Sailor recounts how he survived 66 days lost at sea

TEN weeks ago, Louis Jordan packed his gear onto his boat and set sail from the US state of South Carolina to go fishing. Five days later, he had not been heard of — and his worried parents sent out a search team.

Almost nine weeks ago, the search was called off, and the 37-year-old given up for dead.

But on Thursday he was found, alive and well, after a remarkable 66 days lost at sea.

He told a US TV channel how he managed to survive against the odds.

“My boat got flipped and did a 180 on me while I was sleeping at night,” said Jordan, describing the January storm that wrecked his equipment.

He was not able to fix the 10m boat. He floated helplessly in the Atlantic, and fought to catch enough raw fish and collect enough rainwater to survive.

He also ate pancakes made out of flour fried in oil, and emergency rations.

A follower of the Baha’i faith, he prayed constantly, and was deeply concerned for his parents. “I was worried about them more than anything else,” he said. “Their poor hurt feelings, if I’m ever going to show up again or not, not knowing if I abandoned them.”

He was spotted drifting on his stricken boat 320km off the coast of North Carolina by a German tanker, and taken aboard. —