What was meant to be a routine fishing trip for José Salvador Alvarenga and Ezequiel Córdoba instead quickly turned disastrous. Stranded with no water or food, the pair embarked on their most strenuous, devastating, and challenging journey of their entire lives. Their story begins at the little fishing village of Costa Azul, just off the coast of Chiapas, Mexico.
The Fisherman
José Salvador Alvarenga is an experienced sailor and fisherman, who on 17 November 2012, intended to set out on what was supposed to be a 30-hour shift of deep-sea fishing. With the intent to catch marlins, sharks, and sailfish, Alvarenga had nothing to worry about, however his usual fishing companion was not able to join him. Therefore Alvarenga brought along the inexperienced 23 year old Ezequiel Córdoba, with whom he had never worked with or spoken with before. What happened over the next 14 months, neither man was prepared for.
The Fishermen
Provisions Galore
As a result of the intended 30-hour shift, the boat was packed with provisions such as 70 gallons of gasoline, 16 gallons of water, and 50 lbs of sardines for bait. Plus they had the usual hooks, harpoons, knives, and buckets. Furthermore, they also had a mobile phone which was kept safely in a plastic bag, a GPS, and a two-way radio. On top of that, the boat was a 7-meter (24-foot) topless fiberglass skiff which was equipped with a single outboard motor and also a refrigerator-sized icebox. With everything set, the two set off but it didn’t long for disaster to struck.
Provisions Galore
Weatherman
Just two days into their journey, a massive storm kicked in and blew them off course. Moreover, their motor and almost all of the portable electronics were severely damaged. As the waves grew seriously more choppy, they began to lose a lot of their fishing gear, some of which was already damaged in the storm.
Weatherman
Mixed Emotions
Welp, Córdoba began to grow moody and nervous as the storm lasted a whopping five days and severely depleted their supplies. Furthermore Córdoba was only being paid $50 for his work and while he was okay at the start of the journey, his mood began to seriously change. Córdoba cried and screamed, believing they were doomed!
Mixed Emotions
What’s Next?
So while Córdoba fell further into fear and depression, Salvador navigated the boat as best he could as the sea thrashed them around. However, as the storm finally lifted, the two were able to access the situation at hand. Unfortunately, he noticed that they had actually drifted about two hours from land. On top of that, the motor had jerked to halt and no longer worked.
What’s Next?
Stranded
Luckily, Salvador managed to phone his boss via the two-way radio and ask for help, just before the radio’s battery died. Sadly without any sails nor oars, no anchor, and absolutely no other way to contact shore, the boat then began to drift blindly.
Stranded
Rock The Boat
With nothing but open water in front of them, the two men had nothing to do but sit and wait. However Alvarenga’s boss had organized a search party but sadly, failed to locate the missing men and finally gave up after two days. There was just poor visibility for the search party to do anything.
Rock The Boat
Frozen
Due to the damage from the storm, Alvarenga and Córdoba had lost a lot of their gear and were left with just a small amount of basic supplies and very little food. Furthermore, the cold slowly became unbearable.
Frozen
Veteran Sailor
As we mentioned, Alvarenga is a veteran sailor and he knew that they needed to align the boat with the waves. So that this way, they could easily navigate back to land. However, it was more difficult than they imagined.
Veteran Sailor
The Problem
At this point, Alvarenga and Córdoba figured out that their catch was quickly and easily their biggest problem.
The Problem
The Catch
You see, the two had managed to catch some 500 kilograms, or 1,100 lb, of fresh fish. Which sounds great but in reality, it wasn’t. The weight of the fish was a massive problem because it made it far too difficult to maneuver the boat, especially in bouts of bad weather. Therefore, only one option remained, they had to throw their catch overboard in order to survive.
The Catch
And Then?
Now as the days turned into weeks, Alvarenga and Córdoba learned to scavenge food from absolutely whatever presented itself. Alvarenga had even managed to catch some fish, turtles, jellyfish, and seabirds just with his bare hands. Moreover any time some food or plastic refuse floated past them in the water, they snatched hold of it.
And Then?
Water Collection
Whenever rainfall hit, they collected as much as they could to use as drinking water. Although, more often than not, they had to rely on turtle blood or their own urine as drinking water.
Water Collection
Shut Down
According to Alvarenga, eventually two or three months into their hopeless journey, Córdoba began to lost all hope. So much so, that he became sick from the raw food they were consuming and eventually he refused to eat.
Shut Down
My Friend
Sadly Córdoba eventually passed away from his refusal to eat as it didn’t take long for his body to succumb to malnutrition. Actually Alvarenga also contemplated suicide after his friend died, the fear of being alone, of never being found was just too devastating. However it was Alvarenga’s strong religious beliefs that stopped from committing suicide.
My Friend
The Truth
After Córdoba died, Alvarenga just couldn’t bare to throw him overboard, because it would really then mean he was gone. As such Alvarenga kept his corpse on-board for six days, even talking to it. Six days later though, he knew he needed to snap out of his warped state of mind and he threw Córdoba’s corpse overboard.
The Truth
Time
While he drifted, Alvarenga says that he often dreamed about his favorite foods, which makes sense, the man was starved. Moreover he also dreamt of home, of his parents.
Time
Fear Rises
Whatever was fueling Alvarenga’s desire to remain alive, whether his religion, his love for his family, or just sheer self discipline, Alvarenga never gave up. Furthermore, he had seen tons of container ships as drifted along, all alone, but he was not able to get help.
Fear Rises
Land!
Now Alvarenga had been keeping track of time as he counted the phases of the moon. Thus after his 15th lunar cycle, eureka! He spotted land ahead. Some tiny island, which actually turned out to be a small sliver of the Marshall Islands.
Land!
Hope.
On the date of January 30th of 2014, Alvarenga abandons his boat and swims to shore. It’s on the shore that he finds a beach house which is owned by a local couple, Emi Libokmeto and Russel Laikidrik.
Hope
Safety
Both Emi Libokmeto and Russel Laikidrik had stated that they found him naked, with a knife in his hand, as he shouted in Spanish. Which come on, makes sense after all he’s been through. For 438 days no less!
Safety
People!
Emi Libokmeto and her husband, Russel Laikidrik, rush out to help the poor, skinny fisherman. As a result, he passes out and a doctor is immediately called to help, he’s rushed to a hospital in Majuro.
People
Length
Crazy part? Alvarenga’s entire horrible journey had lasted…438 days! Let that sink in. Various people have calculated that his journey was 5,500 to 6,700 miles (8,900 to 10,800 km) long.
Length
The Rescue
Although he had suffered unimaginable physical and psychological trauma, Alvarenga survived. Now it was body and mind that needed to recover.
The Rescue
Life After The Rescue
After 11 days in the hospital, Alvarenga was eventually considered healthy enough to return to El Salvador. However, he was subsequently diagnosed with anemia, had serious troubles sleeping, and had also developed a new fear of water.
Life After The Rescue
Health
Gee Bing is the Marshall Islands’ acting secretary of foreign affairs and he came out to say that Alvarenga’s vital signs were all “good.” Just with the exception of his blood pressure, which was rather unusually low. Furthermore, Bing said Alvarenga had swollen ankles and was struggling to walk.
Health
Reunion
Now Alvarenga and his parents actually hadn’t been in contact for some eight years but when they learned that he went missing, they were devastated. However when news reached them that he was rescued and on his way home, they were overjoyed. Alvarenga’s father had prayed for his son’s return and his mother dreamt about him all the time. Plus when Alvarenga’s daughter learned he was coming home, she said that the “first thing I’ll do is hug him and kiss him.”
Reunion
Mama
Furthermore, Alvarenga made sure to contact and visit Cordoba’s mother, so that he could offer his condolences and speak of her son’s strength.
Mama
Doubt And Support
Tom Armbruster, who was the United States Ambassador to the Marshall Islands, said it was implausible for someone to have survived at sea for 13 months, but that “it’s also hard to imagine how someone might arrive on Ebon out of the blue. Certainly this guy has had an ordeal, and has been at sea for some time.” Furthermore, Erik van Sebille, who is an oceanographer at the University of New South Wales, said that actually it was entirely possible for sea currents to carry a boat from Mexico to the Marshall Islands. Although he estimated that it would take around 18 months, but acknowledged that 13 months was plausible.
Doubt And Support
A Study
Further support came rushing out, specifically from a study from the University of Hawaii by a team of researchers. As such, a study modeled the approximate path a boat could have taken after departing from the Pacific Coast in Mexico. Based of course on wind and current conditions, it concluded that the boat would end up “within 120 miles of Ebon”, where Alvarenga did actually land.
A Study
Questions
Speculation was bound to always remain so in April of 2014, Alvarenga’s lawyer presented to a press conference. He said that his client Alvarenga had indeed passed a lie detector test while asked about his devastating journey.
Questions
The Book
Then in 2015, Alvarenga felt comfortable enough to hold a series of interviews to the journalist Jonathan Franklin about his entire ordeal. Later that year, they published his story, titled 438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea.
The Book
Record
Currently, José Salvador Alvarenga is the very first person ever in recorded history to have survived in a small boat, lost out at sea, for over a year.
