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

[rockDAWG]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

I wonder what happened to his fishing gear. They must have started out with some?

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

I don't doubt his story. But yet wondering where all his gear including his knife that that he wants to kill himself.

I hope he will fully recover mentally, and some one (writer) will write his story. I don't care if you only took, 2 weeks, 2 months, 1 year or 5 years. It is just so remarkable to travel to far away and made out alive. I doubt if I could do that.

Bravo !!!

[jkindredpdx]

Pic of article from today's paper

[snort]

Originally Posted by jkindredpdx

Pic of article from today's paper
Attachment 75371

What's the clue to 12-down?

[Coops]

Originally Posted by snort

What's the clue to 12-down?

Usually follows self, and you keep things in it.

Coops.

[Richard5]

Originally Posted by snort

What's the clue to 12-down?

Sea animals which compete for turtles near a drifting boat.

[mausgras]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Actually wiggling fingers in the water works... seen it in action..
Was anchored off Praia de Vitoria in Terceira, Azores and a lady crew member saw a pretty fish nibbling the algae on the scoop..
She went and sat down then started teasing the fish which then started swimming up and bumping her fingers.. I turned away to carry on what I was doing then heard a scream..
The lady was standing up shaking her hand trying to dislodge the 6" fish that had latched onto her little finger.. Hilarious..
Moral of the story.. Don't mess with someone else's algae bowl..

I took a couple of young Lao guys out on my boat in Phuket recently. They had never seen any water bigger than the Mekong River yet within minutes one of them was on his knees on the edge of the pontoon trying to catch fish with his bare hands. Half an hour later he had a dozen brightly coloured fish for dinner.
The next day out at one of the islands they went "exploring" and came back with a bucket of crabs which we cooked up with chilli and other Lao spices .... absolutely delicious. Before we left one asked why I was filling up the water tanks with a hose and why didn't I just throw a bucket overboard. I told him to taste the water. ... he fell about laughing after he tasted it.
I thought about how these guys showed disdain for my western provisions but we ate like kings for the next few days on wild food they caught with their barehands.
With all the gear on my boat I could sail around the world but I would starve to death first without my packaged and processed food supply. But these guys would survive.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by rockDAWG

I don't doubt his story. But yet wondering where all his gear including his knife that that he wants to kill himself.

I am hoping all this will come out in a book.

Guessing that they lost most of their gear in the early storm he reported.

Later on.. swollen fingers and delirium might have lost him the knife overboard

[SaltyMonkey]

Book and movie; xfamily law suits (Ezequiel Cordoba); the works.

Still a lot of doubt around out there in his home state, but I wish him the best.

[s/v Jedi]

I clearly saw him drinking a can of Coca Cola and wonder how much finger wiggling was involved to catch that one!

[stevensc]

Originally Posted by snort

I hope his friend wasn't named "Dinner".

No, it was "cena"

Steve W

[jkindredpdx]

Originally Posted by snort

What's the clue to 12-down?

12d - "Actually..."
13d - Afro-Caribbean music

[mausgras]

An oceanographer from Australia confirms that the currents and drift patterns could have brought the castaway from Mexico.
In fact he was lucky to get washed up on an island in the Marshalls. If he had kept on drifting he would have ended up in the north Pacific rubbish gyre.

see Ocean debris leads the way for castaway fisherman

[Tommy1]

Frankly I don't buy his story. Perhaps he was "at sea" drifting, but not that long. He'd be much less "heavy", blotted or not. I think the story will change as more questions are asked when he arrives back home.

[DDabs]

Originally Posted by jkindredpdx

12d - "Actually..."
13d - Afro-Caribbean music

Wouldn't 13 down be calypso? Think you have "eat" wrong...

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Thanks again Cote Mar for summarising the reported updates.

Everything I read confirms an amazing survival story
... Mr Lanwi said the boat appeared to be old and "was in bad shape".

"It looks like it has been water for that long," he said. "All kinds of algae were on it and even inside the boat."

I look forward to learning from this man

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

Based on photos of other very similar boat photos that have been posted, chances are the boat appeared to be old and in bad shape with all kinds of algae on it and in it before this voyage ever began so I don't see that as a factor either supporting or detracting from his story.

I was skeptical when it was said to be 16 months and I'm still skeptical now that it's 13 months but recognize that our information is incomplete.

However, I do think it's odd that the boat appeared to be entirely empty except for the blue box he avoided the sun in. No knife, no bailer, no sign of food, no fishing equipment. The fact that something as big as the blue box didn't get washed away in one of the storms he surely must have faced seems surprising. How do you keep an open boat that's not unsinkable from filling with water and sinking in even 6 or 8 foot seas, let alone what he must have faced in 13 months? Others who have survived a fraction of the time at sea that he is claiming have been emaciated, whereas he looks like he could still stand to lose a few. It'll be interesting to see whether some of these questions are answered as the whole story comes out.