When You Become a Drifter, Sharks Are Unspeakable

--They buoyed their sinking spirits with talk of brotherly love, but their minds were really on the possibility of sharks. Randal and Patrick Richmond clung to wooden planks in the Atlantic for 24 hours after their boat, the Contagious 2, sank Sunday. “We thought about stuff like sharks but just didn’t talk about it,” Randal said. They talked, instead, about “things like what a good brother you’ve been.” Randal, 28, and Patrick, 27, both of Palm Bay, Fla., were returned to land in good condition, however, after a failed Coast Guard search spurred three friends to go looking for the missing men. George Greenwalt, who owns the Summitt Landing & Yachting Center in Micco where the Richmonds normally dock, decided on the search. “It was a shot in the dark, but I knew somebody had to do something,” he said. Greenwalt set out in a twin-engine Cessna with pilot Bill Plunk and Jack Robinson. After about 2 1/2 hours, Robinson spotted the Richmonds floating in life jackets about 45 miles away from New Smyrna Beach. “They almost jumped out of the water, they were waving so hard,” Greenwalt said. “We’re very happy. I just wish they all ended like this.”

--Two Britons celebrated their 109th birthdays this month, one with a ride on a Concorde jet and the other quietly at home with a telegram from the royal family. John Evans of Fforestfach, Wales, believed to be Britain’s oldest man, says he’s gotten a new lease on life since he received a pacemaker for his heart in March. Queen Elizabeth II sent Evans, a coal miner who retired at 73 after six decades underground, a telegram offering “warm regards and good wishes on reaching this remarkable age.” Meanwhile, Charlotte Hughes, of Yorkshire, celebrated her birthday by taking her first flight--a trip on a supersonic Concorde over the Bay of Biscay. “Next year, when it’s my 110th birthday, I would rather like to take Concorde to New York,” she said. Hughes does not share the same distinction as Evans for being the oldest member of her gender in the country. The Guinness Book of Records lists Britain’s oldest person as Anna Eliza Williams, who is 112 and lives in Swansea.

--Comedians Billy Crystal and Robin Williams presented New York Mayor Edward I. Koch with a check for $139,500 in aid for the homeless, part of more than $4 million collected through the Comic Relief benefit concert earlier this year. “I was born in this city . . . and it’s a thrill to come back and help out,” Crystal said. Earlier, Williams entertained the media with an impression of President Reagan, saying: “Well, Nancy and I believe the homeless are basically people between homes.”