Five months lost at sea
Two women and their dogs rescued by Navy from being lost off course at sea.
December 13, 2017
Picture this, very limited food and water between yourself, another, and a dog; silence from fear of sharks surrounding will attack; watching boats in the distance pass by unaware; no sense of time recovery will come, preparing to not make it back to dry land. What a horrible thought isn’t it, Tasha Fuiava and Jennifer Appel had the feeling May 30 to Wednesday, October 25. Leaving Honolulu, Hawaii on their 50-foot sailboat to Tahiti starting May 3 leading into a storm, flooding their engine and sense of direction. Lost.
Loosing hope and flooded with fear, this boat was drifting at sea surrounded by dark waves and sharks. “I went downstairs with the boys and we basically laid huddled on the floor and I told them not to bark, because the sharks could hear us breathing. They could smell us,” Appel said.
For months, distress signals and flares were being shot into the air for any eye to see, but all that returned was disappointment. “I could see light and I could see vessels and I watched them get closer and we thought it would be close enough to do a call or, if it was pointed our way, we would shoot flairs and hail it on a VHF,” she said. “When they would turn or keep going — yeah, it was kind of sad.”
Until the last sense of survival, until the the last pinch of energy to light another flare, they were rescued.“When I saw the grey boat on the edge of the horizon, my heart leapt because I knew that we were about to be saved, because I honestly believed we were going to die within the next 24 hours,” Appel said. A Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted the sailboat 900 miles southeast of Japan. They called into coastguard to get help, and eventually the three were rescued by a Navy ship between Japan and Guam 5,000 miles off of original course. Now headed back to land planning on returning to sea soon for another adventure.
The survival secret of these women were a water purifier and a years worth of oatmeal, rice, and pasta. Before, thankfully, the women received expert advise to pack accordingly in case of an emergency. But not only was the food a sense of survival, the comfort of each other and their dogs until it was all over.
