably a 79 00:03:56.360 --> 00:03:59.919 nocturnal animal, and we had nothing to worry about. She 80 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.979 still looked concerned as she continued squinting at the trees. 81 00:04:04.020 --> 00:04:07.400 She said, I don't think an animal's out there. I 82 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:09.819 thought maybe she had too much to drink, but she 83 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:13.680 barely finished her only beer. Everyone except Trevor and I 84 00:04:13.740 --> 00:04:17.259 started to get a little freaked out. Trevor's girlfriend, Rosie, 85 00:04:17.379 --> 00:04:18.920 asked if we were sure if we were the only 86 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:21.860 ones on the island, and we were sure. There was 87 00:04:21.899 --> 00:04:24.699 no boat anchored anywhere, and we had walked the entire 88 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:27.560 island earlier and didn't see any evidence that people were there. 89 00:04:28.430 --> 00:04:30.620 I was confident that the darkness was playing tricks on 90 00:04:30.670 --> 00:04:33.790 the eyes and ears of our friends. Once the fear 91 00:04:33.829 --> 00:04:36.129 came out, it was like we couldn't calm them down. 92 00:04:37.209 --> 00:04:39.850 Trevor pulled out a flashlight and told everyone to relax. 93 00:04:40.410 --> 00:04:41.589 He said he was going to point it at the 94 00:04:41.629 --> 00:04:44.290 trees and show everyone that nobody's in the woods and 95 00:04:44.329 --> 00:04:47.980 that their imagination had gotten off the rails. He slowly 96 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:51.819 moved the flashlight beam horizontally across the tree line. Megan 97 00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:56.439 screamed and pointed. Everyone else jumped because of Megan. She 98 00:04:56.500 --> 00:04:58.420 said two people were standing in the woods as the 99 00:04:58.439 --> 00:05:02.639 flashlight passed. Nobody else saw it. Trevor moved the flashlight 100 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:06.000 beam back, and sure enough, two people were standing next 101 00:05:06.019 --> 00:05:09.439 to the trees. The image of them staring back at 102 00:05:09.550 --> 00:05:11.790 us is one of the scariest things I've ever witnessed 103 00:05:11.829 --> 00:05:15.370 with my own eyes. They were almost completely hidden, which 104 00:05:15.410 --> 00:05:18.769 is why we didn't see them at first. Trevor jumped back, 105 00:05:18.970 --> 00:05:21.389 and the light beam went with him. When he got 106 00:05:21.430 --> 00:05:23.410 back up and shone the light in the same direction 107 00:05:23.449 --> 00:05:27.449 as the two people, they were gone. We started to panic. 108 00:05:28.060 --> 00:05:31.079 We definitely saw two people standing there, and now they weren't. 109 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:34.860 Trevor started yelling in their direction, telling them to come out. 110 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:38.540 Nothing happened. A few of us ran over there to 111 00:05:38.579 --> 00:05:42.660 intimidate them, which, in hindsight, was pretty stupid. When we 112 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:46.279 got over there, nobody was there. We could hear laughing 113 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:49.800 in the woods, but it was faint. I suggested to 114 00:05:49.860 --> 00:05:52.300 Trevor that we should leave, just in case these two 115 00:05:52.339 --> 00:05:55.120 meant us any kind of harm. I could tell Trevor's 116 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:58.800 pride was hurt, but he ultimately agreed. We started to 117 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:01.759 pack up our essentials and put the fire out. The 118 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:04.500 entire time, Megan was telling us to hurry up because 119 00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:06.759 she could hear them laughing in the woods, but no 120 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:09.319 matter where she put the light beam, she couldn't see them. 121 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:12.019 We started back in the water so we could get 122 00:06:12.060 --> 00:06:14.860 on the boat. Just before Trevor and I could get 123 00:06:14.939 --> 00:06:17.639 on the boat, Megan screamed as she continued pointing the 124 00:06:17.670 --> 00:06:20.649 light onto the beach. The two people were now on 125 00:06:20.689 --> 00:06:23.689 the beach. I jumped onto the boat, and just as 126 00:06:23.769 --> 00:06:25.970 Trevor was getting on the boat, the woman called out 127 00:06:26.050 --> 00:06:29.550 Trevor's name. He stopped and looked back at her. She 128 00:06:29.629 --> 00:06:31.310 said that she wanted him to walk with her in 129 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:33.699 the forest so that she could show him something cool. 130 00:06:34.339 --> 00:06:36.019 Then she could come back for the rest of us. 131 00:06:37.259 --> 00:06:39.879 Trevor almost went back to the island. It was almost 132 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:41.680 like the only thought he had in that moment was 133 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:45.339 going back. I grabbed him and essentially threw him back 134 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:48.319 on the boat. He didn't say a thing or even 135 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:50.439 mention that he looked like he was starting to head back. 136 00:06:51.269 --> 00:06:54.569 We got the anchor and departed from the island. As 137 00:06:54.610 --> 00:06:56.910 we were leaving, Megan kept the light on the island. 138 00:06:57.720 --> 00:06:59.600 The man was gone but the woman was on the 139 00:06:59.660 --> 00:07:02.879 shore watching us leave. We kept a light on her 140 00:07:02.939

--> 00:07:05.920 until she walked back into the woods. Trevor took a 141 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:08.139 small lap around the island to see if any boat 142 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:12.310 was tied up anywhere and disturbingly there were none. These 143 00:07:12.370 --> 00:07:14.709 two people were already on the island when we arrived 144 00:07:15.089 --> 00:07:16.970 and we had no idea where they came from or 145 00:07:17.029 --> 00:07:19.949 how long they'd been there. The island was far enough 146 00:07:20.029 --> 00:07:22.990 away that it would be an incredibly hard swim especially 147 00:07:23.050 --> 00:07:26.459 for these two. Whenever I think about that night My 148 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:30.060 brain goes to some insane places. There isn't anywhere on 149 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:32.129 the island, at least that we know about, where you 150 00:07:32.149 --> 00:07:34.269 can hide. We would have heard them at some point 151 00:07:34.310 --> 00:07:36.449 when we were walking through the island in the afternoon. 152 00:07:37.149 --> 00:07:39.410 It was like these two people just appeared out of nowhere. 153 00:07:40.490 --> 00:07:42.250 Trevor and I went back to the island one more 154 00:07:42.290 --> 00:07:45.209 time after that night. It was the next day, and 155 00:07:45.250 --> 00:07:46.689 we went to try and see if there was any 156 00:07:46.769 --> 00:07:50.110 evidence of these two. A few feet into the woods, 157 00:07:50.529 --> 00:07:53.329 there was something leaning up against a tree. It was 158 00:07:53.389 --> 00:07:57.060 what looked like a human figure made from sticks. We 159 00:07:57.069 --> 00:07:59.839 didn't stay much longer after that. We got in Trevor's 160 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:02.800 boat and left. I have no idea what happened for 161 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:05.279 sure that night but I can confidently say that the 162 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:08.279 island isn't right. For now I don't have any interest 163 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:10.949 in going back but I am happy with the memories 164 00:08:11.009 --> 00:08:23.100 I made there. I want to share a story that's 165 00:08:23.149 --> 00:08:26.569 bothered me for a while now. Whenever I'm alone I 166 00:08:26.629 --> 00:08:28.670 tend to think back to this day, and my mind 167 00:08:28.709 --> 00:08:31.930 goes to some dark places. I've shared this story a 168 00:08:31.970 --> 00:08:34.269 couple of times, hoping that the person I tell will 169 00:08:34.289 --> 00:08:37.600 tell me that I'm crazy and overthinking things, but unfortunately, 170 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:40.960 they think something bad happened as well. This is one 171 00:08:40.980 --> 00:08:43.230 of those stories that, if you think too much about it, 172 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:46.200 you'll lose sleep. This happened to me a few years 173 00:08:46.259 --> 00:08:48.059 ago at the marina I used to keep my boat 174 00:08:48.100 --> 00:08:51.870 docked at. I've been docked at several marinas during my lifetime. 175 00:08:52.200 --> 00:08:54.559 And even though many of them have issues, they're not 176 00:08:54.580 --> 00:08:57.100 the type of place you think of scary events happening. 177 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:00.500 Unless you're afraid of boats or water, marinas are usually 178 00:09:00.539 --> 00:09:03.830 harmless places. For most of my life, I've been alone. 179 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:06.269 When I was old enough to get a boat, I 180 00:09:06.309 --> 00:09:09.129 saved my money and made it happen. Since I was 181 00:09:09.129 --> 00:09:12.049 19 years old, I've owned a boat. The summer of 182 00:09:12.090 --> 00:09:15.809 this story, I practically lived on the boat. That specific 183 00:09:15.870 --> 00:09:18.529 marina was quieter than most others, and I would just 184 00:09:18.549 --> 00:09:22.529 spend countless days relaxing, reading, fishing, and just living my life. 185 00:09:23.460 --> 00:09:26.039 One feature that this marina offered was something called a 186 00:09:26.100 --> 00:09:29.139 transit slip. What that means is that somebody can dock 187 00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:30.740 their boat at one of the docks for the night 188 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:33.460 or a couple of days. The marina gives them a 189 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:36.000 slip for an allotted amount of time. It's for people 190 00:09:36.039 --> 00:09:38.700 who travel or can't make it back to their specific marina. 191 00:09:39.730 --> 00:09:42.409 Over the years I've met tons of fascinating people from 192 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:44.779 all over the country who use these transit slips to 193 00:09:44.820 --> 00:09:49.059 dock their boats. One afternoon this seemingly normal boat came 194 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:52.139 to the marina and received a transit slip. The spot 195 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:54.309 next to me was vacant so they docked the boat 196 00:09:54.330 --> 00:09:56.669 there for the night. As he was bringing the boat 197 00:09:56.750 --> 00:09:58.710 in I got out of mind to help him dock it. 198 00:09:59.169 --> 00:10:01.320 That's what a lot of boat people do. You help 199 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:03.720 your neighbor. The guy yelled at me and told me 200 00:10:03.740 --> 00:10:06.960 he didn't want or need my help. I wasn't offended. 201 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:09.639 I get some people don't want others near their boat, 202 00:10:09.820 --> 00:10:12.399 so I let him be. Once he secured his boat 203 00:10:12.450 --> 00:10:15.149 and tied it up, I introduced myself and told him 204 00:10:15.169 --> 00:10:17.250 that if he needed anything to just knock on my door. 205 00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:21.019 The guy looked at me, made almost no expression, and 206 00:10:21.059 --> 00:10:23.720 walked by me and back onto his boat. I'm a 207 00:10:23.779 --> 00:10:26.970 quiet guy, and I don't necessarily like small talk, but 208 00:10:27.009 --> 00:10:30.110 if someone says hello to me, I'll always respond. I 209 00:10:30.149 --> 00:10:32.090 was a little put off by this guy's lack of

210 00:10:32.169 --> 00:10:35.509 basic human interaction. After he walked by me and went 211 00:10:35.549 --> 00:10:37.950 back onto his boat, he went down into a small 212 00:10:37.990 --> 00:10:41.090 cabin and slammed the door. His boat was just big 213 00:10:41.129 --> 00:10:43.679 enough that he had a small walk-down cabin in the front, 214 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:46.759 which I assume basically had a bed, and that's probably it. 215 00:10:47.490 --> 00:10:50.289 Before I walked back to my boat, I smelled something horrible. 216 00:10:50.990 --> 00:10:53.769 I started sniffing around my area and concluded that the 217 00:10:53.830 --> 00:10:56.590 smell was coming from his boat. It wasn't the smell 218 00:10:56.610 --> 00:10:59.190 of fish or body odor. It was worse than that. 219 00:10:59.889 --> 00:11:02.850 It was something overpowering. It was the worst thing I'd 220 00:11:02.889 --> 00:11:05.850 ever smelled in my life. The guy never gave me 221 00:11:05.909 --> 00:11:08.269 his name, but I noticed he had a coffee thermos 222 00:11:08.330 --> 00:11:10.629 next to the steering wheel, and the name on it 223 00:11:10.690 --> 00:11:14.240 said Buddy. About an hour had passed since he docked 224 00:11:14.250 --> 00:11:16.700 the boat, and I heard some commotion coming from his boat. 225 00:11:17.659 --> 00:11:20.000 It sounded like things smashing on the floor, and I 226 00:11:20.019 --> 00:11:22.990 heard a glass break. There was a small window on 227 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:24.990 the side of his boat, but it was covered up. 228 00:11:25.850 --> 00:11:28.850 And then Buddy emerged from his cabin. He looked at me, 229 00:11:29.009 --> 00:11:31.490 and then kept walking down the dock toward the marina building. 230 00:11:32.309 --> 00:11:35.149 There was a shower and bathroom up there. I assumed 231 00:11:35.169 --> 00:11:37.809 that's where he was going. Even though I had tried 232 00:11:37.850 --> 00:11:40.429 helping him and talking to him, watching him walk away 233 00:11:40.470 --> 00:11:42.450 was actually the first time I got a decent look 234 00:11:42.509 --> 00:11:44.909 at him. He was about six feet tall and a 235 00:11:45.149 --> 00:11:48.120 husky fella. I would say he was in his late 60s. 236 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:51.429 He was mostly bald, except for the white hair forming 237 00:11:51.470 --> 00:11:55.090 a horseshoe around his shining head. His most notable feature 238 00:11:55.129 --> 00:11:58.549 to me was his thick black glasses. They looked super 239 00:11:58.570 --> 00:12:01.629 magnified and took up half his face at least. He 240 00:12:01.669 --> 00:12:05.470 was gone about 10 minutes, maybe less. During that time, 241 00:12:05.929 --> 00:12:08.330 every few minutes, I would hear something banging around in 242 00:12:08.370 --> 00:12:11.250 his boat with more of that muffled sound. I thought 243 00:12:11.289 --> 00:12:14.169 maybe he had a dog in there. When he came back, 244 00:12:14.490 --> 00:12:17.190 I tried talking to him again. I told him that 245 00:12:17.210 --> 00:12:19.049 I heard something in his boat and that I just 246 00:12:19.070 --> 00:12:20.710 wanted to let him know if he had a dog. 247 00:12:20.850 --> 00:12:22.570 There was a big field next to the marina where 248 00:12:22.590 --> 00:12:24.549 he could take the dog out and let it run around. 249 00:12:25.330 --> 00:12:26.879 He came over to the back of my boat where 250 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:29.940 I was sitting, leaned down to me, and said, I 251 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.360 don't have a dog. It's only me. Then he stormed 252 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:35.679 back onto his boat and back down into the cabin. 253 00:12:36.360 --> 00:12:38.490 I couldn't imagine what was making all that noise while 254 00:12:38.529 --> 00:12:40.789 he was gone. If he didn't have a pet and 255 00:12:40.830 --> 00:12:42.970 he claimed he was alone, I had no idea what 256 00:12:43.009 --> 00:12:45.490 I was hearing. Once he was back on his boat, 257 00:12:45.789 --> 00:12:49.789 I didn't hear any more commotion or muffled sounds. The 258 00:12:49.830 --> 00:12:53.289 rest of the night was mostly uneventful. Every so often, 259 00:12:53.389 --> 00:12:55.509 I would catch that faint smell again if the wind 260 00:12:55.549 --> 00:12:59.009 started blowing. I got ready for bed around 10 that night. 261 00:13:00.049 --> 00:13:02.809 After seeing him on the dock several hours prior, he 262 00:13:02.870 --> 00:13:05.190 never came back out of his cabin for the entire night. 263 00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:08.700 At 3 in the morning, I woke up to that 264 00:13:08.779 --> 00:13:12.259 same sound. It sounded like a struggle of some kind 265 00:13:12.340 --> 00:13:16.000 happening on his boat. Except this time, I heard Buddy. 266 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:19.519 He kept saying shut up with an aggressive tone. It 267 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:22.399 sounded like he was trying to be quiet. I didn't 268 00:13:22.419 --> 00:13:26.120 hear another voice except for whatever that strained, muffled sound was. 269 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:29.460 I heard him yell the word enough and then everything 270 00:13:29.500 --> 00:13:32.419 was quiet again. I stayed up the rest of the 271 00:13:32.470 --> 00:13:35.110 night after that. I tried to think about what I 272 00:13:35.149 --> 00:13:38.570 heard and I just wasn't sure. The rest of the night, 273 00:13:38.690 --> 00:13:41.169 Buddy was quiet and there was no other commotion over there. 274 00:13:42.169 --> 00:13:44.730 At 7 that morning, Buddy left his cabin with a 275 00:13:44.769 --> 00:13:47.610 duffel bag and was heading for the bathrooms. I knew 276 00:13:47.690 --> 00:13:49.990 it was a bad idea, but something compelled me to 277 00:13:50.049 --> 00:13:52.269 go to his boat and see if anyone was in trouble. 278 00:13:53.409 --> 00:13:54.769 I waited for him to get all the way down 279 00:13:54.820 --> 00:13:57.600 to the dock and out of sight. I snuck over 280 00:13:57.639 -->

00:13:59.659 to his boat, and as soon as I set foot 281 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:03.320 on it, the smell almost knocked me over. I went 282 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:05.220 to the cabin door and saw that it had a 283 00:14:05.299 --> 00:14:07.960 custom door and lock on it. I knocked on the 284 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:10.799 door and asked if anyone was inside. I was trying 285 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:12.990 to think of some lie just in case I got caught, 286 00:14:13.350 --> 00:14:16.429 but instead of silence or somebody answering the door, I 287 00:14:16.470 --> 00:14:19.429 heard that strained, muffled sound again, and this time it 288 00:14:19.610 --> 00:14:22.710 was much louder since I was so close. I tried 289 00:14:22.789 --> 00:14:25.250 asking again if anyone was down there, and it was 290 00:14:25.269 --> 00:14:28.159 like the sound got even louder, almost like it was pleading. 291 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:31.059 I didn't know what to do, and I didn't know 292 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.240 when Buddy was going to come back, so I left. 293 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:36.159 I ran back to my boat and down into my cabin. 294 00:14:36.740 --> 00:14:40.129 I contemplated calling the police, but I didn't. It's easy 295 00:14:40.190 --> 00:14:42.590 for someone who wasn't in this situation hearing it now 296 00:14:42.710 --> 00:14:45.210 to say they would have called the cops, but hindsight's 297 00:14:45.250 --> 00:14:49.169 always 20-20. In these moments, as you're unfolding, you have 298 00:14:49.210 --> 00:14:51.629 a million things running through your mind, and one of 299 00:14:51.669 --> 00:14:55.629 those things is that you're overreacting and overthinking things. That's 300 00:14:55.669 --> 00:14:59.070 how I felt. I had to be overthinking whatever was happening. 301 00:15:00.049 --> 00:15:02.269 While I was down there staring at my phone, I 302 00:15:02.289 --> 00:15:05.149 looked up at my window, and standing right there was Buddy. 303 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:08.860 It made me jump. He was looking at me through 304 00:15:08.899 --> 00:15:11.620 my window, but he didn't say anything or do anything. 305 00:15:12.370 --> 00:15:14.210 He looked at me for a moment and then went 306 00:15:14.250 --> 00:15:16.850 back to his boat. I watched him as he walked 307 00:15:16.909 --> 00:15:19.830 back toward the door. He stopped at his cabin door 308 00:15:19.870 --> 00:15:22.110 for a moment before he opened it, almost like he 309 00:15:22.129 --> 00:15:25.409 was thinking about something. He started to untie his boat 310 00:15:25.490 --> 00:15:28.909 and leave the dock. This time I didn't offer to help, obviously. 311 00:15:30.049 --> 00:15:32.250 This guy gave me the worst vibes I've ever felt 312 00:15:32.289 --> 00:15:35.980 from another human being. I've met rude and vile people before, 313 00:15:36.059 --> 00:15:38.399 but for some reason, this guy gave me a feeling 314 00:15:38.419 --> 00:15:40.679 in the pit of my stomach that I've never felt before. 315 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:44.559 As I watched him sail away, I never saw him again. 316 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:48.720 This happened years ago, and I'm still plagued by this experience. 317 00:15:49.580 --> 00:15:52.230 I try to tell myself that I'm overreacting, but then 318 00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:55.470 I think, what if I'm not overreacting? What if that 319 00:15:55.490 --> 00:15:57.509 guy had some person tied up in his boat, and 320 00:15:57.610 --> 00:16:00.159 I did nothing? I grew up in an area where 321 00:16:00.179 --> 00:16:02.779 you could constantly hear your neighbors fighting with one another. 322 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:05.200 And it sounded like someone could die at any second 323 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:08.519 and nobody called the police. And nobody ever died. You 324 00:16:08.539 --> 00:16:11.580 kind of just ignored other people's personal business. And that's 325 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:14.940 unfortunately what I did here. I'm not one for having 326 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:17.769 an overreactive imagination. But this is the one time I 327 00:16:17.809 --> 00:16:20.809 hope that my thoughts are incorrect. And hopefully Buddy isn't 328 00:16:20.830 --> 00:16:34.529 the monster I think he might have been. I don't 329 00:16:34.549 --> 00:16:37.570 believe in curses. I'm sharing the story of something that 330 00:16:37.629 --> 00:16:39.840 happened to me a few months ago, mainly because I'm 331 00:16:39.909 --> 00:16:43.399 interested in what people think. I figured that, as a 332 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:47.039 modern society, we've moved past things like curses and folklore. 333 00:16:48.120 --> 00:16:50.340 A little more than three months ago, me and my 334 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:53.019 other two friends, Dustin and Chris, went out on Dustin's 335 00:16:53.080 --> 00:16:56.139 boat to fish. Whenever the three of us are fortunate 336 00:16:56.179 --> 00:16:58.059 enough to have the same day off, we try to 337 00:16:58.100 --> 00:17:00.620 take advantage of the opportunity and get out on his boat. 338 00:17:01.340 --> 00:17:03.860 We tended to leave Dustin's house around dawn and spend 339 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:06.140 the majority of the morning fishing whenever we went out. 340 00:17:06.769 --> 00:17:10.569 This specific day was no different. About 30 minutes into 341 00:17:10.609 --> 00:17:13.549 our trip, I heard Dustin start to mumble under his breath. 342 00:17:14.569 --> 00:17:17.049 We asked him what was wrong, and he pointed up ahead. 343 00:17:17.890 --> 00:17:20.970 Just on the horizon was a beautiful boat. I'm not 344 00:17:21.009 --> 00:17:22.880 a boat guy, even though I fish as much as 345 00:17:22.930 --> 00:17:25.460 I can. I don't know the first thing about boats. 346 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:28.140 Chris and I saw a boat on the horizon and 347 00:17:28.180 --> 00:17:31.329 nothing more. but Dustin noticed something as we got closer. 348 00:17:32.109 --> 00:17:34.990 It was barely noticeable at first, but the

closer we got, 349 00:17:35.339 --> 00:17:38.220 the more noticeable it was. The boat had an orange 350 00:17:38.299 --> 00:17:41.039 flag flying on it. On the orange flag were these 351 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:44.140 two black shapes. I didn't know this at the time, 352 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:47.119 but Dustin informed us that this specific flag was known 353 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:52.140 as a VDS flag, which stands for Visual Distress Signal. Ordinarily, 354 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:55.079 we would never approach another boat like this, especially on 355 00:17:55.140 --> 00:17:57.390 such a massive body of water. but if they were 356 00:17:57.430 --> 00:18:00.809 really in distress, we needed to help. As we got 357 00:18:00.849 --> 00:18:04.130 close to the boat, Dustin slowed down. He shouted from 358 00:18:04.170 --> 00:18:06.970 his boat if everything was okay, but there was no response. 359 00:18:07.930 --> 00:18:10.559 As Dustin maintained control of his boat, I tried looking 360 00:18:10.599 --> 00:18:12.440 at the other boat to see if I could see anything. 361 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:16.640 From my vantage point, I couldn't see anyone. The boat 362 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:19.380 was huge. Dustin told us the size of the boat 363 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.259 is considered a yacht, a small one, but still way 364 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:25.690 bigger than Dustin's little fishing boat. Chris asked if we 365 00:18:25.710 --> 00:18:29.640 should just leave. Dustin wasn't sure. I tried calling for help, 366 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:31.599 but there was no service at all where we were. 367 00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:34.000 I told Dustin I would jump over to the boat 368 00:18:34.059 --> 00:18:36.700 and make sure everything was okay on their end. He 369 00:18:36.740 --> 00:18:39.460 didn't love the idea. In case some older guy was 370 00:18:39.539 --> 00:18:41.579 sick or something, and then he sees me on the boat, 371 00:18:41.740 --> 00:18:43.240 he didn't want them to have a heart attack or 372 00:18:43.309 --> 00:18:46.329 something horrible. That was even more reason for me to 373 00:18:46.369 --> 00:18:49.650 jump over and make sure everything was okay. We argued 374 00:18:49.690 --> 00:18:51.329 for a bit, but then he agreed to let me 375 00:18:51.369 --> 00:18:53.150 jump over onto the other boat when I told him 376 00:18:53.190 --> 00:18:55.970 I was CPR certified and somebody inside may need help. 377 00:18:56.849 --> 00:18:59.049 Dustin got as close as he could, and I jumped 378 00:18:59.069 --> 00:19:01.759 to the back of the yacht. I kept yelling, asking 379 00:19:01.819 --> 00:19:03.859 if anybody was there, and letting them know that I 380 00:19:03.900 --> 00:19:06.660 was answering the distress call. I wanted to make sure 381 00:19:06.700 --> 00:19:09.599 I was loud enough to announce myself. On the bow 382 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:11.339 of the boat where I just boarded, there were a 383 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:13.819 bunch of cushioned seats

and a table, and it looked 384 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:16.859 like somebody had been there not long ago. Four fishing 385 00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:18.970 rods looked like they were getting ready to be used. 386 00:19:19.789 --> 00:19:21.930 On the table were three coffee mugs that still had 387 00:19:22.029 --> 00:19:24.539 steam coming out of them. one of the seats was 388 00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:27.180 a nice Michigan State pullover jacket that looked like it 389 00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:30.019 had just been thrown down. I made my way to 390 00:19:30.059 --> 00:19:33.279 a sliding door that was wide open. I continued shouting, 391 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:36.700 asking if anyone needed help. I noticed while I was 392 00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:39.410 walking to the sliding door that there were several muddy 393 00:19:39.470 --> 00:19:41.970 footprints of various sizes all over the back part of 394 00:19:41.990 --> 00:19:45.470 the boat. On its own, that's not that weird, especially 395 00:19:45.490 --> 00:19:48.569 if you're out fishing. The weird part is that it 396 00:19:48.609 --> 00:19:51.140 seemed like nobody was on this boat even with all 397 00:19:51.180 --> 00:19:54.220 this evidence. I walked into the room, and it was 398 00:19:54.259 --> 00:19:57.099 a mess. All the cabinets were open, and there was 399 00:19:57.140 --> 00:20:00.099 stuff all over the floor. Straight ahead was a bed 400 00:20:00.140 --> 00:20:03.559 that was tucked into this little nook. In the right situation, 401 00:20:03.779 --> 00:20:06.680 it looked cozy. Nothing was on the bed except for 402 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:08.930 a bunch of pillows and blankets that were all balled 403 00:20:08.990 --> 00:20:11.680 up against the walls. The last place I needed to 404 00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:15.380 look was the bathroom, and the door was closed. My 405 00:20:15.420 --> 00:20:18.509 heart was racing, not because I was scared, but because 406 00:20:18.549 --> 00:20:20.549 I half expected to see a person in there passed 407 00:20:20.670 --> 00:20:24.509 out or worse. I slowly opened the door, and just 408 00:20:24.549 --> 00:20:26.809 like the rest of the boat, the bathroom was empty. 409 00:20:27.849 --> 00:20:30.039 I walked back into the big room and started walking 410 00:20:30.059 --> 00:20:33.079 toward the sliding door. Out of the corner of my eye, 411 00:20:33.380 --> 00:20:36.940 I saw something moving. I turned around quickly, and I 412 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:39.839 saw the pillows falling off the bed and the blanket shifting. 413 00:20:41.259 --> 00:20:44.160 A frail, older woman sat up and looked right at me. 414 00:20:44.869 --> 00:20:46.650 I tried to assure the woman that I'm only here 415 00:20:46.670 --> 00:20:49.710 to help because I saw the flag. The woman didn't 416 00:20:49.750 --> 00:20:54.609 react at all. She sat there completely emotionless. She barely 417 00:20:54.670 --> 00:20:57.039 looked like she was breathing. If I didn't see her 418 00:20:57.079 --> 00:20:59.299 move a second ago and then blink a few times, 419 00:20:59.660 --> 00:21:02.900 I'd think she was dead. She was small, her hair 420 00:21:02.940 --> 00:21:05.579 was braided, and her skin was tan and looked like rubber. 421 00:21:06.180 --> 00:21:08.339 Her eyes just looked back as she stared at me. 422 00:21:08.940 --> 00:21:12.119 It felt like she was staring through me. I tried 423 00:21:12.140 --> 00:21:14.440 my best to sound comforting and I told the woman 424 00:21:14.460 --> 00:21:16.319 that I was going back to Dustin's boat and that 425 00:21:16.339 --> 00:21:19.099 we were going to help. I ran out and jumped 426 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:21.700 back over to Dustin's boat. I told them we need 427 00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:24.119 to ride until we can call for help. I told 428 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:26.019 them about the woman alone on the boat and she 429 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:27.960 looked like she was in shock or something because she 430 00:21:28.009 --> 00:21:31.390 was hiding and then how she just sat there. While 431 00:21:31.430 --> 00:21:33.730 Dustin and Chris were trying to understand what I was saying, 432 00:21:34.009 --> 00:21:36.269 the woman appeared from the sliding door and walked to 433 00:21:36.309 --> 00:21:38.609 the back of the boat where the orange flag was flying. 434 00:21:39.529 --> 00:21:42.579 She slowly started to lower the flag Once she had 435 00:21:42.619 --> 00:21:44.759 it in her hands, she threw it under the table 436 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:48.380 and slowly walked back inside. We didn't know what to do. 437 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:51.140 She got rid of the flag, but I argued that 438 00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:54.519 this woman didn't look well. She looked like she needed assistance. 439 00:21:55.460 --> 00:21:58.069 Dustin agreed and started heading back in the direction we 440 00:21:58.109 --> 00:21:59.970 came until I could get a signal on my phone. 441 00:22:00.509 --> 00:22:03.210 Once I got a signal, I called the police. I 442 00:22:03.250 --> 00:22:05.569 told them about the boat with the distress flag and 443 00:22:05.589 --> 00:22:07.970 that the woman was alone. Even though there was a 444 00:22:08.029 --> 00:22:10.349 lot of evidence to the contrary, they said they were 445 00:22:10.369 --> 00:22:12.960 going to take a look. Not knowing how long that 446 00:22:12.980 --> 00:22:15.599 would take, we decided to head back, just in case 447 00:22:15.619 --> 00:22:18.660 she needed help before the police boat arrived. When we 448 00:22:18.700 --> 00:22:20.960 got to the location where the boat just was, it 449 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:23.599 was gone. We had no idea what way she could 450 00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:26.940 have gone, so we couldn't follow her. We never made 451 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:29.619 it fishing that morning. We were so worked up from 452 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:31.740 all of that, we just decided to head back and 453 00:22:31.900 --> 00:22:34.680 hang out at Dustin's house. We never heard back from 454 00:22:34.700 --> 00:22:36.980 the police. I have no idea if they followed up 455 00:22:37.059 --> 00:22:38.819 on it or just ignored it because there was no 456 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:42.480 boat when they arrived. Something happened that morning. When I 457 00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:44.920 think about all the pieces, I add them up, and 458 00:22:44.940 --> 00:22:48.500 the results always terrify me. This woman summoned us with 459 00:22:48.539 --> 00:22:51.220 a distress flag, and after I boarded the boat, she 460 00:22:51.259 --> 00:22:54.769 took the flag down and didn't speak one word. I 461 00:22:54.809 --> 00:22:57.109 can't figure out why she was hiding, and why there 462 00:22:57.130 --> 00:22:59.450 was so much evidence of others on the boat, mainly 463 00:22:59.490 --> 00:23:02.869 the hot, steaming mugs of coffee, but only this small, 464 00:23:03.190 --> 00:23:06.390 ragged woman. The reason why some of my friends think 465 00:23:06.450 --> 00:23:09.069 I was cursed is after boarding that boat that morning, 466 00:23:09.349 --> 00:23:12.420 I've had a streak of terrible luck. Everything from losing 467 00:23:12.460 --> 00:23:16.410 my job to totaling my car. Dustin's elderly father told 468 00:23:16.470 --> 00:23:18.990 us about some old folklore about a curse on the water, 469 00:23:19.410 --> 00:23:22.029 but I don't believe that for a second. I think 470 00:23:22.049 --> 00:23:24.490 the bad luck is just a coincidence, and blaming it 471 00:23:24.549 --> 00:23:27.410 on a curse is a convenient scapegoat. I don't know 472 00:23:27.450 --> 00:23:30.069 what happened that morning. I know what I saw, and 473 00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:33.029 I didn't see anyone else on that boat. I'm sharing 474 00:23:33.069 --> 00:23:35.069 this story in the hopes that it gets read, and 475 00:23:35.089 --> 00:23:37.710 I would love to hear what other people think. Am 476 00:23:37.789 --> 00:23:40.650 I cursed? Did this woman commit a heinous crime before 477 00:23:40.690 --> 00:23:43.490 I showed up? Or is everything just a wild and 478 00:23:43.569 --> 00:23:44.569 crazy coincidence?