Wesley DeMott, Florida Boater, Rescued By Carnival Cruise Ship (VIDEO)

When three Florida men set off for Mexico to meet their wives on Thursday, they probably didn't know that the adventure would turn into a nightmare. Their small boat became disabled and nearly capsized due to high winds and waves roughly 30 miles north of Cuba. Luckily, a Carnival cruise ship was in the area and came to their rescue, according to USA Today.

The Carnival Valor saved the three men, including fiction writer Wesley DeMott, as well as his cat, from the boat (which was also a home) over the weekend.

The kicker? DeMott's latest book is about a man who is rescued at sea by a cruise ship.

Click over to Naples' WINK News to watch video that a cruise passenger recorded of the event.

Comments

[Wes DeMott]

05:02 PM on 01/24/2011

Hi. Wes DeMott here. Thanks for the concern for us and my cat, which was pretty well panicked as we rocked around for an hour with our prop and rudder fouled by the tender rope, calling Cuba and requesting a tow vessel that never showed. At one point I decided to swim under the boat and cut free the rope, but my crew stopped me because of the danger. The cruise ship graciously stood by for a half hour as I tried everything I knew to save the vessel, which carried all of my wife's and my most important items. The winds were not predicted to be anything near 50 mph, but as soon as they starting increasing I headed to port, risking the U.S.G.'s ire rather than stay in those seas. By the way, the novel discussed here has nothing to do with a cruise ship rescue, but rather it's a fun story about a guy who misses a cruise ship in Belize, chases out to it in a small boat, and then decides he'd rather go back to Belize. Thanks once again for everyone's concern. Wes

[tucsoncindy]

12:29 AM on 01/25/2011

So glad that you, your crew and cat are safe. Quite an adventure !

[crazycatladyart]

01:36 AM on 02/03/2011

Wes, I'm so happy that Smug, you and your friends are safe and sound. I would love to interview you for Catster's blog (catsmeowblog.com). Contact me via karen AT catster DOT com.

Karen Nichols

[Remember Remember]

12:19 PM on 01/24/2011

Good for the Valor!

I cruised on her last summer and the boat was fantastic, good job Carnival for helping someone out.

[jl4141]

12:02 PM on 01/24/2011

... .- ...- . / --- ..- .-. / -.- .. - - . ....

[baseballmom]

01:05 PM on 01/24/2011

Too funneh.

[baseballmom]

01:09 PM on 01/24/2011

nice!

[jl4141]

11:58 AM on 01/24/2011

I can haz cat-sized life preserver?

[baseballmom]

12:00 PM on 01/24/2011

lol

[jl4141]

12:16 PM on 01/24/2011

All joking aside, since this cat lived on the boat, I would hope they kept a life jacket designed for cats on board -- they do make these things for cats and dogs -- you could look it up (pictures on google images!) -- since they, too, could need them just as a person would need theirs.

[mytwocents02]

11:41 AM on 01/24/2011

DeMott's latest book is about a man who is rescued at sea by a cruise ship.

Ah, life imitating art.

[newminority2020]

11:20 AM on 01/24/2011

I smell PR stunt...

[baseballmom]

12:00 PM on 01/24/2011

I wonder if the book has a cat too.

[AllieGoogle]

02:55 PM on 01/26/2011

I doubt the guy would let his boat sink for a stunt

[ls1z28chris]

11:08 AM on 01/24/2011

At least the cat is okay.

[Oilygarch]

11:04 AM on 01/24/2011

Was the cat the captain of the catamaran?

[Oilygarch]

11:00 AM on 01/24/2011

Let the Carnival begin! :-D

[Oilygarch]

10:58 AM on 01/24/2011

Later, the cruise-liner charges him for the cruise. lol

[Oilygarch]

10:58 AM on 01/24/2011

just kidding ;-)

[plages]

11:26 AM on 01/24/2011

or he came down with Legionaries disease . . bid-a-bump!

[Oilygarch]

01:58 PM on 01/24/2011

lol

[jasev01]

10:53 AM on 01/24/2011

thats a long way to get a free cruise...especially on Carnival

[blacksmithn]

10:51 AM on 01/24/2011

I'm curious, was this supposed to be a three hour tour? A three hour tour?

[jl4141]

12:00 PM on 01/24/2011

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed.
If not for the spirit of the fearless Carnival Cruise crew,
The kitteh would be dinner.

[blacksmithn]

12:18 PM on 01/24/2011

Nice!

Thank God that Captain Steubing, Gopher, Doc, Isaac and Julie were on hand to save them all.

[DFL]

10:51 AM on 01/24/2011

Thank goodness that cat was saved!

[bogey1]

10:26 AM on 01/24/2011

good to see the informal law of the sea to help others in distress still intact

good for the captain !

[Kathy Dukes]

10:40 AM on 01/24/2011

They are not informal. We were on a cruise and were told our ship was being diverted to a rescue and it was maritime law & required that we do so.

[AllieGoogle]

02:58 PM on 01/26/2011

It is the actual law, when you cruise a fair amount you learn a bit about them! And often on normal cruise routes - during the day the ships will sail far apart so you're surrounded by sea - but at night will sail close together for safety reasons and part again before morning. I have woken up in the middle of the night many times to see another line's ship right off the side of ours.

[Bonnie Brill]

10:23 AM on 01/24/2011

They were very lucky, it could have turned out to be a "cat"astrophe...