Wind and Waves and
Current can take a raft (even one without a sail) a long way. Waves generally go with the wind. Current does not always. When working together (such as Gulf Stream) they can move a floating object about 4-5 knots at times. In some areas (for example off the
east coast of Australia) strong currents can be very strong too.
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What about examples of drifting distances?
The first example that comes to mind is that of a sailor whose sailboat sank. He abandoned his
boat (as it quickly sank) and got into his life raft.
He survived in that small
liferaft for 76 days as he drifted (with wind and waves) across the North Atlantic, eventually reaching an island in the
Caribbean. He drifted a LONG way, but I don't
recall how far. You can probably find out by reading about him.
You can read about him online or buy his book.
Here is a 40 page preview you can read. Published originally in 1986, based on his 1981 attempt to sail across the atlantic singlehanded.
If you just want to read about the sinking of his
boat, and how he had to quickly abandon it, skip to page 20-22 of the linked preview.
His
small boat (he built himself) was struck by a whale (he speculates) and sank in just one minute, or filled with
water to the point he could not stay on it. . He barely had time to launch his life raft (luckily he had one). He then drifted and survived for 76 days in his life raft.
https://books.google.com/books/about...kp_read_button
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There is a good article about his adventure in Wikipedia. Here is a short excerpt:
"On the eve of April 20, 1982, he spotted lights on the island of Marie Galante, south east of
Guadeloupe. The next day, on Callahan's 76th day afloat in the raft, fishermen picked him up just
offshore, drawn to him by birds hovering over the raft, which were attracted by the ecosystem that had developed around it.[5] During the ordeal, he faced sharks, raft punctures,
equipment deterioration, physical deterioration, and mental stress. Having
lost a third of his weight and being covered with scores of saltwater sores, he was taken to a local hospital for an afternoon, but left that evening and spent the following weeks recovering on the island and while hitchhiking on
boats up through the West Indies."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adri...ys_Lost_At_Sea
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His example of 76 days is a long time.
But it is not the
record for people surviving while adrift on an ocean. Here are a few more notable (well documented) examples:
Dougal Robertson, Scottish author and sailor who with his
family survived being adrift at sea after their schooner was holed by killer whales in 1972. They survived for 38 days in the Pacific, before being picked up by a passing ship.
Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, survived 117 days adrift in the
Pacific Ocean.
Rose Noelle,
trimaran on which four people survived 119 days adrift in the
South Pacific. This was a capsized large
trimaran (sailboat).
Poon Lim, who survived for 133 days adrift in the Atlantic. This was during WW2 era.
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More recently have been claims that some have drifted for several months (e.g. Thousands of miles across
parts of the Pacific).
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Good luck on your
project about the effect of wind.
Hope that helps.