Two Years Ago, Adrift for Nearly Forty Hours: Undercurrent 09/2026

Two Years Ago, Adrift for Nearly Forty Hours

and now the lawsuit

from the September, 2026 issue of Undercurrent

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MV Fling

Not many divers carry dive lights on day dives, but if it weren't for the lights carried by Kim and Nathan Maker while diving from the MV Fling liveaboard in the Gulf of Mexico on July 24, 2024, they would not be here to tell their story. They drifted for 40 hours before being rescued.

We covered their story in August 2024, and, as was bound to happen, they filed suit against the Fling's owner and crew. Here is a synopsis of our story, as well as a summary of the allegations in their lawsuit.

The Drift

It all began on a dive 15 miles off the Texas shore, when their group of 16 or so divers began to work their way down the line in rough seas. Nathan said a person who had gone in before them had lost a weight pocket and turned around to head up the line to the boat, but had to let go to get around other divers heading down. The current pushed her away, but Nathan helped her get back to the line. But he was unable to get himself back. The current pulled both him and his wife away. When they surfaced, they couldn't see the boat, but they released a surface marker buoy.

"They drifted for 40 hours before being rescued."

As a storm rushed in, all the divers eventually got back on the boat, but a crew member with binoculars, who apparently had seen the Makers drifting, lost sight of the couple. The crew of the Fling began to search, and, at some point, notified the Coast Guard. The liveaboard continued searching for several hours, then returned to port while Coast Guard boats and planes continued searching....

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