438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea

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I didn’t think I’d like this book, so it was a surprise I found this to be a real page turner – full credit to the Author and Alvarenga for sharing this remarkable story with us.

438 days : how our quest to expose the dirty oil business in 438 days : how our quest to expose the dirty oil business in

He is the first person in recorded history to have survived in a small boat lost at sea for more than a year.It was during one of these lengthy fishing trips when he and young shipmate Ezequiel Cordoba ran into trouble. Storms battered his small boat, but as he got farther out to sea, the storms seemed to become shorter, more manageable. Days is the miraculous account of the man who survived alone and adrift at sea longer than anyone in recorded history—as told to journalist Jonathan Franklin in dozens of exclusive interviews. Supposing food and water challenges are addressed, how does a person go about developing a mental toughness, a spiritual and emotional resiliency to go on in the face of insurmountable odds, immeasurable aching loneliness, crippling boredom and sensory deprivation? At sea off the coast of Mexico, he had seen the savage fate of fishermen who gambled in the business of “Los Kilos” and run afoul of drug lords.

438 Days by Jonathan Franklin | Waterstones 438 Days by Jonathan Franklin | Waterstones

When he was a small boy, his grandfather had taught him how to keep track of time using the cycles of the moon. Based in Santiago, Chile, Jonathan Franklin regularly reports for the Guardian, Washington Post, National Geographic and Esquire. As he opened up to the locals, Alvarenga’s enthusiasm, his generosity in lending a helping hand to local fishermen and his diligent sweeping up of the touristy part of town quietly impressed them. Corona beer cans, tequila bottles and pint-sized plastic bottles of Quetzal, a cheap grain alcohol, littered the yard.Salvador Alvarenga had walked on rocks for six full days along the Mexican coastline to reach the beach village of Costa Azul.

man who vanished for 14 months Lost at sea: the man who vanished for 14 months

Which probably makes me an asshole, but let's be clear -- it's not the SUFFERING I get off on, but the grittiness and ingenuity required of the survivors to live through the ordeal so that we can all learn from it in some profound way (there is a part of me that uses these stories as self-help manuals -- what to do when stranded on an island, in the desert, in the Andes, in the Pacific ocean, on Mars! Although he didn’t know it, Alvarenga had washed ashore on Tile Islet, a small island that is part of the Ebon Atoll, on the southern tip of the 1,156 islands that make up the Republic of the Marshall Islands, one of the most remote spots on Earth. Its eyes were stuck in a glazed stare and its flesh was cold after being flash frozen with a blast of nitrogen. You fall on your face, nothing happens, and so when something big happens, you're totally unprepared, you have no tool kit.The most compelling evidence of Alvarenga’s resolve is that his crew mate died after the first 4 weeks. He found a way to capture raw fish, turtles, and birds, accumulate fresh rainwater, and endure life in a twenty-three-foot boat with no motor while shielding himself from the sun by curling up in an ice box! Alvarenga's parents, who had not been in contact with him for years, had feared he was dead long before he went missing, and they were overjoyed to discover he was still alive. Alvarenga looked out to the horizon, the ocean as endless as it had been for the last two months that they’d been lost at sea. The concentration of vitamin C in fish eyeballs has long been sought out by shipwrecked sailors seeking to fend off scurvy.

castaway survived 438 days lost at sea | CNN Real-life castaway survived 438 days lost at sea | CNN

When they got lucky, they were able to catch turtles and the occasional flying fish that landed inside their boat.Salvador Alvarenga, a 36-year-old fisherman from El Salvador, had left the coast of Mexico in a small boat with a young crewmate 14 months earlier. Córdoba had been sick after eating raw seabirds and made a drastic decision: he began to refuse all food. I looked at medical records, studied maps, and spoke to survival experts, ranging from the US Coast Guard to the Navy Seals, as well as Ivan MacFadyen and Jason Lewis, two adventurers who have crossed that stretch of the Pacific.