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The boat was named the Gloria A Dios, Spanish for “Glory to God.”
The 34-foot vessel that Blue Springs’ Dennis Clements had owned for 15 years left him on Jan. 2 in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, more than 200 miles off the coast of North Carolina.
“I called on the name of the Lord, and I prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, I’m going to believe in you until I take my last breath,’” Clements said. “It’s to the glory of God that I’m alive today – yes, it’s true. I’m a lucky man to be alive.”
On Jan. 2, “by the Grace of God,” the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy rescued Clements after he swam for about an hour following the failure of the Gloria A Dios. He had sailed alone, leaving the Norfolk, Va., area destined for the U.S. Virgin Islands on a several-month vacation.
Earlier on Jan. 2, the Gloria A Dios’ Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacon was activated when the boat was knocked down and turned halfway on its side, Clements said. Several hundred gallons of sea water washed on board. The engine was disabled, and saltwater shorted out the electrical system.
The storm continued, Clements said, and conditions deteriorated. Winds tore at the boat’s remaining sail. Later in the evening, another wave struck the Gloria and smashed a hole on the cabin. More water poured on board, and Clements’ patchwork was no longer covering the holes.
Yet another wave rolled the vessel on its side, Clements said, and knocked it upside down in a 360-degree turn. He said part of the rigging snagged behind his right knee, and Clements was dragged under the water where he was shaken loose.
He struggled to the surface and saw his boat about 30 feet away, part of its sail still up. It had sailed away from Clements “faster than I could swim,” he said. “Even in its crippled condition, it was faster than I was. It sailed off and left me alone in the storm and in the dark.”
He kicked off his boots and just started swimming with no particular destination or direction in mind. Everything was dark, pitch black. “The storm continued to rage,” Clements said. “It was a very difficult situation.”
Clements doesn’t know the exact temperatures of that evening, but the water was cold. The helicopter crew later reported snow, ice and 100 mph winds. He was alone in the Atlantic Ocean with nothing but a lifejacket and “decent” swimming skills, he said.
The boat was named the Gloria A Dios, Spanish for “Glory to God.”
The 34-foot vessel that Blue Springs’ Dennis Clements had owned for 15 years left him on Jan. 2 in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, more than 200 miles off the coast of North Carolina.
“I called on the name of the Lord, and I prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, I’m going to believe in you until I take my last breath,’” Clements said. “It’s to the glory of God that I’m alive today – yes, it’s true. I’m a lucky man to be alive.”
On Jan. 2, “by the Grace of God,” the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy rescued Clements after he swam for about an hour following the failure of the Gloria A Dios. He had sailed alone, leaving the Norfolk, Va., area destined for the U.S. Virgin Islands on a several-month vacation.
Earlier on Jan. 2, the Gloria A Dios’ Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacon was activated when the boat was knocked down and turned halfway on its side, Clements said. Several hundred gallons of sea water washed on board. The engine was disabled, and saltwater shorted out the electrical system.
The storm continued, Clements said, and conditions deteriorated. Winds tore at the boat’s remaining sail. Later in the evening, another wave struck the Gloria and smashed a hole on the cabin. More water poured on board, and Clements’ patchwork was no longer covering the holes.
Yet another wave rolled the vessel on its side, Clements said, and knocked it upside down in a 360-degree turn. He said part of the rigging snagged behind his right knee, and Clements was dragged under the water where he was shaken loose.
He struggled to the surface and saw his boat about 30 feet away, part of its sail still up. It had sailed away from Clements “faster than I could swim,” he said. “Even in its crippled condition, it was faster than I was. It sailed off and left me alone in the storm and in the dark.”
He kicked off his boots and just started swimming with no particular destination or direction in mind. Everything was dark, pitch black. “The storm continued to rage,” Clements said. “It was a very difficult situation.”
Clements doesn’t know the exact temperatures of that evening, but the water was cold. The helicopter crew later reported snow, ice and 100 mph winds. He was alone in the Atlantic Ocean with nothing but a lifejacket and “decent” swimming skills, he said.
“There was very little chance of my survival,” he said. “I personally believe God spared my life in a miraculous manner.”
As he swam for more than an hour, he bumped into a raft upside in the water, dropped earlier by the U.S. Coast Guard in hopes that Clements would find it. A U.S. Navy rescue diver saved Clements – the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower just happened to sail that morning from Norfolk, Va., he said.
A helicopter took Clements to the medical officer aboard the USS Eisenhower – his body was a normal 98 degrees, and he required no medical treatment.
Clements, 55, is married with three children and graduated from Blue Springs High School in 1972. Since returning to Eastern Jackson County, Clements, a CNC programmer and technician, said he is still sorting out his life.
“I really feel that God spared me, and that’s very humbling to me, because I don’t particularly deserve to be spared by God more than anyone else,” Clements said. “I called on God not because I deserved it but because he is gracious. He’s given me extra time – I hope to do things that will please him. I’m hoping that he’ll show me what to do next.”
The Gloria A Dios is now about a mile down in the Atlantic Ocean. The last time Clements saw it, it was about two-thirds flooded but still moving.
“Not without a boat,” he says of whether he’ll sail again. “I don’t have one anymore. Mine’s at the bottom of the ocean.”
