Mexicans lost two crewmates
Mexico City
August 19, 2006
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/mexicans-lost-two-crewmates/2006/08/18/1155408020608.html
Mexico City: THE miraculous story of three Mexican fishermen who survived nine months adrift in the Pacific Ocean in a small boat has taken a new turn after it was revealed there were five men on board the vessel when it began its voyage.
Joel Hernandez Garcia, an official with the Mexican foreign ministry, said there were five people on board the boat when it set off on October 28 from the village of San Blas on Mexico's Pacific coast to fish for shark in local waters.
The boat was blown off course by a storm, and after running out of petrol, drifted for more than nine months and 8000 kilometres until the three survivors were rescued last week by a Taiwanese tuna trawler.
"Two of (the missing fishermen) apparently died after the passage to the open sea, as they were drifting," Mr Garcia said. "The survivors have mentioned the probable time of death of the first person as January and the second person a month later."
No mention was made of the dead fishermen during interviews with Mexican broadcasters earlier this week.
But the operator of the Taiwanese boat said he thought the men said there had been five men, media reports said.
The missing trio said they survived on raw fish, raw ducks, raw seagulls and rainwater. They caught the fish with hooks attached to the end of electric cables from the boat's motor.
"At one point, we went for 15 days without anything to eat," one of the survivors, Jesus Vidana, 61, said.
Mr Garcia made his remarks after talking to Mr Vidana, who indicated "there was little to eat and that the other two refused to eat".
Mr Garcia said the bodies of the two dead fisherman had been thrown overboard.
The men said a Bible on board gave them hope and strengthened their faith. "We never lost hope, because we prayed day and night," Mr Vidana said.
The nine-metre-long, three-metre-wide boat was nearly sunk by huge waves that swamped the vessel, and survived several storms, the men said.
On August 9, the Taiwanese fishing crew spotted the crippled boat on their radar.
The Mexican Government said the men would be brought home as soon as possible.
They are now guests on the trawler, which is due to arrive in the Marshall Islands tomorrow.
That's amazing.
Wow! That's a little more than a "three hour tour".
John 4:12-14 (Amplified Bible)
12Are You greater than and superior to our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well and who used to drink from it himself, and his sons and his cattle also?
13Jesus answered her, All who drink of this water will be thirsty again. 14But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty any more. But the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within him unto (into, for) eternal life.
Hire some ghostwriters, play up the Christian angle, get it published in the next 6 months, and blammo! Instant best seller.
I can't wait to hear the one-liner Jay Leno will have for this one......
Believe it or not PING!
I witnessed a rescue at sea. Three men were drifting in a small fishing boat for almost 3 weeks when the cruise ship we were on spotted them. It was quite exciting watching the rescue.
"...survived by eating seagulls, drinking rainwater and reading the Bible..."
New Oprah-Doprah Diet?
Sounds like an upcomming episode from the Discovery Channel's "I Shouldn't Be Alive".
...it rained nearly every day of their ordeal, providing them with fresh water to drink....We took down any bird that landed on our boat and we ate it like that, raw..They caught the fish with hooks attached to the end of electric cables from the boat's motor...
I don't know how often it rains in that part of the Pacific but that I can believe, but do birds willingly land in boats to be grabbed and eaten and why did fishermen have to improvise fishing gear?
Strange.
this is a miracle. 3 men adrift for 8 months.. 1 bible, and the will to live. truly amazing.
Remarkable
Um, that would be ... east. Northeast would have worked, too. Southeast, sure. But east. Any non-east direction, like, say, west, is no good.
I'm not much of a sailor, but I think I'd try to head towards the sunrise in the morning, and away from it in the evening. Look, ma, no GPS!
Mexi-ping.
No doubt that the daily Bible reading helped their spirits during that ordeal.
Ooops, here's the link
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1687880/posts
Compass?