Lost at sea: a man who vanished for 14 months (2015) | Hacker News Reader

Lost at sea: a man who vanished for 14 months (2015)

theguardian.com

95 pointstommywilliams31 comments

I’m attending a memorial a memorial service for my uncle this weekend. He set sail a year ago to fulfill his life long dream of sailing around the world alone. He did not have the required experience or reliable enough equipment. Some months ago his wife received distressing text messages, sent via a cumbersome satellite communications system, indicating he was boarded by pirates. In fact we believe now he was suffering delusions from dehydration after his water purifier failed. We received no further communications. The Coast Guard coordinated a search based on his last known location in the Pacific. Nothing was found of him or his ship. A judge later reviewed the communications and letters from experienced sailors, and signed a death certificate.

And now this is the second story about someone lost at sea being rescued that I’ve stumbled upon today. It’s a good read, thanks for sharing. I suppose it’s good to be able to have some hope that perhaps my uncle could show up on a remote island one day, though it’s also hard. At a certain point though you have to accept the odds, find a way to grieve. Sadly, I already have experience with this as a cousin of mine went spear fishing alone one day in the ocean and never returned to shore. That was years ago and no sign of him has ever been found/identified since.

I think this fascinates people in part because we sort of think it can't happen anymore. With 7 billion people, GPS, satellites, airplanes, cell phones, we think you can't get lost like this, you can't be so extremely alone. We think space is the only frontier left.

It flies in the face of our mental models of our world. On top of that, it is an extraordinary personal experience that is fascinating for that aspect. So many of us struggle hugely to cope even with the support of modern civilized life. I can't imagine figuring out the logistics of coping practically with such a situation. Coping psychologically is even more unimaginable to me.

People who hike the Appalachian Trail & co get lost and die every year. Doesn't take much. Now that is a tiny patch compared to the pacific ocean which is basically half the globe. Even if you can get a distress signal out by the time help arrives you might be in a different position or already dead, not to mention that the question remains if help ever comes. Helicopters can't fly very far, ships take days if not weeks. You might be able to post on Facebook but outside help is not an option (personal experience, not kidding!)

I am not suggesting these mental models are accurate. But it does seem to be harder to intentionally disappear these days. I think our fascination with such stories is similar to or related to our fascination with prison escapes and people who successfully disappeared on purpose.

I think a lot of people feel trapped, like prisoners of their lives. The idea that you could go for a boat ride or show up at your regular job and be just swept away contains both an element of horror and an element of tantalizing possibility. People often long to start their lives over, to walk away from their troubles. They read stuff like this and perhaps feel a mix of hope that it might actually be possible and validation that the cost is very high. It may make them feel both more at peace with not yet having escaped and hopeful for a better future for themselves.

Only issue with "being lost at sea" is that the declaration of death usually takes months if not years. Often that is relevant. Also it is not that easy to do it convincingly, people tried.

That wasn't really what I intended to suggest. I wasn't suggesting that it specifically inspires people to plan to pretend to die at sea.

I was thinking more like a) it makes them feel less like incompetent dolts for not readily escaping their own problems, because, yes, you can disappear, but, wow, what a cost to pay and b) it fuels the imagination that perhaps escape from their current problems is possible (without such extremes of drama and suffering), if they keep at it.

If you were able to post on Facebook, why didn't you have a GPS signal from which you could deliver your co-ordinates over the internet? (Just curious, not sure if I'm missing something)

As gp said, you could tell people exactly where you are, but it takes a long tome for anyone to be able to reach those coordinates by ship. If your power source dies and you drift in the interim, now it takes many ships and a coordinated effort hopefully involving aircraft for a chance that you’ll be found. The ocean is a very large place and a ship doesn’t exactly leave tracks.

to give you an example: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/08/british-climbe...

and that is not the ocean, and yes he died

different example, but same story, high altitude mountaineering, to quote Rob Hall's wife (famous guide who died 1996 on Everest): 'You might as well be on the moon.', she said during a live patch through to him via radio from her home in New Zealand, exchanging the last conversation. Position is secondary, accessibility is primary concern

Is there more to your experience you’d be willing to share?

We were in an extreme remote region of the eastern Himalayas in East India, nearest big town was 3 days by car on a road that was often blocked, otherwise there were only bamboo huts with indigenous people. We were stuck in the jungle once with the car and had to spend a night there. The "roads" there are crazy, if you went over the edge there with your car you are done, even if you survive nobody would find you, if they'd even ever notice. We didn't have a sat phone because it was military restricted zone, we had special permits to go in but no tech, but I remember we had the faintest GPRS signal sitting on a lake and my friend was checking Facebook on a stone age smartphone counting the bits ;) it appeared to me so absurd. Same story in Africa, you have good mobile cell coverage there, but doesn't take much to get lost or injured and quickly die.

I got lost in a swamp in the middle of my own small country (Estonia) for 2 days and I was only 10km from the closest place of people. Problem was, I kept going in circles, phone battery was dead, and I should've been smart enough to follow the sun to figure out how to go straight, but these days people of my age are lucky to remember that you can drink swamp water because seaweed is a really good filter thanks to watching Discovery Channel.

No sun in Estonia in my experience hehe

I think this fascinates people in part because we sort of think it can't happen anymore.

Over 10 years ago, I did the training you do if you want to be offshore crew. Loads of fun stuff like righting a capsized lifeboat in a training pool in full kit while someone sprays you in the face with a firehose. Anyway even back then we were taught: the era of epic survival stories is over, because with the proliferation of PLBs, EPIRBs, TABCEs, Iridium and so on, you could always signal someone. You might still die of course, but at least your location would be known :-)

It is still possible to get lost if you want to - the oceans, the mountains, the deserts are very very big. But you would either be doing it deliberately or you would be extraordinarily negligent, there's no middle ground here, really, assuming whatever the problem was didn't kill you immediately. That's why I am extremely skeptical of this story of two women who were apparently lost at sea for 5 months, because their engine that on a sailing yacht you only use to manoeuvre in the harbour anyway failed...

Yes, we are so convinced it cannot happen anymore that people are claiming he made it up, it is fraud. All the verifiable evidence seems to suggest veracity of the story, but many people simply cannot accept that this is even possible anymore.

I live in the continental United States. Hell, I'm not even that remote. I have DSL and cell service that borders on effective, depending on the season and weather. It's not like I live in Alaska.

People get lost here, all the damned time. They even have cell phones but don't realize they are useful for more than driving directions. Yes, I have gone out and 'rescued' people (plural) who had no signal but had GPS on their phone.

However, once in a while, we don't find them. Sometimes, we never find them. This is just northern Franklin County, Maine. If you follow some pretty simple rules, you'll be just fine. If not, Mother Nature is a powerful force and may very well kill you.

This is nothing compared to the vastness of the ocean.

i voluntierly sail alone for months in very small boat, i never understood why people start talking inanimate objects and such, i feel great alone and cut off, but ye in vast ocean you realise civilization is still just small pockets on earths surface

I read a great book back in the '80s called "Adrift", the story of Steven Callahan, who survived 76 days lost at sea. At the time, it was believed to have been the longest solo survival-at-sea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Callahan

https://www.amazon.com/Adrift-Seventy-six-Days-Lost-Sea/dp/0...

Unlike the man in OP's story, Callahan was adrift in a small life raft and had only a tiny emergency kit aboard with which to save himself with. He used those meager supplies to perform some miracles, including a very clever technique that he came up with to patch his raft when it developed a leak.

Ray Mears explored this event on Extreme Survival: https://youtu.be/cIJ7cI2aIwc

It includes an interview with Steve and a demonstration of how he patched the hole in his raft.

A brilliant show!

Another case of a person lost at sea (and in this case, never recovered), is Evi Nemeth, author and professor of systems administration, who disappeared along with six others on June 4, 2014.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evi_Nemeth

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objecti...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5958974

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/30/unix_luminary_among_...

I never understood how this guy didn't look more emaciated when he was found. Can you really catch enough birds and turtles to last 14 months and look reasonably fit?

Correct.

There have been many questions about his story. I believe several media outlets have raised questions about the authenticity of his alleged castaway and rescued story, the most telling being what you've raised too, which is "why is he so plump".

> Why is he so plump?

> Where's the sun tan?

> Could he really drift 8,000 miles across the ocean in 13 months?

> Do urine and turtle blood add up to a credible alternative to fresh water?

> How did he survive and his crewmate did not?

Source: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/458050/Is-the-castaway-s...

Note, media outlets do not have medical degrees, but do have a vested interest in generating controversy.

The pictures of him are after receiving both food and fluids. The article discusses the edema he experienced. That’s probably why his face looks so full. His hands and forearms still look awfully skinny to me.

If the recent picture is what he looked like prior to the whole thing, he lost a lot of weight on that boat.

you can see the edema in his ankles.

All could've been avoided by a simple wateproofed satphone with an emergency plan. Inmarsat ones are like $650, plus a few hundred a year for emergencies.

A £200 EPIRB (10 yr battery life, waterproof, float) would be more sensible.

However, if you are a poor coastal fisherman with no intention of going far offshore... ?

Gendry?

This story does add up. Likely fake / staged, with just enough facts to make it feel and sound credible.

> Why is he so plump?

> Where's the sun tan?

> Could he really drift 8,000 miles across the ocean in 13 months?

> Do urine and turtle blood add up to a credible alternative to fresh water?

> How did he survive and his crewmate did not?

Source: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/458050/Is-the-castaway-s...

> Why is he so plump?

Look at his left hand, at how his knuckles protrude from his skinny fingers. He’s emaciated. His face is probably not plump but swollen from edema arising from the sudden influx of fluids. The article discusses this.

I imagine if he were “plump” all the people who encountered him after he washed ashore would have noticed.

> Where's the sun tan?

Looks fairly tan to me. I imagine if he were healthy he’d look even darker, since being starved isn’t conducive to a healthy complexion. People tend to look pale when they are sick.

> Could he really drift 8,000 miles across the ocean in 13 months?

6700, not 8000. That’s only 15 miles a day. (And only 18 for 8000 total)

> Do urine and turtle blood add up to a credible alternative to fresh water?

Not for 14 months but he didn’t claim to be drinking urine and turtle blood exclusively for that time.

> How did he survive and his crewmate did not?

This question is just dumb. How does anyone survive when someone else doesn’t?

If both survived it would be significantly less believable.

If this is a hoax, it’s pretty impressive. Apparently he killed a man to make it stick.

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