Two Fishermen Rescue Cruise Ship Pianist Who Spent Nine Hours Treading Water at Sea

November 9, 2026

Two fishermen turned an ordinary morning on the water into a life-saving rescue after discovering a cruise ship crew member treading water in the Pacific Ocean nearly 20 miles off the California coast.

fishermen rescue curise ship pianist ocean Credit: Sean Norton

Sean Norton and Grant Garrett were returning to Newport Beach after a morning fishing trip on Friday when their boat captain spotted something unusual in the water.

It was a 37-year-old man who had somehow gone overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship and had been fighting to stay alive for hours.

The man was believed to have fallen from the 14-deck Ovation of the Seas around 2:30 a.m. The ship was traveling from Long Beach to Ensenada, Mexico, and the man had reportedly been in the water for approximately nine hours before the fishermen spotted him.

Without hesitation, Norton and Garrett rushed to pull him aboard.

“I mean, it's surreal,” Norton recalled. “Grant and I each got an arm and lifted him up, and he was in total shock.”

Once he began to recover, the man explained that he worked as a pianist aboard the cruise ship.

But it was what he said next that really put the rescue into perspective.

“The only thing he said to me was, ‘Thank you. I thought I was gonna die,’” Norton said.

The fishermen immediately issued an emergency maritime call, bringing Newport Beach lifeguards to the scene to assist.

The man was taken to the hospital, and the U.S. Coast Guard later confirmed that he was expected to survive. Officials are investigating how he ended up in the ocean.

Norton believes the unusually warm ocean temperatures may have played an important role in keeping the man alive for so long.

“This guy was in the water for probably 10 hours, but the water's 76 degrees. A different year, no way he makes it,” he said.

For Norton and Garrett, however, the most important thing is that they happened to be there when someone desperately needed help.

“I'm glad we were there, and I'm glad he's doing okay,” Garrett said.