The Nation - News from Aug. 21, 1989

A Florida couple was reported in good condition in a Costa Rican hospital after what they said was a 66-day sea ordeal that began when “several large” whales attacked and sunk their 40-foot pleasure boat. William Butler, 60, and Simone Butler, 52, of Miami, told the U.S. Coast Guard by telephone that their boat, Sibonay, was attacked and sunk by the whales on June 15 about 1,200 miles southwest of Costa Rica. As the boat was sinking, the couple said, they grabbed fishing rods and a salt-water purifier and got into a rubber lifeboat. A Costa Rican coast guard ship about 30 miles off the coast of Golfito spotted the raft and rescued the couple. Butler told U.S. Coast Guard officials that several times the couple spotted merchant ships but were unable to flag them down. They were sailing from Coral Gables, Fla., near Miami, to Honolulu, where they planned to vacation. Butler is an experienced sailor. The Butlers’ daughter, Sally Smith, and son, Bill Butler, were flying to Costa Rica to be reunited with their parents.