Prayer and fish keys to survival

Published: August 22, 2006 | 4611th good news item since 2003

THREE Mexican fishermen read the Bible and prayed as they drifted 8000km across the Pacific for nine months.
The trio finally set foot on land yesterday looking fit and healthy and eager to tell their remarkable tale of survival.

“We spent a lot of time reading the Bible, but mostly we fished . . . and prayed,” said Jesus Vidana Lopez, 27.

Mr Lopez, Salvador Ordonez, 37, and Lucio Rendon, 27, survived 295 days on raw fish, seagulls and rainwater.

But boat owner Juan and a deckhand couldn’t stomach the fare.

“Juan and the other guy couldn’t eat the raw food. They couldn’t seem to digest it, so they kept puking it up,” Mr Ordonez said.

“The deckhand guy kept sleeping and never spoke. They eventually started puking up blood, and then died.”

The survivors threw the corpses overboard.

The men left the coast of south Mexico on their 8.5m boat on October 28 last year to go shark fishing for “one to three days”.

They were picked up, near death, on August 9 by the Koo’s 102, a fishing trawler that operates out of the Marshall Islands.

Yesterday, as the ship chugged into the lagoon at Majuro Atoll, chased by two boats packed with Mexican media, the survivors settled on the deck and told their remarkable tale.

“We were out shark fishing when our equipment (lines) snapped because of strong winds,” Mr Lopez said.

“We went looking for the gear, but then we ran out of fuel. We were about 100 miles off the coast when the fuel ran out.”

Mr Rendon said they saw several ships and their hopes would soar.

“After two months, though, the realisation sank in that we were stranded. We kept seeing cargo ships, but they were very far away from us.”

The only useful equipment they had was a compass, a lantern and the remaining shark fishing equipment, including big hooks.

“But these were too big to catch little fish,” Mr Ordonez explained, “so we used the wires from the engines to make small hooks.

“The small fish were the best to eat.”

But they also had “El Gato” (the Cat), Mr Lopez grinned as he pointed to Mr Ordonez.

“He caught birds. He would creep along the bottom of the boat and jump on the birds (that had landed on the boat to rest).”

The fishermen each had two pairs of shorts, shirts, thin jackets and one sweater.

They also had a blanket to protect them from the scorching sun.

But their prized possession was Mr Rendon’s Casio watch, which shows the date as well as the time.

“This watch was an incredible thing to have,” he said.

Between January and December it was very cold and there were big storms.

“We were afraid we would sink,” Mr Ordonez said. “The longest we went without food was about 13 days. During that time we only caught one (sea bird).”

The men used the gas tank to store fresh water.

“We rinsed it out with salt water, then rinsed it again with fresh water before using it for storage,” Mr Ordonez said.

To collect water, they used rags to soak up rainwater from the bottom of the boat then squeezed it into the tank.

The men also nibbled on seaweed scraped from the hull.

“We were certain that God would save us,” Mr Ordonez said.

When the Taiwanese-owned Koo’s 102 saw them on August 9, it sent a small motorboat to investigate.

At the time the Mexicans were asleep. Mr Ordonez roused himself, and told his friends: “I hear a boat engine.”

They replied: “It’s just the noise of the wind.”

Rescuer Lanbe Lajjiur said: “At first we didn’t think anyone was on board the boat, but when we got closer the three men jumped out of the front of the boat and started waving frantically at us.

“Even when we got up to their boat they continued to wave.”

When he first saw the Mexicans, Mr Lajjiur was shocked.

“They were very weak-looking and their clothes were really ripped up. They were very skinny and weak.”

Mr Ordonez said the first meal they ate on Koo’s 102 was soup.

“We are very grateful to the Koo’s crew for feeding us like kings,” he said.

The fishermen said the food they had most dreamed of was “pastry and sweets”.

Two Mexican officials arrived in Majuro this week to help the survivors go home.

Published in Faith, Miracles
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