To all Guideposts Readers...
Thank you for your mail. Keep it coming. I am pleased that the story of my spiritual journey touched you. It sure made such a vast change in my life that it makes it difficult to argue that those 66 days adrift were not part and parcel of the Lord’s plan.
I’ve answered every email received to date and will continue to do so. I’d like to include below two subjects that could be typical of those on many reader’s minds. On the first subject I have received but one letter from a lady who read my book, but I feel that it may be a subject that many of you might think about on occasion... and the question is... IS THIS STORY REALLY TRUE?? Her letter, sent to the publisher, read:
Dear Sirs,
I read Wm. Butler’s book “66 Days Adrift”. It was a fascinating story and I couldn’t put the book down. What an awesome experience spending 66 days on a small raft undergoing 66 days and nights in the Pacific Ocean never knowing if they would survive another moment.
I recommended the book to my husband to read but he said he didn’t believe it was possible to spend 66 days adrift and he said it couldn’t be a TRUE story. He read the book and thought it was just a made-up story.
My question is: was this really a true story or a made-up one?
Could you please advise me if the story is TRUE?
Thank you very much.
Here is how I replied...
Your note dated July 11 reached my hands today as I have been wandering the seas again. I am happy that you enjoyed 66 Days Adrift and I will try to convince you and your husband that I really spent 66 adrift in the Pacific Ocean on a six-foot plastic raft together with my wife.
Honestly though, I am truly honored (and this is meant to be funny). If your husband is right on, that my story is a hoax, then I will sooner or later go down in the books as the top con artist in recent times since I will have fooled McGraw-Hill who just published my story as true. I will have fooled CBS, NBC, and ABC who sent teams to Costa Rica to interview us two days after our rescue and who ran our story as true on prime time news with pictures of us, emaciated, of our raft, and testimony from the rescue team. Connie Chung seemed impressed when she delivered the story. Also Der Spiegel, Hola, Yachting, the General Electric corporate magazine, Oprah, Don Francisco and dozens of others got taken as well. Channel 1 of Paris, France, which flew us over and back for a live interview on CHOC, also fell for my scam. The Outdoor Life Channel, which selected me as #15 of the 25 top survivors of the 20th century, also fell for my story. But, it’s hard to conceive that almost a thousand people who crammed into the Our Lady of the Angels Basilica in Carthago, Costa Rica, five days after our rescue, for a Te Deum mass offered in our honor, were not 100% convinced that a true miracle had occurred.
Your husband is not alone. I agree with him. This is a tough story to swallow, particularly for people who have spent time at sea. Sailors come up to me at boat shows and say, ‘it was a miracle.’ I reply, “We lived a dozen miracles each day.” More than 70 sharks punched our paper-thin raft daily. The slightest scrape with a tooth would have meant the end. We were lucky, and I forget the day, but it was past the halfway mark, the sharks and porpoises were in a feeding frenzy, when one of the animals sliced the floor of the raft. If it had swiped an air chamber, it would have been fatal... and there would have been no book....
On my web site, www.wbutler.com, you can read of my other two shipwrecks, one before and one after our 66-day adventure. If I have failed to convince you, I’d be happy to try again. I still consider it a fabulous experience. Wouldn’t want to do it again, but... I really didn’t have much of a choice.
Best wishes,
Bill Butler
And to the question I am often asked:
We have had no direct contact during the past five years. I was told by friends in Miami who saw her during July, 2005, that she said that she was planning to move to the south of France to care for her mother. 66 Days Adrift does try to explain what brought about our separation.
Bill Butler
San Juan
September 4, 2005
Mail received from Marleen in Spokane
Mr. Butler, I would not have known of you and Simonne if I had not read about your perilous journey adrift in our copy of Guideposts for September 2005. It is simply amazing how God gave you both courage, hope and stamina during your 66 day ordeal.
Thus, I knew I wanted to read your book myself before I forwarded it on to our son-in-law who returns to Washington State next week. He will be able to understand a lot more of the technical navigation data, etc., than me because he has his captain's license and has sailed before. BUT, your very detailed descriptions of every element of your life functions upon the "Last Chance" kept my keen interest alive all through the book. At times I felt my adrenaline and anxiety rise just reading your vivid account of your desperate, dangerous struggles each day. Your periodic humor also helped to calm me as I felt like I was participating in your journey through the written word.
From the Epilogue at the end of your book, I learned of your and Sim's decision to end your marriage and then your ultimate new marriage to Lirio. If possible, would you give me an update on how Simonne is doing today. I felt like I got to know her a little through your written words ... so I hope she is doing well.
Also, if it is possible, would you guide me to a place where could I go to review some of the actual news reporter stories of your rescue, etc., in August 1989?
In ending, I hope and pray you are receiving positive responses from your book. It was very encouraging for me to read it. None of us know when we each may experience a situation in which our faith is being extremely tested, but it does occur on a daily basis to many. I do believe the Lord is in the "rescue and mercy" business because of His great Love for us ... even when we may feel like we don't deserve it.
Thank you and Farewell Bill Butler! Marleen September 14, 2005