A Salvadoran fisherman's account of his survival after more than 13 months and about 6,500 miles in an open boat.
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20140204/DABOKIGG0.html

His family says they haven't seen him since Dec 2012, but I have a hard time believing he was adrift that whole time. That would be a remarkable tale of survival if true.

Utterly remarkable, if true. Apparently the currents are right. But could anyone (even a fisherman) sustain life and health, scrounging calories and enough fresh water (moisture), without cover, on the open ocean?

On the other hand, he showed up in an incredibly remote location. If it's some sort of scheme, somebody somewhere coughed up a lot of dollars and resources to make it look real.

Interesting reading here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/worl...rticle16683853/

I remember a joke:

"Sir, how old are you?"

"I'm 103."

"That's incredible! What's your secret?"

"I chalk it up to clean livin'… and inability to count."

Maybe the poor guy got confused from prolonged hunger and dehydration?

I'm curious as to how ... padded ... he appears to be.

Apparently he was doing quite well in the food department?

And, yes, I know starvation can change your morphology, cause edema from low protein/albumin levels, etc. He doesn't look edematous.

What a terrible, terrible ordeal. Hope he's mentally able to withstand being in the public eye after months of isolation...


--M

Was there ever an official verdict on the veracity of the original story? Just curious.

I don't know who renders "official" verdicts on these things. The link in the OP has expired, but I believe it suggested that the story was consistent with information from other sources.

Long term survival at sea is not unknown. There is a case on record from WWII of a seaman adrift for 133 days - 50 with lifeboat supplies, but the final 83 with only rainwater and fish. I would just think if you can get by for 83 days, you have achieved some sort of equilibrium and can keep going for much longer. After all what could be healthier than eating lots of fish - omega 3's and all that sort of good stuff...

And there is the old sea faring problem of lack of vitamin C, which leads to scurvy.

The scurvy problem for sailors of old was due to their lack of anything fresh in their diet, at least until limes (hence "limeys") were added to the ration.

This source http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/...dicine-science/ finds his story plausible, pointing out that fresh fish and bird meat, especially the liver, would have warded off scurvy.