Lost at sea: the man who vanished for 14 months | The Woodsman Hut | Forums

A A A
Avatar
Search

— Forum Scope —






— Match —





— Forum Options —





Minimum search word length is 3 characters - maximum search word length is 84 characters

Lost password?
sp_Feed F-The-Woodsmen
Lost at sea: the man who vanished for 14 months
Avatar
K
Admin
Forum Posts: 31782
Member Since:
15 Feb ’12
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
1
9 Nov ’15 - 8:22 am
sp_Permalink sp_Print

crazy story, can't even imagine the hell he went through

As they motored across the lagoon in the Marshall Islands, deep in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the policemen stared at the specimen laid out on the deck before them. There was no hiding the fact that this man had been at sea for a considerable time. His hair was matted upwards like a shrub. His beard curled out in wild disarray. His ankles were swollen, his wrists tiny; he could barely walk. He refused to make eye contact and often hid his face.

Salvador Alvarenga, a 36-year-old fisherman from El Salvador, had left the coast of Mexico in a small boat with a young crewmate 14 months earlier. Now he was being taken to Ebon Atoll, the southernmost tip of the Marshall Islands, and the closest town to where he had washed ashore. He was 6,700 miles from the place he had set out from. He had drifted for 438 days.

Castaway José Salvador Alvarenga's tale speaks to our deep fears of being adrift

Floating across the Pacific Ocean, watching the moon’s light ebb and flow for over a year, Alvarenga had battled loneliness, depression and bouts of suicidal thinking. But surviving in a vibrant world of wild animals, vivid hallucinations and extreme solitude did little to prepare him for the fact that he was about to become an international celebrity and an object of curiosity.

I was so hungry that I was eating my own fingernails, swallowing all the little pieces
Salvador Alvarenga

Days later, Alvarenga faced the world’s press. Dressed in a baggy brown sweatshirt that disguised his reedy torso, he disembarked from a police boat slowly but unaided. Expecting a gaunt and bedridden victim, a ripple of disbelief went through the crowd. Alvarenga cracked a quick smile and waved to the cameras. Several observers noted a similarity to the Tom Hanks character in the movie Cast Away. The photo of the bearded fisherman shuffling ashore went viral. Briefly, Alvarenga became a household name.

Who survives 14 months at sea? Only a Hollywood screenwriter could write a tale in which such a journey ends happily. I was sceptical, but as a Guardian reporter in the region, I began to investigate. It turned out there were dozens of witnesses who had seen Alvarenga leave shore, who had heard his SOS. When he washed ashore (in the same boat that he had left Mexico on), thousands of miles away, he was steadfast in his rejection of interviews – even posting a note on his hospital door begging the press to disappear.

more http://www.theguardi.....ok-extract

The following users say thank you to K for this useful post:

farmboy2
Avatar
DangerDuke
Rancher
Members
Forum Posts: 2030
Member Since:
21 Feb ’12
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
2
10 Nov ’15 - 5:13 am
sp_Permalink sp_Print

wow

Avatar
K
Admin
Forum Posts: 31782
Member Since:
15 Feb ’12
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
3
10 Nov ’15 - 7:35 am
sp_Permalink sp_Print

yeah, I think I'm going to order that book

Avatar
farmboy2
Rancher
Members
Forum Posts: 1243
Member Since:
4 Mar ’12
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
4
11 Nov ’15 - 12:28 am
sp_Permalink sp_Print

read the whole article, it is amazing... thanks for posting it

Avatar
K
Admin
Forum Posts: 31782
Member Since:
15 Feb ’12
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
5
11 Nov ’15 - 7:20 am
sp_Permalink sp_Print

I thought I had posted this story when it happened but can't seem to find it, iirc there was talk about possible cannibalism, I wonder if that is touched on in the book. 

Avatar
farmboy2
Rancher
Members
Forum Posts: 1243
Member Since:
4 Mar ’12
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
6
11 Nov ’15 - 9:32 am
sp_Permalink sp_Print

in the article, the survivor claims after the other guy died, he kept him in the boat for a few days. then he dropped him in the water. no mention of eating him. I think even if that did happen, he wouldn't tell people, for fear of being looked at as a monster.

Avatar
K
Admin
Forum Posts: 31782
Member Since:
15 Feb ’12
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
7
12 Nov ’15 - 8:46 am
sp_Permalink sp_Print

yeah, but I thought they had found something in the boat that lead to the assumption, I might be thinking of a different story though.

Avatar
K
Admin
Forum Posts: 31782
Member Since:
15 Feb ’12
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
8
16 Dec ’15 - 7:27 am
sp_Permalink sp_Print

looks like he is being sued for cannibalism 

http://www.grindtv.c.....QWo65vx.97

Forum Timezone: America/New_York

Most Users Ever Online: 698

Currently Online:
268 Guest(s)

Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)

Top Posters:

easytapper: 2149

DangerDuke: 2030

groinkick: 1667

PorkChopsMmm: 1515

Gravel Road: 1455

Newest Members:

Forum Stats:

Groups: 1

Forums: 12

Topics: 11482

Posts: 58640

 

Member Stats:

Guest Posters: 2

Members: 19842

Moderators: 0

Admins: 1

Administrators: K