Survivor says boat’s cabin provided him with shelter

• The man rescued after 66 days adrift off the North Carolina coast responded to critics of his story on Monday, explaining that he avoided sunburn and blisters by staying in the disabled sailboat’s cabin and that he survived by rationing food and water.

Louis Jordan’s threeparagraph statement says he stayed inside the cabin to keep dry and avoid sun, wind, waves and sea spray.

“Every time I went outside, I exposed myself to getting my clothes drenched, which would have made it harder for me to keep warm,” Mr. Jordan said. “My blankets were already soaked, and often there was no way of hanging up my clothes to dry. Keeping dry was vital to my survival.”

Mr. Jordan also said he set up a makeshift mast with a small sail to get the boat headed in a westward direction.

He says he rationed food and water and kept his calorie expenditure low.

“That meant I had to stay inside the boat as much as possible, therefore I didn’t have a sunburn, or blisters, as if I were found clinging to an upside-down boat,” he said.

Mr. Jordan was spotted by a German-flagged boat Thursday, more than two months after sailing out of a South Carolina marina. Coast Guard crew members who retrieved him said they were surprised by his fit appearance and overall health.

Thomas Grenz, the captain of the German tanker ship that spotted Mr. Jordan, said his U.S. passport described him as weighing 290 pounds (131 kilograms), but he was probably down to 200 pounds (90 kilograms) when the crew found him.

Officials with the U. S. Coast Guard say it wasn’t clear how long after he left the marina in Conway, S.C., that his boat first capsized. Mr. Jordan’s sailboat was upright when the German boat found him.