Sometimes a great break is all we need.
2 men who spent 29 days floating around in the ocean while being completely lost have said that their break, not a planned one obviously, from civilization was not bad at all.
Despite being found in horrifying conditions, the 2 men said that it was a nice break.
The pair were rescued around 400 kilometers away from where they initially started.
Livae Nanjikana and Junior Qoloni, a pair of sailors from the Solomon Islands, set out to travel to New Georgia Island, but their GPS system failed, which led them lost on the high seas.
The duo planned to keep the west coast of Vella Lavella Island and Gizo Island on their left to help them navigate, however, they managed to get it wrong.
The 2 are experienced seamen and have made the journey before.
The Solomon Sea is one of the most unpredictable seas in the world.
During an interview with The Guardian, Nanjikana said:
We have done the trip before and it should have been OK.
The thing is, the rain and wind came, which obscured their view of the island.
This drifted them afar, eventually getting completely lost in the ocean.
Nanjikana added:
When the bad weather came, it was bad, but it was worse and became scary when the GPS died. We couldn’t see where we were going and so we just decided to stop the engine and wait, to save fuel.
The 2 managed to survive on oranges that they had on board the boat.
Coconuts that were found floating on the sea and rainwater that they had collected in rainwater also helped them survive.
Eventually, the 2 men were rescued by a fisher of the coast of New Britain, in Papua New Guinea.
The 2 men said that they did not expect to be in another country.
Despite the fact that the men were lost for almost a month and could have passed away, the 2 men said that they took a lot of positive things from the incident.
The men said that they never heard anything about the coronavirus, which is such a good thing.
They added:
We had no idea what was going on while I was out there. I didn’t hear about Covid or anything else, I look forward to going back home but I guess it was a nice break from everything.
Upon being rescued, the 2 men were so weak that they were carried by health professionals.
Their current health condition and whereabouts were not shared with the public.