# Sailors rescued after five months adrift **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019 "2017-10-27T20:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/101 "2017-10-30T23:35:49Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Parts of that video interview put me in mind of a conversation several years ago with an NPS ranger in Yellowstone Park. > > She said that a small but increasing park problem concerns “New Age” visitors and their run-ins with Yellowstone wildlife. They tend to take the view that the warnings about bears, bison, etc. - which all visitors read - shouldn’t apply to them: “I’m a sensitive, ‘natural’ creature just like the grizzly bears. We natural creatures recognize and identify with our kindred spirits. So while its proper for normal people to heed the standard warnings, the bears will understand that these don’t make sense for someone like me.” Hey, if it worked for Timothy Treadwell… Oh wait, it didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/102 "2017-10-31T00:07:34Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Whatanutjob. Hey, although they did not have an EPIRB, they did have a geiger counter. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/103 "2017-10-31T00:39:45Z")
I wonder how they cooked their oatmeal and pasta. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/104 "2017-10-31T01:42:21Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Hey, although they did not have an EPIRB, they did have a geiger counter. :smack: From[here:](http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/women-rescued-voyage-bad-worse-50753606) > [@](#): > > They carried two GPS units; one failed and they had to rely on the hand-held model for the entire voyage, Appel said in a phone interview from the USS Ashland Friday. > > They also had a new VHF radio, a ham radio, a weather satellite and a radio telephone. She says none worked, and they apparently had a communications failure with their new antenna. > > They even carried a satellite phone that she said never seemed to connect. > > She says they had six ways to communicate with multiple backups, and none of them worked. That, she said, “exceeds Murphy’s Law.” I rather doubt that Murphy was completely responsible. I suspect that she hadn’t tested them out before departing or maybe just hadn’t learned how to operate them. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/105 "2017-10-31T01:53:37Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Hey, if it worked for Timothy Treadwell… Oh wait, it didn’t. Well to be fair, it \*did \*work. Until one day it didn’t. These ding-a-lings’ half-assed approach to both sailing and to surviving worked. Until it wouldn’t have. They just had the great good fortune to A) have a lot of food, B) not encounter much in the way of truly dangerous weather, and C) bump into the Navy before luck buckets A & B gave out. # As has been said up-thread, IMO if we re-run this experiment 100 times, the other 99 pairs of ding-a-lings are likely dead. Here’s the thing I’d be interested to speculate about: Let’s say they hadn’t bumped into the Navy and the food supplies eventually run out. Who ends up eating who in what order? My bet is the last survivor of the four is a dog. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/106 "2017-10-31T01:58:49Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Let’s say they hadn’t bumped into the Navy and the food supplies eventually run out. Who ends up eating who in what order? My bet is the last survivor of the four is a dog. I suspect you’re right. The women would have starved to death before eating the dogs. Not so much the reverse. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/107 "2017-10-31T04:08:39Z")
The latest report by the AP says that they did have an emergency beacon, but never turned it on. Other parts of their story are also being called into question. > **[APNewsBreak: Lost sailors did not activate emergency beacon](https://apnews.com/article/b15b41dfdb4141fab55cc4980c70b934)** > > HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Monday that the two Hawaii women who say they were lost at sea never activated their emergency beacon, adding to a growing list of inconsistences that cast doubt on the women's harrowing tale of... > [@](#): > > HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday that the two Hawaii women who were lost at sea for five months had an emergency beacon aboard their sailboat that was never activated. > > U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Scott Carr told The Associated Press that their review of the incident and subsequent interviews with the survivors revealed that they had the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) aboard but never turned it on. > > Parts of their story have been called into question, including the tropical storm the two say they encountered on their first night at sea in May. National Weather Service records show no organized storms in the region in early May. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/108 "2017-10-31T04:28:22Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I suspect you’re right. The women would have starved to death before eating the dogs. Not so much the reverse. They could have eaten one of those 80 meter sharks. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/109 "2017-10-31T04:35:49Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I rather doubt that Murphy was completely responsible. I suspect that she hadn’t tested them out before departing or maybe just hadn’t learned how to operate them. I’m just impressed that they were able to purchase a weather satellite. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/110 "2017-10-31T04:45:57Z")
"National Weather Service records show no **organized** storms in the region in early May. " Maybe it was non-union? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/111 "2017-10-31T05:02:52Z")
sounding hoax-ish… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/112 "2017-10-31T05:05:14Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > People bring dogs all the time where they shouldn’t be. No truer words have ever been typed into the intertubes before. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/113 "2017-10-31T10:38:26Z")
To paraphrase from above: Bringing radios you haven’t tested, don’t know how to operate and/or never turn on is indistinguishable from not bringing them. But it strains credulity to hear that the extent of their SatPhone use was “It didn’t seem to work” and that, while believing they were close to death, they couldn’t trouble themselves to activate the EPIRB. Clearly, we don’t yet have the full story. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/114 "2017-10-31T11:07:56Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/115 "2017-10-31T12:05:32Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > From[here:](http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/women-rescued-voyage-bad-worse-50753606) > > I rather doubt that Murphy was completely responsible. I suspect that she hadn’t tested them out before departing or maybe just hadn’t learned how to operate them. I don’t know about theirs, but with the one I had, you activated it by turning the knob. The only knob. With fancier models, you use a switch. The only switch. I’m not aware of any EPIRBs that have both a knob and a switch. The only thing challenging about an EPIRB is resisting the urge to turn the knob. It’s a guy thing. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/116 "2017-10-31T12:10:33Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In general, published news reports can’t be used to draw much in the way of conclusions on stories like this. Because of limited space, they leave a lot out, which confuses things. Agreed. That was kind of what I was getting at by citing (and correctly parsing) a couple of different articles which, taken together, give you the idea that maybe they had a diet that included more than just oatmeal and pasta. OTOH, **Chronos** expressed a belief that they had been eating absolutely nothing but oatmeal and pasta for months on end, which strains credulity and isn’t backed up by _any_ news article. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/117 "2017-10-31T12:32:03Z")
My guess is that they were content to limp about indefinitely, but figured that the trawler tow would bounce their sailboat apart, so they decided to stay with their sailboat and wait for the navy rather than abandon their sailboat and hitch a ride with the trawler. The only thing certain about the affair is that they were dumber than their dogs’ dog shit. The big question now will be “made for TV movie” or “Netflix serial”? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/118 "2017-10-31T12:35:03Z")
… or a spot on “_World’s Stupidest [Whatever]_” ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/119 "2017-10-31T12:37:22Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > The big question now will be “made for TV movie” or “Netflix serial”? The cynical part of me is beginning to wonder whether this was the whole point. Hey, let’s pretend we’re lost at sea, then get ‘rescued’ and negotiate for the movie rights. Nothing these days seems to be genuine. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019/120 "2017-10-31T12:56:09Z")
If I can veer off in a Cafe Society direction for a moment, may I suggest that anyone avidly following this story might enjoy the book, “And the Sea Will Tell,” by Vincent Bugliosi? It’s an oldie but goodie true crime tale, and - in a feat that is pretty much the exact opposite of what seems to have happened here - includes the story of a plucky (though possibly guilty of being an accomplice to murder) young woman who basically taught herself how to navigate, mid-ocean with limited tools, to a tiny atoll. A great story, on many levels. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sailors-rescued-after-five-months-adrift/800019.md?page=7)