... _ _ _ ...

You've retired and spent all your retirement savings on a sailboat. It's not the biggest, fastest or most luxurious, but it's yours and gives you a few years of good memories when you find yourself in a dire situation. While sleeping, your ship lost anchor and is now headed toward a waterfall. You're a pretty savvy sailor and recognize that you've probably past the point of no return; the boat will go over the falls. However, it's dark and you're not certain - but the thousands of gallons falling hundreds of feet are loud enough to have woken you from your slumber and very, very near. You have the following choices:

A) Fight with all you've got to try and save the ship and your possessions. It's probably too late and the kind of maneuvering required will most likely tear up the hull and sail, but you've got to try to save your investment. Likelihood of survival is tiny.

B) Go down with the ship. You've had a good retirement; you can't start over with nothing. You resign yourself to your fate and enjoy what is bound to be your last moments alive. Likelihood of survival is virtually non-existent.

C) Spend what little time you have tearing down the sail and making a parachute for yourself in true MacGuyveresque fashion. You might get out with one prized possession from the boat (though the boat itself is doomed without its sail). Likelihood of survival is excellent, but you'll have lost almost everything.

What do you do?

Does your answer change if instead of stowing possessions, you're sailing with your best friend? The extra help increases your option A) likelihood of survival to "small" and the extra weight decreases your option C) likelihood of survival to "great." Option B) will continue to condemn you both to certain death, but you've got a nice bottle of wine you've been saving up for a special occasion...