# Man lost at sea fer 13 months?



## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

I just saw this on the news and will post the link....
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jose-sa...-months-at-sea-washed-up-on-marshall-islands/

I believe I'll throw the flag on this!!!


----------



## Burnt Drag (Jun 3, 2008)

Seems on the level. Why would the fellow benefit from lying about something of this nature?


----------



## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

15 minutes of fame brother....but w/ the internet world, maybe 16! hahaha


----------



## Jackin' 'Em Up (Dec 31, 2013)

Here you go!


----------



## old sneaky (May 1, 2008)

Yea right,way to fat should have lost 80lbs!!!!!!!


----------



## sureicanfish (Sep 30, 2007)

yeah no way, he'd be all scabbed up and TAN, and definitely skinny.


----------



## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

Maybe he's that fisherman they call Big Fatty Face.


----------



## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

welldoya said:


> Maybe he's that fisherman they call Big Fatty Face.



hahaha...they put a split screen w/ Tom Hanks and that guy and the resemblance was purty good! I think the beard and hair would be alot longer after 13 months too....:blink:


----------



## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

He looks like Val Kilmer.


----------



## fishn4real (Sep 28, 2007)

Burnt Drag said:


> Seems on the level. Why would the fellow benefit from lying about something of this nature?


Maybe a book. Then a movie.


----------



## Boatjob1 (Oct 2, 2007)

fishn4real said:


> Maybe a book. Then a movie.


Oprah, Ellen, The View

I think I would take my chances with the sharks. 

We once found a group of people stranded for a couple of weeks on a boat, and they looked much worse that this guy after a proclaimed 13 months.


----------



## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

Well, it will be an interesting story when it all pans out.

And it would be funny if it were a publicity stunt/trailer for a forthcoming movie.


----------



## SouthAlabamaSlayer (Oct 13, 2011)

Boatjob1 said:


> Oprah, Ellen, The View
> 
> I think I would take my chances with the sharks.
> 
> We once found a group of people stranded for a couple of weeks on a boat, and they looked much worse that this guy after a proclaimed 13 months.


Probably shaved with a shark tooth.


----------



## sniperpeeps (Mar 5, 2011)

SouthAlabamaSlayer said:


> Probably shaved with a shark tooth.


Yep used sea gull shit as shaving cream


----------



## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Boatjob1 said:


> Oprah, Ellen, The View
> 
> I think I would take my chances with the sharks.
> 
> We once found a group of people stranded for a couple of weeks on a boat, and they looked much worse that this guy after a proclaimed 13 months.


I'd rather try to swim from Cuba then be interviewed on Opra or The View!!! Ellen is a purty good gal.....:yes::whistling::thumbdown:


----------



## fishn4real (Sep 28, 2007)

Jason said:


> I'd rather try to swim from Cuba then be interviewed on Opra or The View!!! * Ellen is a purty good gal..*...:yes::whistling::thumbdown:


haha....and you know that how?


----------



## Downtime2 (Sep 27, 2007)

fishn4real said:


> haha....and you know that how?


Ellen and Jason have common ground.......they are both lesbians.....naturally.


----------



## AndyS (Nov 22, 2011)

I wonder if his wife is buying the story?


----------



## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Downtime2 said:


> Ellen and Jason have common ground.......they are both lesbians.....naturally.


He knows yeah!!! I get along w/folks I have common interest with that's why me and Ellen are CLOSE!!!


----------



## fishn4real (Sep 28, 2007)

Meanwhile, back at the thread...

Having read AOL and Huffington and some other "unbiased investigative" new sources, hardly anyone. No, make that no one is buying his story without some doubts. I have to state that the photo would have had to have been taken after some grooming. Most everyone has already pointed out the hair and beard...but also note the length of the whiskers in his mustache. If anyone has ever had a mustache you will know that it doesn't take long for the whiskers to lean down over the upper lip. Not this guy's - his are short and in-line. In other words...trimmed. Drank bird blood? Exactly how did he catch birds? 

He stated that his partner died and went overboard after a month at sea. I'm guessing that Mr. Piggie did it in the boat with a 10SS gaff. And he stated that he dumped him at sea? After a month lost at sea without any promise of rescue, I cannot see dumping 150 lb (guess on the weight) of protein, not to mention fish bait. 

I really do want to read this book.


----------



## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

AndyS said:


> I wonder if his wife is buying the story?


Actually, they (CNN and others) interviewed his family in El Salvador. His family had not seen him for almost a decade. 

Curious story for sure.


----------



## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

I saw the news clip on him coming off the rescue boat....he is a little portly to be out eating what little he could find fer 13 months....BS :shifty:


----------



## TeaSea (Sep 28, 2013)

Jason said:


> I'd rather try to swim from Cuba then be interviewed on Opra or The View!!! Ellen is a purty good gal.....:yes::whistling::thumbdown:


yes, that's what all her girlfriends say too:whistling:


----------



## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

Jason said:


> I saw the news clip on him coming off the rescue boat....he is a little portly to be out eating what little he could find fer 13 months....BS :shifty:


This kind of thing has happened before. Interested to see how things pan out but a hoax like this would be hard to pull off.


----------



## WhyMe (Apr 21, 2013)

*At Sea?*



Jason said:


> I just saw this on the news and will post the link....
> http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jose-sa...-months-at-sea-washed-up-on-marshall-islands/
> 
> I believe I'll throw the flag on this!!!
> View attachment 221009


Hell, he looks great for being out there that long and he can stand up to. 
Just do what he does..,have a Coke and a smile....


----------



## WhyMe (Apr 21, 2013)

*Where's Wison?*

Jason. Did CNN say if Wilson was found near or around him?...hehe


----------



## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

I look worst than him after a 24 hour rig trip..... remarkable if true, but that "if true"


----------



## pierboy01 (Jun 2, 2010)

Sounds like somebody just got done watching Castaway and the Life of Pi. If it is true good for him, but I doubt it.


----------



## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

WhyMe said:


> Jason. Did CNN say if Wilson was found near or around him?...hehe


No Wilson. Adidas was found instead.


----------



## Smarty (Nov 23, 2008)

I hear he used strands of his hair for fishing line. Chewed off all of his fingernails and used them as hooks. Then attached boogers and dingle berries for bait to catch those small fish he was eating. 
He is one crafty fellow :yes:


----------



## Andr HAG (Feb 6, 2014)

Anyway, I don't believe that.


----------



## Big Red (Oct 1, 2007)

The big question I have is, if it didn’t happen as he says, how did he *and his boat *get to the Marshall Islands? 
You can only get there by air or sea, & he damn sure didn’t put a 24’ panga in checked luggage. 
& I have a hard time believing that someone is going to put a poor a$$ shark fisherman on a ship & drop him off the Marshalls just to write a book or make a movie. 
Is there that much money to be made to cover the cost & hope that it would never be found out?

For me, that is just about as hard to believe as his story. They say that they are going to analyze the crap on the hull of his boat to see where it has been. Be interesting to see what comes of that.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands


----------



## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

Big Red said:


> The big question I have is, if it didn’t happen as he says, how did he *and his boat *get to the Marshall Islands?
> You can only get there by air or sea, & he damn sure didn’t put a 24’ panga in checked luggage.
> & I have a hard time believing that someone is going to put a poor a$$ shark fisherman on a ship & drop him off the Marshalls just to write a book or make a movie.
> Is there that much money to be made to cover the cost & hope that it would never be found out?
> ...


I was thinking about just that this morning.

Also, some folks might not realize that edema can cause severe swelling. He was, I assume, given a a lot of fluids and sugary drinks. Now back in the hospital.


----------



## Smarty (Nov 23, 2008)

aroundthehorn said:


> I was thinking about just that this morning.
> 
> Also, some folks might not realize that edema can cause severe swelling.


Damn son 
I'm on #11 of a 12 pack after a hard night at work and last I checked edema was swelling of the tissues. That being said with a normal level .09% saline verses 3.2-3.5% oceanic saline levels. That dude should be dead from dehydration. Hydration with bird blood and fish blood my butt :no:
If so, he's Chuck Norris' not so much twin Nacho Libre , amazing :laughing:


----------



## Big Red (Oct 1, 2007)

Smarty said:


> Damn son
> I'm on #11 of a 12 pack after a hard night at work and last I checked edema was swelling of the tissues. That being said with a normal level .09% saline verses 3.2-3.5% oceanic saline levels. That dude should be dead from dehydration. Hydration with bird blood and fish blood my butt :no:
> If so, he's Chuck Norris' not so much twin Nacho Libre , amazing :laughing:


Actually, he was given IV's when he was found & prior to the pictures you have been seeing on TV, Plus now there is this.

http://kdvr.com/2014/02/06/castaways-health-worsens-man-lost-at-sea-returns-to-hospital/

And these tidbits:
“Erik van Sebille, a Sydney-based oceanographer at the University of New South Wales, said there was a good chance a boat drifting off Mexico's west coast would eventually be carried by currents to the Marshall Islands. He said such a journey would typically take 18 months to two years depending on the winds and currents, although 13 months was possible.
"The way that the currents in the Pacific work is that there is a very strong westerly current just north of the equator and that basically drives you directly from Mexico all the way toward Indonesia and in the path, you go right over the Marshall Islands," he said.
There have been other cases of people surviving for months adrift in the Pacific. In a case with similarities, three Mexican shark fishermen in 2006 said they were lost at sea for nine months before being rescued near the Marshall Islands. In 1989, four men survived nearly four months in the Pacific Ocean near New Zealand after their multi-hulled boat capsized.”

“A man identifying himself as 37-year-old Jose Salvador Alvarenga told the U.S. ambassador in the Marshall Islands and the nation's officials during a 30-minute meeting Monday before he was taken to a local hospital for monitoring. Alvarenga washed ashore on the tiny atoll of Ebon in the Pacific Ocean last week before being taken to the capital, Majuro, on Monday.
"It's hard for me to imagine someone surviving 13 months at sea," said Ambassador Tom Armbruster in Majuro. "But 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."
Other officials were reacting cautiously to the Spanish-speaking man's story while they try to piece together more information. If true, the man's ordeal would rank among the greatest tales ever of survival at sea.
Armbruster said the soft-spoken man complained of joint pain Monday and had a limp but was able to walk. He had long hair and a beard, the ambassador said, and rather than appearing emaciated he looked puffy in places, including around his ankles. Otherwise, he added, Alvarenga seemed in reasonable health.”

My biggest question is still unanswered. How did he & his boat get there?

By ship? Where’s the ship? 
Did someone pay some cargo ships captain to the area & then drop him off at sea? 

The only other thing I can think of is if someone towed him there behind some kind of yacht, so where’s the yacht?
OK I did just think of another possibility. Some time around a year ago, a poor a$$ shark fisherman somehow flew to the islands, bought a local Panga that had been built in Mexico & left it hidden in the water somewhere. He then hid out on one of the islands until now.

Either way, it’s an interesting story, but I just can’t see how there would be enough money in it to be worth all the trouble of getting the panga from Mexico to the Marshalls.

For me, I’m keeping an open mind until more information is known.


----------



## Smarty (Nov 23, 2008)

Thank God I finally sobered up. Punished my hungover self for that binge by taking my son to Chuck E Cheese. Wow was that place loud. 
I really am keeping an open mind too. Anything is possible. That's just a long time to be adrift :001_huh:


----------



## baldona523 (Mar 2, 2008)

I don't speak spanish and I'm assuming the guy doesn't speak english, but a lot could be found out by how intelligent this guy sounds. It takes a good bit of intelligence to fake something like this and be able to plan it out, not to mention a poor person from South America saving the money to fly there and buy a boat. 

I agree the guy looks in a lot better shape than he should be, but who knows. 

Theres also a 3rd option:

The guy planned this and prepared to drift his boat from Mexico across the ocean. This almost seems most plausible to me. He simply brought with all the survival equipment necessary from Mexico and ditched it all overboard at the site of land. Again not likely, but I feel like it is the most likely scenario of the 3.


----------



## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

Smarty said:


> Thank God I finally sobered up. Punished my hungover self for that binge by taking my son to Chuck E Cheese. Wow was that place loud.
> I really am keeping an open mind too. Anything is possible. That's just a long time to be adrift :001_huh:


No worries. I think it's an interesting story and one hell of a story if it pans out. I was just thinking that those tending him might have tried to pump him full of fluids and sugary drinks too quickly. Next thought below and ha no worries about the beer post; I like the back and forth on here and the joking around. I don't take anything that is posted very seriously.



baldona523 said:


> I don't speak spanish and I'm assuming the guy doesn't speak english, but a lot could be found out by how intelligent this guy sounds. It takes a good bit of intelligence to fake something like this and be able to plan it out, not to mention a poor person from South America saving the money to fly there and buy a boat.
> 
> I agree the guy looks in a lot better shape than he should be, but who knows.
> 
> ...


Interesting point but he was on a Panga-style boat (judging from photos?). Not much storage space on them. If it's a hoax he needs to be awarded a MacArthur genius grant or some similar award!

His story has added up so far. Reports confirm his identity and his poverty (that is relative; a lot of people who don't live in mansions and work in offices are happy with their lives). I also think the boat was reported missing in 2012. Anyhoo...fascinating story whether it's true or false.


----------



## KingCrab (Apr 29, 2012)

Macarthur genius award? Isn't that what our president got? :shifty:


----------



## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

KingCrab said:


> Macarthur genius award? Isn't that what our president got? :shifty:


No. Cormac McCarthy won one though. It's a very interesting award.


----------



## Big Red (Oct 1, 2007)

Here’s the latest on this guy.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/marshall-islands-castaway/pacific-castaway-arrives-home-el-salvador-after-year-sea-n27671

I wonder if we’ll ever really learn the truth about this.


----------

