Adrift for... 14 months?

Reminds me of the OP of this thread:

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/general-yachting-discussion/22302-63-bertram-sinking.html

Would seem he is not able to answer a simple yes or no type question.

He can remember the exact date the engine broke down(December 21, 2012, which one story says is the day they left) but not his age? Or hometown?

The time adrift varies from 13-16 months. How long was he going before the engine broke? If it was a fishing boat, it would have been relatively easy to catch fish, right?

OR, did he just run out of fuel?

Well... I am going to give the man his due... how else did he get this far off of course?

Hi,

If he is really from where he says he is then by wind and the natural surface currents in the ocean.

He does not seem from seeing him on TV to be very badly affected by the elements after living outside for all that time.

Reports did say he caught fish, small sharks, turtles, etc... i assume semi-dehydration/overexposure to the sun/solitude/etc could do a work on the guys personality and he may be a bit confused?

nonetheless, from the reports, he seemed eager to seek his ex-employer and family of ex-comapnion who allegedly lost his life... so far its feasible... best give him the benefit of the doubt id say...

By looking at him I feel he would have a much longer beard and hair if he was floating for over a year.

Personally, my beard would grow to my chest and my hair to my shoulders, at least.

I think there is something more to the story.....

My point so far hasn't been to say "he's lying" nor to say "he's telling the complete truth." It's simply been to say that we don't have all the facts. We certainly didn't on day one as they have changed several times. And we still don't. How close are we? I don't have any idea. But it may be months or years before they're all gathered. I don't even know how much effort will be put into gathering them. Law enforcement won't spend much unless they find something suspicious with his companion. Otherwise, no crime had been committed. Now I'm sure someone will be buying the book rights and that will tell more of a story. But their emphasis will be on what he says and won't investigate further.

He could have cut his beard and hair. Had plenty of available time and assume he had knives if he went shark fishing.

The facial fullness and weight are more surprising but there can be medical explanations of both. Just not what we normally see.

As I remember, the first reports were from a Norwegian anthropologist who could not speak Spanish and she was keeping him.

So no wonder the confusion.

But it is absolutely believable he survived for that long in the Pacific.

Rain, fish and birds are not rare and you get desperate enough you will learn to survive. WHAT ELSE did he have to do?

The advantage he had was that he was poor and used to substance living.

Do we really know that?

Seems we know very little about him. Are we saying then his mate died because he wasn't poor? Now there is some indication that his mate couldn't eat the food.

We really don't know anything!

We can however possibly, assume he is alive somewhere in the middle of the Pacific on either an island or boat! Or, we would not have anything to post about.

I do know this, my last post I did in French and in switching back to English for this one... I might as well be drunk. I started off in French then lost my train of thought when I realized I was too lost! If that makes any sense whatsoever in either language.

Hi,

There is something fishy about this.

Here he is with no beard having had a shave and a haircut.

BBC News - Pacific castaway Jose Salvador Alvarenga's health worsens

I know from my ow experience when wearing a beard for several years that when it's shaved off there is a slight difference in the colour of my skin where it used to be.

There does not appear to be any difference in this guys case.

One article thinks he might have been living on one of the uninhabited atolls for a while. It does sound a little fishy but the problem is, the only person that knows what really happened is the man himself.

The confirmed fact is he made it from Mexico to Marshall Islands and did survive at sea for a long time. That's not a hoax. There is a lot of evidence confirming that.

How did he survive? It's a mystery but some scientists believe it's plausible.
I know I wouldn't.

Why not?

Kon-Tiki and others proved it possible.

Kon-Tiki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

P.S.- Remember the old saying, "Give a person a fish and he eats for a day; but teach a person to fish and he eats for a lifetime."

Tha't true but based on his accounts (and he IS a fisherman) he had to eat turtles, birds and drink his own urine. I don't know if and why he couldn't fish or what exactly happened but I don't think I would be eating birds and turtles and do some other crazy stuff to survive.

The Pacific is a dangerous place. I wonder what technology the local fishermen use nowadays to avoid these kinda accidens.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...c42cc4-8ed2-11e3-878e-d76656564a01_print.html

Some on this planet do it as a way of life.

Michael & Lori Johnson's Papua New Guinea Photo Gallery