
Lost at sea: a man who vanished for 14 months (2015) - tommywilliams
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/07/fisherman-lost-at-sea-436-days-book-extract
======
alanfalcon
I’m attending a memorial a memorial service for my uncle this weekend. He set
sail a year ago to fulfill his life long dream of sailing around the world
alone. He did not have the required experience or reliable enough equipment.
Some months ago his wife received distressing text messages, sent via a
cumbersome satellite communications system, indicating he was boarded by
pirates. In fact we believe now he was suffering delusions from dehydration
after his water purifier failed. We received no further communications. The
Coast Guard coordinated a search based on his last known location in the
Pacific. Nothing was found of him or his ship. A judge later reviewed the
communications and letters from experienced sailors, and signed a death
certificate.

And now this is the second story about someone lost at sea being rescued that
I’ve stumbled upon today. It’s a good read, thanks for sharing. I suppose it’s
good to be able to have some hope that perhaps my uncle could show up on a
remote island one day, though it’s also hard. At a certain point though you
have to accept the odds, find a way to grieve. Sadly, I already have
experience with this as a cousin of mine went spear fishing alone one day in
the ocean and never returned to shore. That was years ago and no sign of him
has ever been found/identified since.

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Mz
I think this fascinates people in part because we sort of think it can't
happen anymore. With 7 billion people, GPS, satellites, airplanes, cell
phones, we think you can't get lost like this, you can't be so extremely
alone. We think space is the only frontier left.

It flies in the face of our mental models of our world. On top of that, it is
an extraordinary personal experience that is fascinating for that aspect. So
many of us struggle hugely to cope even with the support of modern civilized
life. I can't imagine figuring out the logistics of coping practically with
such a situation. Coping psychologically is even more unimaginable to me.

~~~
NiklasMort
People who hike the Appalachian Trail & co get lost and die every year.
Doesn't take much. Now that is a tiny patch compared to the pacific ocean
which is basically half the globe. Even if you can get a distress signal out
by the time help arrives you might be in a different position or already dead,
not to mention that the question remains if help ever comes. Helicopters can't
fly very far, ships take days if not weeks. You might be able to post on
Facebook but outside help is not an option (personal experience, not kidding!)

~~~
JSONwebtoken
If you were able to post on Facebook, why didn't you have a GPS signal from
which you could deliver your co-ordinates over the internet? (Just curious,
not sure if I'm missing something)

~~~
alanfalcon
As gp said, you could tell people exactly where you are, but it takes a long
tome for anyone to be able to reach those coordinates by ship. If your power
source dies and you drift in the interim, now it takes many ships and a
coordinated effort hopefully involving aircraft for a chance that you’ll be
found. The ocean is a very large place and a ship doesn’t exactly leave
tracks.

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chrissnell
I read a great book back in the '80s called "Adrift", the story of Steven
Callahan, who survived 76 days lost at sea. At the time, it was believed to
have been the longest solo survival-at-sea.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Callahan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Callahan)

[https://www.amazon.com/Adrift-Seventy-six-Days-Lost-
Sea/dp/0...](https://www.amazon.com/Adrift-Seventy-six-Days-Lost-
Sea/dp/0618257322/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509159114&sr=8-1&keywords=adrift)

Unlike the man in OP's story, Callahan was adrift in a small life raft and had
only a tiny emergency kit aboard with which to save himself with. He used
those meager supplies to perform some miracles, including a very clever
technique that he came up with to patch his raft when it developed a leak.

~~~
emilga
Ray Mears explored this event on Extreme Survival:
[https://youtu.be/cIJ7cI2aIwc](https://youtu.be/cIJ7cI2aIwc)

It includes an interview with Steve and a demonstration of how he patched the
hole in his raft.

A brilliant show!

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dredmorbius
Another case of a person lost at sea (and in this case, never recovered), is
Evi Nemeth, author and professor of systems administration, who disappeared
along with six others on June 4, 2014.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evi_Nemeth](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evi_Nemeth)

[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objecti...](http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10893482)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5958974](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5958974)

[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/30/unix_luminary_among_...](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/30/unix_luminary_among_seven_missing_at_sea/)

------
fred_is_fred
I never understood how this guy didn't look more emaciated when he was found.
Can you really catch enough birds and turtles to last 14 months and look
reasonably fit?

~~~
dpark
The pictures of him are after receiving both food and fluids. The article
discusses the edema he experienced. That’s probably why his face looks so
full. His hands and forearms still look awfully skinny to me.

If the recent picture is what he looked like prior to the whole thing, he lost
a _lot_ of weight on that boat.

~~~
Aloha
you can see the edema in his ankles.

------
olegkikin
All could've been avoided by a simple wateproofed satphone with an emergency
plan. Inmarsat ones are like $650, plus a few hundred a year for emergencies.

~~~
jarvist
A £200 EPIRB (10 yr battery life, waterproof, float) would be more sensible.

However, if you are a poor coastal fisherman with no intention of going far
offshore... ?

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grabcocque
Gendry?

------
justboxing
This story does add up. Likely fake / staged, with just enough facts to make
it feel and sound credible.

> Why is he so plump?

> Where's the sun tan?

> Could he really drift 8,000 miles across the ocean in 13 months?

> Do urine and turtle blood add up to a credible alternative to fresh water?

> How did he survive and his crewmate did not?

Source: [http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/458050/Is-the-
castaway-s...](http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/458050/Is-the-castaway-s-
story-too-good-to-be-true-Doubts-cast-over-miracle-fisherman)

~~~
dpark
> _Why is he so plump?_

Look at his left hand, at how his knuckles protrude from his skinny fingers.
He’s emaciated. His face is probably not plump but swollen from edema arising
from the sudden influx of fluids. The article discusses this.

I imagine if he were “plump” all the people who encountered him after he
washed ashore would have noticed.

> _Where 's the sun tan?_

Looks fairly tan to me. I imagine if he were healthy he’d look even darker,
since being starved isn’t conducive to a healthy complexion. People tend to
look pale when they are sick.

> _Could he really drift 8,000 miles across the ocean in 13 months?_

6700, not 8000. That’s only 15 miles a day. (And only 18 for 8000 total)

> _Do urine and turtle blood add up to a credible alternative to fresh water?_

Not for 14 months but he didn’t claim to be drinking urine and turtle blood
exclusively for that time.

> _How did he survive and his crewmate did not?_

This question is just dumb. How does anyone survive when someone else doesn’t?

If both survived it would be significantly less believable.

If this is a hoax, it’s pretty impressive. Apparently he killed a man to make
it stick.

