Top 10 Harrowing Tales of People Who Survived Months at Sea - P5
In unfortunate instances, people have found themselves drifting helplessly on the ocean, sometimes on rafts that aren’t more than a few feet long. With limited supplies, they soon run out of food and are left with no other option than feeding on raw birds and fish. Drinking the salty seawater is never an option, so the blood of these animals becomes water. Sometimes, marooned seafarers get lucky, and rain falls, providing them with fresh water. Having rain falling on you while you’re in a rub
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Top 10 Harrowing Tales Of People Who Survived Months At Sea - P5
2 William And Simonne Butler - 66 Days.
William and Simonne Butler were attempting to travel around the world when their sailing boat ran into a pod of whales roughly 2,200 kilometers (1,400 mi) from Panama during the night of June 15, 1989.
According to Williams, the whales numbered between 200 and 500.
One of the whales rammed into the side of their boat, and it started sinking fast.
15 minutes later, it was underwater, and the couple were on a rubber raft.
All the couple had on board were a knife, a water desalinator, a fishhook, a flashlight, two blankets, three flares, 38 liters (10 gal) of water, and a Sony Walkman.
The Walkman picked up radio stations from Los Angeles, Texas, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama as they drifted on the ocean.
However, help was far.
They ran out of food in four weeks and turned to eating turtles and triggerfish.
Unfortunately, sharks were always coming for the fish hiding under their raft.
At one point, porpoises joined the sharks, and one tore a hole in the underside of the raft.
Rescue came the day after they had used the last of their flares to signal at a passing ship.
The ship didn’t stop to help, but a Costa Rican Coast Guard boat rescued them the next day, ending 66 torturous days at sea.
William and Simonne had each lost 23 kilograms (50 lb).
Simonne’s legs were said to have been as soft as cotton, while William had a bad cut on his right hand and sores on his back.
1 Toakai Teitoi - 108 Days.
On May 27, 2012, Toakai Teitoi traveled from Maiana to Tarawa, both in the Republic of Kiribati, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, to be sworn in as a police officer.
After his swearing in, he watched a film about four Kiribati men who were lost at sea for six weeks.
Little did he realize that he was about to experience a similar fate.
Teitoi decided to take a boat back to Maiana with his brother-in-law, Ielu Falaile.
The trip should have only taken two hours.
However, the men found themselves drifting helplessly at sea.
They had drifted deep into the ocean and run out of fuel after stopping to fish and sleep for the night.
The men had food on board but no water.
This took its toll on them, and Falaile died on July 4.
A day later, a heavy storm accompanied by severe rainfall allowed Teitoi to fill two 19-liter (5 gal) containers with water.
Teitoi was asleep during the afternoon of September 11 when he awoke to the sound of something banging on his boat.
It was a shark, and it left when he went to investigate.
That became his saving grace, as it allowed the crew of a nearby fishing boat to rescue him.
Teitoi was taken aboard the fishing boat, which continued fishing for a few days since he was not in immediate danger.
Teitoi believes he was saved by the shark.
