Teen who survived boat capsizing recounts tragedy

KPIX

By Andrea Nakano

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    California (KPIX) — A vigil will be held Saturday at Bodega Bay to mourn the loss of four family members and a friend who died after their boat capsized during a fishing trip.

The lone 13-year-old survivor talked to CBS News Bay Area about how he’s doing and what exactly happened two weeks ago.

It’s a fishing trip that the Khammoungkhoune family looks forward to every year to celebrate the start of the recreational crab fishing season. But this year, powerful waves overwhelmed the 21-foot fishing boat.

“It was already filled up in one side, and it was already too late before I noticed,” said survivor, Jude Khamnoungkhoune.

Jude vividly remembers the final moments on the boat as his dad tried to navigate out of the choppy water.

“As soon as we were on our last equipment, we decided to just floor the boat,” said Jude. “It was already kind of too late and the water was already forming inside. So, we just started flooring it a little bit until the equipment snapped. As soon as we kind of went a little bit faster, the boat just stopped working and we just went overboard with our life jackets on.”

Jude said at that point his relatives did everything they can to hold on until help arrived.

“I remember some of us splitting up in the water and some of us stayed on the boat like holding on,” he said. “Some of us went different ways. Like me and my dad were on the cooler and some of us were split up.”

Jude can only say they were pretty far away from the shore. He doesn’t know what time it was or how long this tragic ordeal lasted. The only thing he knows is that his dad Prasong safely tucked him into the cooler and gave up his life to save his son.

“After a little while, he just let go,” he said.

Shanice is Jude’s aunt and Prasong’s older sister.

“That broke my heart,” she said. “I mean to hear that he probably had to make a choice.”

Her brother’s body hasn’t been found yet, along with three others. The body of a 17-year-old was recovered about a week ago. The family will be gathering Saturday at Bodega Bay to mourn and say goodbye to their loved ones.

“Tomorrow’s vigil is about allowing my brother’s life, my cousin’s life, my nephew’s life to kind of find their way and just be set free and not trapped at wherever they’re at,” she said.

To say Jude was brave doesn’t fully describe his heroic story of survival. The cooler ended up on shore and on a dark cold beach, the 13-year-old was determined to see his mom again.

“I just thought about my family,” Jude said. “I just decided to be smart about it and fall sleep and see what I got and just use it to get out of here.”

Once he woke up in the morning, he managed to hike up and get help. This weekend, he will return to the site where the tragedy unfolded to say his final goodbye to his dad.

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