Five months lost at sea

Two women and their dogs have been rescued after being lost at sea for months while trying to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti. The US Navy rescued the women on Thursday after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted them about 155 kilometres southeast of Japan, well off their planned course, and alerted the US Coast Guard. The USS Ashland arrived early the next day, the navy said. The women, identified as Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiaba, both of Honolulu, lost their engine in bad weather in late May but believed they could still reach Tahiti using their sails.