A sailor was lost at sea for 24 days and only relied on a bottle of ketchup and garlic powder to survive the ordeal.
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Elvis Francois,27, spent almost a month at sea after severe weather conditions dragged his boat 700 miles from a restoration project he worked on in Saint Martin. While waiting for help, the Dominica native used garlic powder, Maggi(stock cubes), and ketchup with water to survive. He told NBC News that he attempted to go back to Saint Martin but failed because it took him awhile to mount and fix his sail but lost track on how to return to the port.
“It was rough. … Without no food, it was just a bottle of ketchup that was on the boat. Garlic powder and Maggi (stock cubes), so I mixed it up with some water. I tried to go back to port but I lost track because it take me a while to mount up the sail and fix the sail.”
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”There was nothing I can do, than sit there and wait,” he said. To prevent his boat from sinking, Francois removed the water from his boat and attempted to light a fire to send a distress signal. Although he almost gave up hope, he was rescued by the Caribbean Naval Officials and a passenger container ship after a plane noticed his sign saying ‘help.’ He engraved the word on his sailboat before being rescued.
“At some point I lost hope and thought about my family, but I thank the coast guard. If it weren’t for them I wouldn’t be telling the story.”
Francois received treatment at a facility in Colombia and was listed in good health despite losing some weight. Additionally, he used rain water instead of saltwater to stay hydrated and after the medical check, immigration officials transported him back home to Dominica.
A similar situation happened when a cruise ship passenger was lost at sea.
A cruise ship passenger who fell overboard and survived had to rely on bamboo and fight off sea creatures to survive. James Michael Grimes,28, fell overboard near the Gulf of Mexico during Thanksgiving Eve after voyaging on the Carnival Valor for one day.
“The next thing I know… I regained consciousness. I was in the water with no boat in sight. I felt like I was given a chance right then… you’re alive for a reason… that [fall] could’ve killed me, but I felt like from that moment on, I was trying to stay positive.”
Grimes said he remained positive during the experience and remained at sea for almost 20 hours. He ate a plank of bamboo and other objects while fighting off jellyfish to conserve energy to stay afloat.
“It came up on me really quick and I went under, and I could see it. And it wasn’t a shark, I don’t believe. But it had more like a flat mouth, and it came up and bumped one of my legs, and I kicked it with the other leg. It scared me, not knowing what it was, all I could see was a fin.”