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U.S. NEWS Saturday 28 OctOber 2017

Sharks and lost hope: 2 women rescued after 5 months at sea

By CALEB JONES square inch of your boat there and she said, ‘That’s One of their cellphones a half into the voyage.
Associated Press with food, and if you think OK, I’ve never sailed.’” had been washed over- Still, as the months passed,
HONOLULU (AP) — Their you need a month, pack six The two set sail on May 3 board early in the voyage, Joyce Appel said she nev-
engine was crippled, their months, because you have and ran into trouble almost and they were out of cell er lost hope that the pair
mast was damaged, and no idea what could pos- immediately, Appel said, range anyway. would be found.
things went downhill from
there for two women who
set out to sail the 2,700 miles
from Hawaii to Tahiti.
As their 50-foot sailboat
drifted helplessly in the
middle of the Pacific for
months, their water purifier
conked out, sharks started
ramming their vessel, and
their distress calls and sig-
nal flares went unanswered
day after day.
Some nights they went to
sleep wondering if they
would live to see the sun
rise.
Then their fortunes changed
on Tuesday: Five and a half
months after Jennifer Ap-
pel and Tasha Fuiava em-
barked on a journey that
might normally take about
three weeks, a Taiwanese
fishing vessel spotted their
boat 900 miles off Japan
and thousands of miles in
the wrong direction from
Tahiti. The U.S. Navy sent
the USS Ashland to their res-
cue.
“I had tears in my eyes,” In this Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 photo, sailors from the USS Ashland approach a sailboat with two Honolulu women and their
said Appel, the Sea dogs aboard as they are rescued after being lost at sea for several months while trying to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti. The U.S. Navy
rescued the women on Wednesday after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted them about 900 miles southeast of Japan on Tuesday
Nymph’s 48-year-old cap- and alerted the U.S. Coast Guard.
tain, who blew kisses to (Jonathan Clay/U.S. Navy via AP)
her rescuers as they pulled
alongside. She and Fuiava sibly happen out there,” hitting a storm that pound- One night, a group of tiger “She is very resourceful and
quickly clambered aboard, Appel said. “And the sail- ed their vessel with 50 to 70 sharks began attacking the she’s curious, and as things
followed by their dogs Zeus ors in Honolulu really gave mph winds for three days vessel, and the next morn- break she tries to repair
and Valentine, who were us good advice. We’re as they traveled the Hawai- ing, a shark returned and them. She doesn’t sit and
hoisted up. here.”Appel, who has been ian islands. rammed the boat again, wait for the repairman to
“It was actually quite mind- sailing the Hawaiian islands Their engine went out to- Appel said, adding, “We get there,” said Joyce Ap-
blowing and incredibly for 10 years, said she had ward the end of the month. were just incredibly lucky pel, 75, who lives in Hous-
humbling,” she told report- been planning the Tahiti They thought they could that our hull was strong ton. “So I knew the same
ers during a conference voyage for more than two. continue on with just their enough to withstand the thing would be true of the
call from the ship. But she acknowledged that sails, but the rigging on the onslaught.” boat.”
All four looked remarkably perhaps she and Fuiava, a 57-foot mast was damaged “There is a true humility to She finally got a call from
fit, and Appel credited that novice at sea, weren’t as and they were unable to wondering if today is your her daughter early Thurs-
to veteran sailors who had ready for the crossing as make any headway. last day, if tonight is your day.
warned them to prepare they could have been. So they drifted, sending out last night,” she said. “She said, ‘Mom?’ and I
well for the voyage. They “I had no idea what I was distress signals every day Meanwhile, loved ones said, ‘Jennifer!?’ because
had packed enough food getting myself into,” she for 98 days straight. They had no idea where they I hadn’t heard from her
for a year, mostly dried said. said they also tried without were. Appel’s mother said in like five months,” she
goods like oatmeal and “When I asked Natasha, success to hail a number of she contacted the Coast said. “And she said, ‘Yes,
pasta. I told her I have no idea ships and fired off 10 signal Guard when she hadn’t Mom,’ and that was really
“They said pack every what’s going to happen out flares. heard from her a week and exciting.”q