How Chips Ahoy Once Saved 4 People's Lives

Sometimes the reward for remembering to buy your favorite snack is a self-indulging, late-night trip to the cupboard for a little midnight munchies satisfaction. But, sometimes the reward can be much grander. This was the case for a group of four fishermen who wound up in dire straits after their vessel sank.

According to Mental Floss, in 1985 the crew of a 67-foot trawler had to abandon ship when waves flooded its engine room. The boat sank, but the four men aboard were able to make it into a rubber life raft. What followed for the fishermen was 42 hours spent adrift before being rescued off the coast of Nantucket. The chocolatey key to their survival may have just been the five bags of Chips Ahoy they had taken with them. Along with a 12-ounce container of water, the nautical-themed chocolate chip cookies were the only food that the crew had time to grab before exiting the sinking ship, according to UPI. And it's a good thing they did.

Chips Ahoy were there when they were most needed

As one of those rescued fishermen, Joao Medeiros, told the Courier,"Without God, and the supply of cookies, I don't think we would have made it. The cookies saved us." Medeiros also pointed out how hard it is to eat just one of the tasty treats, even when the stakes are high, "They're good and we had to watch out that we didn't eat them all because we didn't know how long it would be before somebody spotted us" (via the Courier). Yet, we can't help but be a little curious if the men ever ate Chips Ahoy after the incident.

Of course, getting stranded at sea ranks right up there with our worst nightmares, but it never hurts to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Sports Fishing recommends preparing a ditch bag, or an "abandon-ship bag" for boating, packed with key survival gear. Although the outlet doesn't mention Chips Ahoy, it does advocate for including energy bars for their lengthy shelf life and calorie density. We can't promise they'll be as delicious as different kinds of chocolate chip cookies, but we'll bet under the worst circumstances, you would certainly be glad you packed them.