CLEARWATER - When Rodney Post left his Clearwater home Friday morning for a fishing trip, he made sure to tell his wife, Lisa, where in the gulf he planned to be and when he'd be back.
That probably saved his life.
When her husband hadn't returned home by sundown Friday, Lisa Post relayed the information to the Coast Guard, which began a search for Post and his friend and fishing buddy, Jay French, 42.
At 9 a.m. Sunday, a Coast Guard helicopter saw Post floating in his life vest about 25 miles southwest of Clearwater Pass. He had been in the water nearly 48 hours, fending off hungry fish and fighting to stay alive.
Post told rescuers that he last saw French on Sunday, alive and wearing an orange life vest.
French, 42, of Largo was found dead 3 miles away about noon. He was not in his life vest. The cause of death was not known Sunday. An autopsy will be performed.
Post was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he was in serious condition Sunday evening. He was suffering from exposure and hypothermia, said Tampa General emergency room physician Ferdinand Richards. The rescue came just in time.
"I don't think he could have taken too much longer," Richards said.
Post should fully recover in a few days, Richards said.
"He's tired. Very tired. He's been treading water for nearly 48 hours," Lisa Post said at a news conference.
She said her husband, who works for the Largo Solid Waste Department, told her the 21-foot pleasure boat, Daddy's Girl, capsized. Both went into the cold water with life jackets.
She said that the men clung to a cooler and tried to stay together. They became separated Sunday morning when Post became too weak to cling to his friend.
In the water, Post had to contend with sharks cruising by and smaller fish that bit his chin, his wife said.
After many hours of floating, she said, French became delirious and began asking for his wife.
That haunts her husband, she said. "It's going to take him a couple days to get it out of his head," she said.
Coast Guard officials said they began searching Friday afternoon for the fishermen.
Petty Officer Rod Suddarth, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard 7th District, said the men's boat had not been found.
"Because it is not a commercial vessel, we typically do not do an investigation," Suddarth said. "I really don't know who would. We are going to try and figure out what happened, but I don't think it is a criminal investigation."
The Coast Guard scoured the gulf in a C-130 airplane, two helicopters and a patrol boat. They were assisted by several commercial fishermen.
Mrs. Post said most likely her husband, who has been fishing since he was a little boy, will be back in a fishing boat before long.
"Rodney's not afraid of a whole lot," she said.
Mrs. Post said she was very happy that her husband was found alive and that their 5-year-old daughter would be very glad to see her father. But she choked back tears when talking about the pain that French's family was feeling.
"I feel quite guilty that I'm the lucky one," she said.
The key to saving Post, Suddarth said, was having his fishing trip information.
"If we hadn't had the initial report that he was going 15 miles off Clearwater Pass we may have been searching a completely different area," Suddarth said. "We tell people all the time to do that. In this case it was pretty informal, and that's all it's got to be. It doesn't have to be the specific coordinates.
"As long as you tell a loved one where you're going and how long you're going to be out there then we know where to begin searching, which helps us out tremendously."
