A couple from Miami, Bill and Simone Butler, spent sixty-six days in a life-raft  in the seas of Central America after their boat sank. Twenty-one days after they left Panama in their boat, Simony, they met some whales. "They started to hit the side of the boat," said Bill, "and then suddenly we heard water." Two minutes later, the boat was sinking. They jumped into the life-raft and watched the boat go under the water. For twenty days they had tins of food, biscuits, and bottles of water. They also had a fishing-line and a machine to make salt water into drinking water -- two things which saved their lives. They caught eight to ten fish a day and ate them raw . Then the line broke. "So we had no more fish until something very strange happened. Some sharks came to feed, and the fish under the raft were afraid and came to the surface. I caught them with my hands." About twenty ships passed them, but no one saw them. After fifty days at sea their life-raft was beginning to break up. Then suddenly it was all over. A fishing boat saw them and picked them up. They couldn't stand up. So the captain carried them onto his boat and took them to Costa Rica. Their two months at sea was over. During their days at sea,   _   saved their lives.
tins of food and bottles of water a fishing-line and a machine whales and sharks Twenty passing ships