Nine people spent six days adrift off Honduras and were recently rescued. They were apparently in an open 27' boat. Rainwater and an unfortunate gull kept them going. Apparently they're in decent shape.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/07/03/...st-of-honduras/

They didn't check their fuel before they set out, and they ran out. Noone knew where to look for them. They couldn't signal the cargo ships they saw.

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but such a series of miscues strikes me as the classic groupthink scenario -- "surely someone else checked the details."