http://nationalpost.com/news/world/navy-rescues-honolulu-women-who-were-lost-at-sea-for-months

Remarkable. Three months at sea, finally rescued, and in good condition.

They obviously had a ton of skills and had prepared for the worst with a massive stash of food and water.

Though I'll bet that after 30 days they would have gladly exchanged their life savings for a PLB.

Many good preps, not complete though. It seems that comms were their primary downfall.

They were sort of attacked by sharks. Is this a known behavior? Using boats to train little sharks how to hunt?

http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20171027%2F591e5ff6-39a3-4205-a32f-a3c4984920af

I would maintain a high index of suspicion over this one. Lots of things that don't quite add up.

First off, they are drifting around aimlessly in a sailboat, why not raise the sails? Do they even know how to sail?

The motor quit? Did they start on such a long voyage with no tools or spare parts for the engine? Were they planning to motor the whole way? Seems a bit improbable. Carrying enough fuel to motor that far in that boat seems a bit problematic.

A years worth of food for both themselves and two dogs, a water maker, and lots of flares, but no EPIRB or SSB radio?

Over at Cruisers Forum there are some highly experienced sailors. Some have made the particular voyage in question. The old salts there (who actually know something about long distance cruising) are highly skeptical on their thread.

The whole thing smells very fishy to me (pun intended).

EDIT: More questions from the video:
A Force 11 storm on the first night, that lasted for 2 nights and 3 days? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? That is one step below a hurricane. Should be easy to see if there were conditions like that on that date near Hawaii?

Didn't think they could survive another 24 hours? Really? They looked pretty healthy and well fed to me.

The boat was too big to get into Kiribati lagoon? Sounds pretty bogus to me.

Devils Triangle? Where boats go in but don't come out?

Cans don't work?

This whole story is just too weird for me.

Hi

Seems their stash wasn't as big as they thought it was :|




What is special about 30 days?

I am a certified landlubber, and absolutely defer to those who know the right questions to ask.

This is an initial report (and media do tend to follow a script, 'cause that's easier, and suckers like me always click on feel-good stories ;-). No doubt the dirt will come out in the wash.

Just a number, tossed out in casual conversation.

Only the occupants of the boat know the real number. But I'll bet there is one.

Thanks AKSAR. That cruisersforum thread has a good discussion and brings up points I didn’t consider. I was totally stumped by the fact they set off from Hawaii on their way to Tahiti and ended up southeast of Japan. There seems to be a lot of story missing.

Dogs seemed happy to be off the boat.

There may be many reasons.
When the boat is dead in the water, the sharks may start to wonder whether that´s food at some point. With ramming and test bites they try to find out whether the vessel is food and still alive enough to hurt the shark. The boat has about the right size for a whale carcass.
Some species are territorial and keep other potential predators out of their territory.
Last but not least bait fish may seek shelter under the boat. Sharks may collide with the boat when hunting for the bait fish.

The link provided by Bingley filled a lot of holes from other articles. [url=http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20171027/591e5ff6-39a3-4205-a32f-a3c4984920af]Sailboat survivors recount doomed Pacific voyage[/url] First storm battered the boat and imo they underestimated the damage to the rigging; the boat’s engine was flooded by a second storm. Multiple failures to the comms equipment and navigation was reduced to a handheld GPS. The boats owner (Appel) would like to retrieve and repair the boat [quote]...Their boat, deemed no longer seaworthy, was allowed to drift away after their rescue, although Appel says she hopes she might eventually retrieve and repair it....[/quote] —