Cruise ship pianist rescued after nine hours treading water off California

A pianist from Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas spent roughly nine hours treading water in the Pacific before two fishermen spotted him near Catalina Island on Friday, nearly 20 miles off the California coast. He was pulled aboard by noon and taken to hospital, where he is expected to survive. The US Coast Guard is investigating how a crew member went overboard from the 14-deck ship.

Sean Norton and Grant Garrett, of Newport Beach, had spent the morning fishing for marlin and were on their way home when they saw him. "I'm like, 'Yeah, it's a human being. Stop the boat; let's get all of our lines in,'" Garrett told CBS News. Once he had regained his composure, the man identified himself as a pianist on the Ovation of the Seas. The only thing he said to Norton was, "Thank you. I thought I was gonna die."

The emergency maritime call was issued by the fishing crew; Newport Beach lifeguards responded, and battalion chief Adam Yacenda placed the man 15 to 20 miles offshore — "pretty much in the middle of the ocean." Every step that saved him — the sighting, the pull from the water, the call — came from a private boat returning from a marlin trip. Royal Caribbean Group said it was providing support and assistance to the crew member and, out of respect for his privacy, had no additional details to share.

What kept him afloat was water temperature. Norton put it at 76 degrees, in what he called "a crazy super El Niño year" — warm enough that a man treading water does not die of cold while he waits to be found. The Coast Guard's inquiry into how he left the ship remains open.

Norton's arithmetic was simpler than any investigation: ten hours in the water, 76 degrees, a super El Niño year. "A different year, no way he makes it."