438 Days at Sea Survival Story

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438 Days Lost at Sea
True survival story of being stranded at sea

Could you survive 14 months at sea?
"438 Days" is a true life survival story of a fisherman who left the
coast of Mexico for a two-day fishing trip, but wound up adrift at
sea with no supplies. He survived on a heavy dose of optimism
along with fish and birds he caught with his bare hands.

Do you have the mental fortitude to survive? Find out how he did
it in the video below, or buy the book, pictured right.

True Survival: 438 Days Lost at Sea!
Real life Castaway, Salvador Alvarenga, survived 438 Days
(fourteen months) in a small fishing boat that drifted nearly
seven thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean in one of the most
quiet parts of the sea. His crew mate did not survive more than
four months.

The two men left the coast of Mexico on Nov. 17, 2012 for a
weekend fishing trip in the open Pacific. "That night, a violent
storm ambushed them as they were fishing eighty miles offshore.
As gale force winds and ten-foot waves pummeled their small,
open boat from all sides and nearly capsized them, captain
Salvador Alvarenga and his crewmate cut away a two-mile-long
fishing line and began a desperate dash through crashing waves
as they sought the safety of port," according to the book.

It was fourteen months later when Alvarenga, now a "hairy, wild-
bearded and half-mad castaway, washed ashore on a nearly
deserted island on the far side of the Pacific," according to author
Jonathan Franklin of 438 Days. "He could barely speak and was
unable to walk. He claimed to have drifted from Mexico, a journey
of some seven thousand miles."

438 Days is the first-ever account of one of the most amazing
survival stories in modern times. Based on dozens of hours of
exclusive interviews with Alvarenga, his colleagues, search-and-
rescue officials, the remote islanders who found him, and the
medical team that saved his life, 438 Days is not only “an
intense, immensely absorbing read,” but an unforgettable study
of the resilience, will, ingenuity and determination required for
one man to survive more than a year lost and adrift at sea.

Below is the true story about the survivor who lived to tell the
tale of 438 days at sea using his bare hands:

Above, is the real story how Salvador Alvarenga survived.

Could you Survive Adrift at Sea 438 Days?
Do you have the mental fortitude to survive 438 days at sea
without supplies? You do if you have hope. This is a lesson of faith,
hope and perseveance...

Salvador Alvarenga and his crew mate were stuck without a flair
gun and with little hope for rescue when they lost all their gear
during a severe storm and later the engine gave way. It was a boat
without shelter, without a sail, and without a working motor to get
them ashore. The tiny craft was invisible to the world.

Without water and without supplies, the two were forced to catch
fish with their bare hands and drink urine. They also foraged old
water bottles tossed to the sea and used them to catch rain. It
wasn't enough water. They eventually learned to catch birds who
landed on their small watercraft to rest. The men thirsted for the
bird's blood to quench their thirst. The two had plenty of time to
pray together, huddle under their cooler (which was their only
survivng gear) and to dream of tortillas. They had each other.

As time went on, one man had hope, while the other had lost it at
sea. It was about four months into the crisis, wjem his crew mate
became suicidal and lost all hope. Together the fishermen had
managed to live without gear atop the small fishing boat, floating
endlessly out to sea, but eventually Alvarenga's crew mate died
from the brutal weather conditions, dehydration, starvation and
apathy. He died of lost hope.

When his friend died, Alvarenga became jealous at first that the
suffering for one of them had ended, but his faith in God stopped
him from killing himself. He had the hope and perseverance to live!
Ten more months went by and he faced the daily task of surviving
alone. One day he found coconuts floating about so he knew he
was near land.

On day 438 at sea, he found land and people nearby to help. They
didn't speak Spanish, so they communicated instead with pictures
and hand gestures. They offered Alvarenga water and he
immediately began to bloat, so they got him to the hospital where
he became an instant celebrity. Later he confided in his rescuers,
hospital staff and reporters that the experience afloat was akin to
solitary confinement and that he didn't know how to behave around
people.

The castaway didn't handle being cast in the spotlight very well.
He grew to hate the reporters, whom he called "cockroaches," and
asked for help from hospital staff to keep the reporters at bay.
Unfortunately, this public response caused suspicion of his tales
adrift. It seemed unreal to those around him. Eventually
researchers authenticated that his story was plausible based on
weather models and where his boat landed 6,000 miles away.

He made his way back to his village, but the sea haunted him and
he never fished again. People haunted him too. In the real-life plot
twist, the world's longest-surviving castaway was sued by the
family of his crewmate. They speculated that Alvarenga ate him!

Read more about survival at sea:

438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea,
written by Jonathan Franklin, a journalist, has a 4.7 of 5 star
review and is around $9.85 on Prime ~ or read this title for
free and explore over 1 million titles, thousands of
audiobooks, and current magazines with Kindle Unlimited. The
book, Adrift: 76 Days Lost At Sea, pictured right, is also
available on Kindle. Or get it free with your Audible trial.

Happy endings...
Survival at sea is possible with humility and optimism. Never give
up hope! Your faith can get you through.

If you love such survival stories, then be sure to pick up the book
Adrift: 76 Days Lost at Sea, or watch Castaway.

More prepping articles...

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