Charles John Joughin

[anthony searle]

I am doing some crew research and have arrived at Charles Joughin, who is a bit of a celebrity in his own right, who according to his own testimony survived for over two hours in water that supposedly no one could last in for more than forty five minutes, indeed even after fifteen minutes most people were rendered unconscious, he actually stated that he felt colder after he eventually got into a lifeboat, and i was inquiring if anybody had come up with a solution has to how he survived the cold for so long , i have read some theories and watched some theories but the subject seems to be skirted around or fudged through, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Michael H Standart]

>>and i was inquiring if anybody had come up with a solution has to how he survived the cold for so long<<

He didn't. Not in the water anyway. The problem here is that the human time sense isn't anything like an atomic clock. Not even close. A few minutes can feel like forever, especially when one is in some sort of distress.

The common denominator for survival for all those who found themselves in the water was to get out of it as quickly as possible. That's what Joughin did and that's why he made it to New York alive.

[anthony searle]

Hello Michael

Yes i can see that point, but we don't really know do we, he could have survived for that length of time far stranger things have happened, why is it that we want to believe some things that are said by survivors but not others, just because it sounds incredible does not make it true, yes i can see that in some situations a minute may seem like an hour but he actually stated that it was breaking light before he got to the boat, so i'm not going to say he wasn't speaking the truth, because i don't know, all i want to know is there any explanation as to how he could have survived for that length of time in the water

[Jim Keller]

I'm not going to join in on the debate about how long he was in the water -- except to say that I'd trust the timing reported by the boat that pulled him out more than his own timing -- but I've never looked into the case myself.

However, I will say that hypothermia victims normally feel colder as they begin to warm back up, so that part of his account is perfectly in keeping with what we know about the effects of cold on the human body.

[Michael H Standart]

>>Yes i can see that point, but we don't really know do we, he could have survived for that length of time far stranger things have happened...<<

Actually we know very well what could not possibly have happened and that's because:

a) The temperature of the water was 28 degrees F and

b) People don't survive for two plus hours in water that cold without special outfitting.

It just doesn't happen.For information on cold water survival times see http://www.ussartf.org/cold_water_survival.htm

>>all i want to know is there any explanation as to how he could have survived for that length of time in the water<<

Before trying to explain something, one must first establish that there is something to explain. In this case, there isn't.

[anthony searle]

Hello Michael

Well thanks for the link but i already know the facts about survival in cold water, but history is littered with people who have defied the odds, people falling incredible distances and surviving, one man surviving two atomic explosions and surviving i could relate a lot of them , the human spirit to survive is amazing,what's to say he did not do what he said, a bunch of facts that say that there is no way he could survive(and yes i agree with the numbers) and 99 times out of a hundred they would be born out but at the back of my mind there is this feeling, or hope that there is one person that could and will defy the odds and the scientific facts, i for one until i find out anything different will believe him, and if i do find out that his version is untrue i will come back and say so Thank you all for the debate, and here's to the Human Spirit

Tony

[Michael H Standart]

>>the human spirit to survive is amazing,what's to say he did not do what he said<<

The science which falsifies the premise. You don't trump thermodynamics with a spirit to survive. The 28 degree water doesn't care about how dynamic your personality is. Once your core body temperature goes down below a certain level, you're history.

Now if you can show me something like extra layers of heavy insulating clothing which didn't become saturated with water, or supporting evidence from other survivors who can verify that the man was in the water as long as he claimed he was, we might have something to talk about.

Otherwise, you're just making the same mistake of assuming something is real without knowing as a fact that it is real.