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It recounts multiple amazing tales of survival against the odds, then goes into the psychology of what's needed to survive such a situation. Finally, it lists the top 10 traits exhibited by survivors of these kinds of situations.
"23kg (50lb) of sardines for bait, 700 hooks, miles of line" "Without bait or fish hooks, Alvarenga invented a daring strategy to catch fish. " I am confused these statements are contradictory, did I miss something.
Link:
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/marshall-islands-castaway/p...
Available from fine retailers of books. And Amazon.com.
"23kg (50lb) of sardines for bait, 700 hooks, miles of line" "Without bait or fish hooks, Alvarenga invented a daring strategy to catch fish. " I am confused these statements are contradictory, did I miss something.
As mentioned in the article, he tossed almost everything overboard to make the boat more stable in the waves.
The fact that a man who didn't even plan for the trip (or have any provisions) made it out alive even though he was virtually alone for the entire trip (his partner died after 2 months) leads me to believe that Thor was mostly right, and that South Americans did indeed travel to Polynesia and beyond probably more often than we originally thought.
What an amazing story.
I am curious as to how he caught these turtles and birds in the open sea while in his no doubt famished shape. "shoved his arms into the water up to his shoulders . . . When a fish swam between his hands, he smashed them shut" Seriously, this needs some mythbusters-style testing.
Birds and turtles are curious about drifting things, like boats. And both are easy to catch (well, relatively). I haven't caught fish with my hands but at sea been in situations where it didn't seem impossible. And the fishermen I know in the area (I live there on a boat) are magicians. So sure, everything needs testing but I have a bit of a frame of reference around this one and it raises no red flags for me at all.…
Someone else in this comments section linked to an article that explains how he caught the turtles. Basically (like you mentioned) turtles would get curious about the boat and swim right up to it, so he was able to get them that way. I presume the fish and birds behaved in the same manner, so it really lowers the red flags for me.
I would still love to see a video of someone catching these things the same way the drifter did though.
I am curious as to how he caught these turtles and birds in the open sea while in his no doubt famished shape. "shoved his arms into the water up to his shoulders . . . When a fish swam between his hands, he smashed them shut" Seriously, this needs some mythbusters-style testing.
The next thing I knew, he had grabbed a seagull by both feet with one hand and it was flapping it's wings wildly and squawking into my terrified face.
So I'd imagine that after a few weeks at sea and actually depending on catching birds/fish by hand for survival that one could do so.
I am curious as to how he caught these turtles and birds in the open sea while in his no doubt famished shape. "shoved his arms into the water up to his shoulders . . . When a fish swam between his hands, he smashed them shut" Seriously, this needs some mythbusters-style testing.