"The sinking of the plane was like a magician's trick. It was there and then it was gone, and there was nothing left in our big, wet, darkening world but the three of us and a piece of rubber that was not yet a raft."

In 1942, three men on an antisubmarine patrol flight became lost and pitched into the Pacific. The plane sank beneath them, carrying most of the survival gear down with it. For thirty-four scorching days and shivering nights, they faced the ocean terrors on a four-by-eight-foot rubber raft. They had no water, food, compass, or paddles--only their will to survive. But by feats of super endurance, they made their way to the South Sea isle of Puka Puka, having meandered 1,200 miles.