BajaNomad

Mexican man adrift for 16 months floats into Marshall Islands atoll

Whale-ista - 1-31-2014 at 04:14 AM

Not sure if he was from Baja, but: What an incredible survival story.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/234846/m...

woody with a view - 1-31-2014 at 04:36 AM

crazy. propellor less ENGINES???

chuckie - 1-31-2014 at 04:54 AM

Not so hard to believe, A good friend of mine lost his prop near Il Defonso. He didnt put the cotter key in, and when he reversed the engine, prop fell off....he made it to Il Defonso from Mulege ,20+ miles.....Towed him back....Pacifico bill was high...

Cypress - 1-31-2014 at 06:01 AM

Sixteen months adrift? That ought to be a record. Had an inboard-outboard once that had some sort of alignment problem, would strip the gears on the shaft or spin the prop off. Never did get to the root of the problem.

monoloco - 1-31-2014 at 07:23 AM

It doesn't make sense that he would be missing more than one prop.

Skipjack Joe - 1-31-2014 at 07:32 AM

He survived on turtle blood when there was no rain? That's amazing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepac...

Skipjack Joe - 1-31-2014 at 07:53 AM

And this .....
Quote:

At sea: As the Ancient Mariner told us in high school, the ocean is the great thirst paradox: “Water, water, everywhere / Nor any drop to drink.” Try drinking the salt water and you will become violently ill. Instead, try to catch a fish. A huge percentage of a fish’s body is fresh water—just cut into bite-size pieces and chew ’em like gum, then use the chewed-up bits to attract seabirds. Drinking the blood of one of these, though unspeakably gross, can keep you alive until the rescue boat comes.

Ateo - 1-31-2014 at 08:24 AM

One would imagine a sense of triumph after finally arriving alive after 16 month. But it's gotta be mixed with sadness for his lost friend. The family of this man must be stoked. Hopefully the wife hasn't re-married!

:P:P:lol::lol::P:P

Geo_Skip - 1-31-2014 at 08:31 AM

This story does not pass the stink test.

BajaBlanca - 1-31-2014 at 08:31 AM

What a story to tell your grandkids. Imagine his loneliness after his amigo died. I hope they cover his homecoming, that wd be a sight to see!

Kgryfon - 1-31-2014 at 06:43 PM

It's being reported in other news sources as well:

http://news.yahoo.com/man-washes-marshall-islands-39-16-mont...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/washed-asho...

bajatravelergeorge - 2-1-2014 at 12:30 AM

I'm really hoping he didn't have to eat his buddy.

BajaNomad - 2-1-2014 at 12:48 AM

Some other "fishermen" (out of San Blas) adrift for months in 2006:
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=18773

Skipjack Joe - 2-1-2014 at 01:11 AM

He's not out of the woods yet. They need to get him off that island and into a hospital. Drinking turtle blood and starvation can be really hard on some of the organs, from what I've read (liver and kidney). Perhaps EnsenadaDr can provide some information about that.

During the '89 earthquake in SF a highway collapsed, trapping one guy in his car. It tooke them 3 days to find him and extract him. Everyone celebrated and he appeared to be fine but died a few days later in the hospital of kidney failure I believe. The kidneys were damaged by the absence of water for 3 days.

I used to just love these sea sagas when I was a kid. Never missed an opportunity to read a book or see a movie on this theme. The last being Redford's film last month.

Kgryfon - 2-1-2014 at 01:30 AM

So, Skipjack, are you doubting his story? Just curious.

Skipjack Joe - 2-1-2014 at 06:31 AM

No, it probably happened. But there are likely parts of the story that were left out. How his friend died and what happened to his body.:saint:

He could not have survived on turtle blood. He must have drunk water that collected on the bottom of the panga. I've been in the tropics when there was a downpour every single day. He must have floated near the equator. A panga has a fairly large surface area. Bligh and his men got their water by stretching canvas and catching the runoff in those same tropics (1500 mile journey). I read about a guy that got shipwrecked around the canary islands and ended up near Venezuela. He would not have survived without the water from those stills. So I think if you're going to be shipwrecked there is no better place than the tropics. But you have to wonder how much water you need when there is no place to hide from that sun. In addition, he must have picked up all kinds of parasites by drinking from the bottom of the boat. Parts of fishes and turtle must have worked their way to the bottom. You can't keep the boat clean because you introduce salt. Yes, his insides are probably in pretty bad shape now.

You have to wonder about the other guy. Any sea survival story when not everyone survives always makes you wonder what really happened. That's why it's being reported. It's suggestive information.

Skipjack Joe - 2-1-2014 at 06:34 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaBlanca

Imagine his loneliness after his amigo died.



Maybe he had Wilson along.

Bob and Susan - 2-1-2014 at 06:44 AM

i kinda wonder what happened to the tiger and the monkey and the donkey

Skipjack Joe - 2-1-2014 at 07:01 AM

Rainfall at Marshall Islands.



GE shows them to be just north of the equator. He must have caught the trade winds. Probably drifted south near the coast and then west into that great expanse of water.

PS. Just looked up Kon Tiki, who did their trip in 4 months. So I wondered why it took this guy 3 times as long. Well, turns out the (a) Marshalls are twice as far as French Polynesia, (b) Kon Tiki started out closer to the equator, (c) Kon Tiki raft had runners below the raft which, as I recall, helped it drift faster?, (d) they had a sail.

[Edited on 2-1-2014 by Skipjack Joe]

woody with a view - 2-1-2014 at 07:50 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by monoloco
It doesn't make sense that he would be missing more than one prop.


eggsackly!

BajaDQ - 2-1-2014 at 08:23 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by monoloco
It doesn't make sense that he would be missing more than one prop.



Unless he had the same mechanico work on the lower end of both motors (And got it wrong X2 !!). I think it's possible.

monoloco - 2-1-2014 at 08:51 AM

If it was a panga with more than one motor, there is about a 100% chance they were smuggling drugs.

gnukid - 2-1-2014 at 09:11 AM

Stories of people surviving being lost at sea reveal that humans can drink some salt water if they can supplement it with fresh water.

vgabndo - 2-1-2014 at 10:13 AM

Igor, if you haven't read "Desperate Journeys Abandoned Souls" it is a remarkable collection of survival at sea, and abandonment stories. I share your interest and have a read a bunch of that stuff.

After my third time through Robinson Crusoe (I know it was mostly fiction) I arranged to be left on an uninhabited island in the Belizian Caribbean for 8 days for a taste of the experience. A couple of good campfire stories were spawned by THAT.

There is a long and true history of seamen eating their dead shipmates, and also of not waiting for them to die. The weak, and sub-human might even have been part of the planning in some cases. The cabin boy and black cook being potential menu items before the start of the voyage. (not my racial profiling)

Men were also purposefully marooned at sea as punishment. A few survived to add some real horror to the collected stories!

More than one group of survivors has had some pretty metaphysical things to say about the appearance of sea turtles when their lives and blood were a matter of life or death to those adrift.

You cited Steven Callahan and his 72 days "Adrift". Without his solar stills, and the Dorados which took up residence in the shade of his raft, he'd have been toast. As it was, if I remember correctly, he hardly lost weight on his slow journey across the Atlantic. Not that it didn't absolutely kick his butt!

The one thing that I remember of the tale of the three guys who survived for so long in the overturned hull of a trimaran off of New Zealand was how they fought over a peanut one found that they had been laying on after weeks trapped in the hull. Twin ironies in that story. They drifted in a huge meander and were discovered near where the storm flipped them, and one of the survivors died not long after his remarkable survival at sea as the result of an apparently unrelated brain disease.

When you number is up.......:?:

Skipjack Joe - 2-1-2014 at 11:32 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by vgabndo

The cabin boy and black cook being potential menu items before the start of the voyage. (not my racial profiling)



I believe their Piute Indian guide was the first to go during the Donner Party, so that supports your idea. Of course I don't how they would know that since nobody survived.

PS. Robinson Crusoe was the first book I read to Alex in Baja. We had nightly readings at San Lucas Cove RV Park. He loved it. I didn't like it as a child that much though.

[Edited on 2-1-2014 by Skipjack Joe]

freediverbrian - 2-1-2014 at 02:56 PM

I saw a picture of the boat on bloody decks , it is not a panga it is about 25 ft with a small cabin and what looks like straight 6 inboard motor.

[Edited on 2-1-2014 by freediverbrian]

wessongroup - 2-1-2014 at 03:02 PM

Certainly something to "chew on" around the campfire

Barry A. - 2-1-2014 at 03:21 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Quote:
Originally posted by vgabndo

The cabin boy and black cook being potential menu items before the start of the voyage. (not my racial profiling)



I believe their Piute Indian guide was the first to go during the Donner Party, so that supports your idea. Of course I don't how they would know that since nobody survived.

PS. Robinson Crusoe was the first book I read to Alex in Baja. We had nightly readings at San Lucas Cove RV Park. He loved it. I didn't like it as a child that much though.

[Edited on 2-1-2014 by Skipjack Joe]


Actually, quite a few of the Donner Party survived.

http://www.donnerpartydiary.com/survivor.htm

Barry

Skipjack Joe - 2-1-2014 at 05:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by vgabndo

You cited Steven Callahan and his 72 days "Adrift". Without his solar stills, and the Dorados which took up residence in the shade of his raft, he'd have been toast. As it was, if I remember correctly, he hardly lost weight on his slow journey across the Atlantic. Not that it didn't absolutely kick his butt!



If you recall he also fed on triggerfish. Well, that really surprised me. So I did some research and yes, indeed, there are pelagic triggerfish.
Quote:
Originally posted by vgabndo

When you number is up.......:?:



Yep. That's what Timo1 told me as well