Man Washes up in Marshall Islands 'After 16 Months Adrift'

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Travis McGee

Does 43 days solo from Panama to Hilo count?

Where you adrift, was it an unplanned event?

If not then no it doesn't count.

[Cotemar]

Albarengo said he was on a shark-fishing expedition with a youth named Xiquel when strong winds blew them off course and they became lost.

Albarengo said the boy, described as 15- to 18-years old, died a few weeks into the ordeal because he could not eat raw bird meat.

AFP: Pacific castaway arrives back in civilisation

[snort]

Could he have started the trip like this?

[Cotemar]

Here's a video of Albarengo getting off a ship.

Fisherman adrift at sea for 13 months - CNN.com Video

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

yup fishy fishy.

We'll see...Should be interesting

Originally Posted by Sandman9

Did he have a visa for the Marshall Islands?

No...and I hear they are impounding his vessel for non-displayed HIN#

Originally Posted by Cotemar

His friend may be the key to why he survived so long..........................

You are soooo bad!

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Albarengo said he was on a shark-fishing expedition with a youth named Xiquel when strong winds blew them off course and they became lost.

Albarengo said the boy, described as 15- to 18-years old, died a few weeks into the ordeal because he could not eat raw bird meat.

AFP: Pacific castaway arrives back in civilisation

Good start and still plausible to me.

They were out there in the season of Gap Winds so could easily get blown offshore plus surviving is all about attitude.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[virginia boy]

I've just watched the CNN video and I gotta say, he's packing a helluva lot more meat on his bones than I would have expected. He actually looks a tad fat.

[sabray]

I think diet coke planned the whole thing. They mistimed his arrival hoping for a Super Bowl add. They took a 7 meter boat pulled the props and sunk it for a bit so it would get all weedy,crustacean covered etc.... Then they killed sea turtles and birds stuck the remains in the boat airlifted the whole rig and our man to near the marshal islands and set him adrift. Usually a survivor would be more coherent and tweet us some real facts but coke has blocked his tweeting by contract. They forgot to tear his clothes in the picture. Missed that shark hunting is not real popular.
Possible that he drifted that long and far. Examples are Robertsons in survive the savage sea. Then 4 Mexicans that did a similar 9 month journey. Oceanographers seem to think that it is plausible to take 200 plus days if drift to get where he is.
Pick a scenario.
I vote this is real. But I am worried he is wearing nike shoes, Drinks diet coke, has a samsung galaxy and has photogenic qualities.
Could be he is promoting life of PI II

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by virginia boy

I've just watched the CNN video and I gotta say, he's packing a helluva lot more meat on his bones than I would have expected. He actually looks a tad fat.

Consder this:
The guy fishes for a living and has lots of gear onboard
At sea he can only eat his catch..no one to sell to
Offshore and drifting his boat becomes a magnet for many fish.
Fish have high fat content.
No opportunity to exercise or stretch your legs.
ability to walk and talk after a year alone would severely be impaired.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by sabray

I think diet coke planned the whole thing.

You may be onto something here.
This seems to be a better closeup picture and boy that can of Diet Coke does stand out.

[Ocean Girl]

I didn't see the CNN, no TV aboard. The picture of him on this thread, he does seem well fed. But, kidney issues will round the face out. Lack of sun burn is very strange, but he may of had good shade.
I don't believe the accuracy of his story mainly because he is probably in shock and suffering from a traumatic event, like being adrift, watching your companion die, being alone, etc. I hope the numbers are wrong, I hope that he wasn't drifting around for a year. Hell, I hope he is lying! No one deserves such misery.

I met Steve Callahan years ago, one look at him and it didn't take a genius to see that he suffered. We joke because I think, if true, we just cannot fathom such misery.

[Cotemar]

Alvarenga is a native of El Salvador but has lived in Mexico for 15 years and fishes for a man known as Willie.

He catches sharks for 25 pesos per pound, which is equivalent to $1.90 per pound.
---------------------------
When Alvarenga was found there was no fishing equipment on board his boat?

[Cotemar]

Alvarenga said he helplessly watched his fishing mate - known only as Ezekiel and aged between 15 and 18 - slowly die after four weeks under the searing heat of the sun.

He said he was unable to keep down and digest the raw food such as seagulls, turtles and fish they were forced to eat.

Alvarenga has told doctors he was forced to roll the body of his young companion over the side of the boat, but he stopped short of going into the details.

“No, no,” he said, when an interpreter asked him about Ezekiel’s death. He would only say: “I’m sad for him”.

Castaway Jose Salvador Alvarenga: Fisherman who 'survived 16 months at sea living off seagulls' speaks for first time - Mirror Online

[Pelagic]

It will be interesting to get a full inventory of what he started with/what remained/what was most useful to him/how he managed / preserved what he caught?
So much to learn about survival from this man

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Pelagic]

.

When asked about his ordeal he replied: “I cannot remember much about my journey. It has all gone into one thought - the sea, the sea.

Reminds me of Motessier in "The Long Way"

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app