Well, if you're sure it's going to sink compared to resources and your survival skills, it's logical to choose the lesser of two weevils.

Is that a typo? I like it either way.

It's a joke from "Master and Commander"

A man who would pun, would pick a man's pockets.

His wiki article says he immediately regretted rashness in saying he rather stay on the island but the captain refused to take him back. So it seems he may have been more talking shit for effect rather than genuine and then got lucky.

Depends on the ship. Some ships, absent a miraculous bilge pump, are definitely going to sink.

Yeah, that's called instinct triggered by practical knowledge and a sense for survival, used to come quite handy in those unpredictable adventurous days!

this is the story of the survivor, anyway

Well, it's a historical fact that the ship sank soon afterwards.

After which, the “survivor” can claim anything he wishes without dispute.

Some of the crew also survived, as you might see in the rest of the comments.

As others have responded, there were survivors who testified at a trial regarding the boat (probably insurance).

I have often been confident that software won't ship based on the current team and hit it right on the money. Tons of folks see a startup and just nope outta there because they can tell it's a wreck waiting to happen. I'm sure you are giving yourself less credit than you deserve. You can tell when things are bad in an area you have worked in for years.