Saved after 31/2 months adrift

signonsandiego.com ^ | September 24, 2002 | James W. Crawley

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

Very cool.

[dd5339]

What a story!

Semper Fi

[martin_fierro]

PAX should do a show:

Little House On The Big Sea <|:)~

[Shermy]

Great story bump.

Glad it didn't end like this:

Collision With Whale Stuns California Fishermen (One Fisherman Dead)

[Dog Gone]

He's a survivor.

[AppyPappy]

Sounds kinda farfetched.

[Deguello]

The Van Pham Diet & Tan Plan. Booking soon for '03.

[martin_fierro]

Despite losing about 40 pounds and being heavily suntanned, Van Pham was in good condition when found, they reported.
"He's a tough old bird," said Cmdr. Gary Parriott...

Problem is, he ended up looking like Diana Ross. <|:)~

[nunya bidness]

That's one hell of a daysail.

[Travis McGee]

He beat me by a month and a half. (About 70 days Guam to San Diego, with crew.) But I was not technically adrift, while making a very slow transit of the north Pacific, although at times I had my doubts. (This was during a "La Nina" reverse El Nino, when the dead calm zone extended across the trade wind bands all the way north to Alaska.)

Actually, the military should hire this guy to talk at some survival school for a while, mostly about keeping the spirits and will to live up. I took 43 days to go solo from Panama to Hawaii (Great El Nino, trade winds gone again, I got it both ways!) and you can get VERY bummed out, and that's on a boat making progress with radios, CDs, books, good food etc.

How this guy kept himself from "going for a swim" during a low point is the real story of this epic to me. He must have had a great source of inner strength, or maybe he "just wouldn't let the sea beat him".

Any way, I salute one tough old SOB.

[maica]

Maybe Mr Van Pham has had a lot of survival training during his years in Asia before his arrival in the US.

And I take great umbrage at calling a 62-year-old "old!" LOL!

[Ramius]

Wow... what a story...

[wardaddy]

Well both you and he beat me. About 27 days was my max run. I'm a big believer in having a nice kicker(and a good generator)....course you need some fat tanks. Many a windless day I have shaved in my reflection on a glass sea. Hot and flat as a pancake. I bet you Pacific guys don't get too many days like that...lol

What was that book about the guys who drifts in his liferaft from The Azores to the Windwards after his sailboat was holed at night....it was about 10 years ago.

I forget how long his epic was. I've got the book stashed in my storage at work....

[Aquamarine]

They found us.

[al baby]

Big time far fetched I have sailed the channle isles for years it does not happen that way

[patton]

Hmmmm. My boat never leaves the river.

I was at the marina, this summer, working on engine #2, and about 25 fire trucks showed up. Everybody went running toward the lodge - I poked my head out of the engine deck, thinking, "What the heck?"

Seems a young couple went out on the river in a rowboat, to do some fishing. Net result, two dead kids. Rough water.

I am glad I did not have to see the father carry his dead child to the rescue workers, begging for help.

And I have not mentioned any of this to my wife.

[Hildy]

Something about this story does not make sense. Sorry, I smell a fraud. NOBODY knew he was missing? Come on. 3 1/2 months adrift? Come on. Am I the only one who thinks this guy is, at the very least, exaggerating?

[HairOfTheDog]

began as a short cruise from Long Beach to Catalina...

A three-hour tour.... ;~D

[Ramius]

Roger that.

[Ramius]

Something about this story does not make sense. Sorry, I smell a fraud. NOBODY knew he was missing?

I dunno. I have an uncle that could disappear for a few months and nobody would be the wiser. Seems he does it with some frequency. It happens.

Having put in some time out in the wacky Pacific... I don't have a hard time believing this one. The Pacific is a really, really big crick. The parts that are outside of the usual routes for shipping traffic are big chunks of water. You could drift out there for a really long time and not see anybody.

I watched a box of water about halfway between San Diego and Honolulu for 30 days one time... and we didn't even see the other ships that were supposed to be in the neighborhood.