He survived 24 days on a sailboat adrift in the Caribbean on stock cubes , ketchup and garlic powder.
The 47-year-old Elvis François is the castaway - rescued by the Colombian Navy - the protagonist of a misadventure with a happy ending. According to the man's story, his ordeal began in December , when the currents pushed his sailboat into the open sea . At the time she was carrying out some repairs on board off the island of St Martin in the Netherlands Antilles where she lives.
“I called my friends, they tried to reach me, but I lost signal . There was nothing to do but sit and wait. To survive I ate what I had : spices and sauces», he confessed, adding that «for all the time I was adrift I had to remove the water from the hull so as not to sink».
The vessel was spotted from above, 120 nautical miles northwest of the Guajira peninsula, and the man was taken to the port city of Cartagena by a passing container ship. To save him the reports made with a mirror to an airplane. Rescuers said they found the survivor in good health .
(Unioneonline/vf)
