Castaway for 13 months?

This story is making quite a few headlines. A modern day castaway. He looks awfully well fed for being at sea for so long. How did his guest die? Experts are quite suspicious.

Do we have any ocean survival experts? What sort of boat did he have?

 

what I saw on the news it looked like a 30' power boat.
He looks in remarkably good shape for drifting 13 months - it's obvious a see food diet is healthy.

 

What did he eat to prevent scurvy ?

 

one news source says it was a 24 ft fishing boat. and that he was found on an atoll, so he was not adrift the whole time. He collected rainwater. And it says he was found emaciated. So these pictures may have been after he was feed and treated on the rescue ship. Various news sources have different details about him, so it is difficult to know exactly what happened to him for sure.

 

I suspect the curiosity surrounds the fact he was in the company of at least one other, who died during this episode. I don't know what you could get Vitamin C from at sea, probably not much, and the survival limit without it is less than 13 months.

 

Many would wonder how a 24 foot boat adrift for 8000 miles would stay upright, but it was across tropical waters where the biggest threat would be cyclones or tropical storms, otherwise less threatening than higher latitudes, probably.

 

it happens quite a bit. boats that have broke moorings around w.a have ended up at africa still floating right way up.

 

More info coming in. Locals are backing up his story about the disappearance. The boy starved to death because he couldn't eat the raw fish...probably came down with something. Very sad fate, but an amazing story of survival. He was a good fisherman if he managed to scrounge up enough food to survive all that time. Amazing.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/02/03/22549873-marshall-islands-castaway-i-wanted-to-kill-myself?lite

 

Yes, boats can often survive. A couple of years ago while visiting Prince Rupert we saw a Japanese fish boat that had drifted across the Pacific. Pretty well intact but weathered & a lot of growth.
I also have 3 glass fish net floats from the west coast of Vancouver Is.

 

As others have pointed out, being near the equator the waves & water temps are pretty tame. His biggest concern would have been just finding food & water. I think his biggest life saving credit was the fact that he was a fisherman. This fishing gear surely helped him catch food.

One LUCKY son-of-a-gun!

I would really like to see a picture of this boat he survived in. If anybody has any pics of it do post.

 

Marine survival espert: Survival at sea "is possible"...

"Alvarenga said while on his journey he considered committing suicide several times, but survived by praying to God, thinking about his family, and dreaming of eating his favorite food - tortillas."

And it's that mental will to live that Crownover said is the key to survival. "You stay focused, you [can] accomplish anything. The human race has gotten this far on that kind of thought."

http://www.voanews.com/content/marine-survival-trainer-story-of-man-lost-at-sea-for-a-year-is-possible/1844298.html

 

Went from Australia to Vancouver on a sail boat,research and education taught me to drink turtle blood if it came down to a ship wreck.

Perhaps he was 350 pounds when he left.

 

He drank rain water, blood, urine and who knows what else to remain hydrated. Though he's got a chubby face, his body looks a bit frail. There was another report of some Mexicans getting lost at sea for 9 months so there is precedent the sea conditions were more favorable for survival in this equatorial zone.

Perhaps next time he will learn how to fabricate a make-shift mast & sail is way home sooner! Holy cow...over a year adrift. Amazing. The Hollywood producers will surely be jumping to get his story and dramatize it to no end.

 

the Eskimos got vitamin C by eating raw meat of sea mammals (in fact the native word for "Eskimo" is alleged to mean "eaters of raw meat", a label placed on them from native tribes further south). It is possible the turtle blood and the raw sea birds he at had enough vitamin C to keep him alive.

I think I would have tried to rig a sail of some type, though he may not have had anything to make it with. A tarp might have been more useful to keep the sun off your body. Hard to say, but no doubt his experience as a fisher man help keep him alive.

 

He obviously did the McDonalds survivor course.

The McMate, "would you like eyes with that order sir."

Poida