Pair rescued after 5 months lost at sea
Mother of lost sailor ‘never gave up hope’
HONOLULU: A planned voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti aboard a small sailboat didn’t start off well for two Honolulu women.
One of their mobile phones washed overboard and sank into the deep blue water on their first day at sea.
From there, things got worse. Much worse. About a month into their trip, bad weather caused their engine to lose power. Their mast was damaged. And then, as they drifted across thousands of miles of open ocean, their water purifier stopped working.
But the two sailors, accompanied by their dogs, were resourceful and prepared with more than a year’s worth of food, and after more than five months of being lost in the vast Pacific Ocean, sending out daily distress calls that no one heard, they were rescued by the US Navy on Wednesday about 1,450km southeast of Japan. Their intended destination — Tahiti — thousands of miles away.
The USS Ashland rescued the women after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted their crippled vessel on Tuesday and alerted the US Coast Guard, the Navy said in a statement released on Thursday.
The women, identified by the Navy as Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava, both of Honolulu, lost their engine in bad weather in late May but believed they could still reach Tahiti using their sails.
“They saved our lives,’’ said Ms Appel through the Navy release. “The pride and smiles we had when we saw [US Navy] on the horizon was pure relief.’’
In a phone call with news media from the Ashland, Ms Appel said they had sent a distress signal for 98 days with no response.
“It was very depressing and very hopeless, but it’s the only thing you can do, so you do what you can do,’’ the newspaper quoted her as saying.
She also said the ordeal was lifechanging, Hawaii News Now reported: “There is a true humility to wondering if today is your last day, if tonight is your last night.’’
Ms Appel’s mother said on Thursday that she never gave up hope that her daughter would be found.
Joyce Appel, 75, who lives in Houston, said she got a call from her daughter early Thursday morning more than five months after they had last spoke.
She answered the phone as she always does, wondering who wanted to sell her something, when she heard her daughter’s voice on the other end of the line.
“She said, ‘Mom?’ and I said, ‘Jennifer!?’ because I hadn’t heard from her in like five months,’’ she said. “And she said ‘yes mom’, and that was really exciting.’’
Jennifer Appel departed on May 3, her mother said, but her phone was lost overboard the first day she was at sea, and she hadn’t heard from her daughter since.
“Various things on her boat broke, the mast broke and the engine wouldn’t start when she needed power. So she had several problems that caused her to end up drifting in the ocean,’’ the elder Appel said.
A photo provided by the Navy shows Fuiava smiling as a Navy sailor greets her dog, Zeus aboard the Ashland.
The women received a medical assessment, food and beds aboard the Navy ship.
“The US Navy is postured to assist any distressed mariner of any nationality during any type of situation,’’ said Cmdr Steven Wasson, the commanding officer of the Ashland.