An islander of Dominica was tossed out to sea while repairing a sailboat.
47 years old, Mr. Elvis Fracois survived at sea for 24 days at Caribbean on a sailboat by eating ketchup, garlic powder, and seasoning cubes was rescued by navy of Columbia.
24 days, no land. Nobody to talk to. Don’t know what to do. Don’t know where you are. It was rough. A certain time I lose hope. I think about my family.”
Mr. Francois
How Mr. Francois Drifed into the Sea
Mr. Elvis Fracois,47 years old, was repairing a sailboat off the port of St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles in December last year when climate changed foul and he was tossed out to sea.
He had been lost and confused at sea since he had no insights of routing. His efforts to manoeuvre the boat and the materials onboard were unsuccessful.
Mr. Fracois attempted to make phone calls through his mobile phone but ended up running out of signal.
How Elvis Fracois Survived on a sailboat?
He made a point of saying he managed to live on ketchup, garlic powder, and Maggi cubes. “I called my friends, they tried to contact me, but I lost the signal. There was nothing else to do but sit and wait,” said Francois. He collected rainwater with a cloth.
To avoid the sailboat from taking on water, he would have to continuously draw excess of water from it. He also attempted to ignite a fire in order to send a distraught signal but to no avail.
Francois had scribbled the word “help” in English on the deck of the boat, which officers mentioned which led to his rescue.
The Rescue Operation
Finally, a plane passed by and Francois signaled with a mirror. He described how he angled the mirror to catch the glimpse on about 15th of January but no one saw him. He stated as per the navy told him that he was noticed when the plane passed again. The sailboat was sighted from the air 120 miles off the coast northwest of the La Guajira peninsula. The aircraft crew notified the Navy, which rescued Francois with the assistance of a merchant ship. He was escorted to the port city of Cartagena in container ship, according to a statement issued by the Colombian navy on Wednesday. According to Urbano Montes, the sailboat was dismissed at sea when Francois was rescued by a merchant ship.
As reported by the navy, Francois had a medical check on coast prior to getting brought over to immigration services for his come back to Dominica.
