This story seems like something out of a movie but it’s all too real.
Three men go fishing in a small boat. They were headed from one small island to an even smaller one in Micronesia, but they ended up crashing on another small island called Pikelot, which sounds like the setting for a story like Robinson Crusoe.
The men managed to live on coconuts and well water, but eventually used palm fronds to write “HELP” on the beach and were saved.
Stars and Stripes Reports:
3 stranded men were on shore with coconuts and a dead battery before rescue in the Pacific
Three men rescued this week from a remote Pacific atoll were subsisting on coconuts and well water when a U.S. Navy plane spotted their call for help Sunday, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
The three, all in their 40s, had set out March 31 from Polowat Atoll, Micronesia, on a 20-foot skiff with an outboard motor for Pikelot Atoll, an uninhabited 31-acre spot in a vast ocean , according to a coast guard. press release on Wednesday. The men were not identified by the Coast Guard.
“Their initial objective was to fish around Pikelot, but the boat was damaged as they approached the island due to the waves coming up on the island and the surrounding shoal,” he told Stars and Stripes on Chief Marshal Sara Muir of the Micronesian Coast Guard Forces, Sector Guam. via email Thursday. “Initially they were supposed to meet with another family from Satawal [Atoll] in Pikelot. The Satawal family ultimately didn’t go due to weather and sea conditions.”
On Saturday, a woman “reported that her three uncles had not returned from Pikelot Atoll,” about 115 miles northwest of Polowat Atoll, both part of the Federated States of Micronesia, according to the Coast Guard.
Here is a short video summary:
Imagine being trapped in such a remote place.
Trending time: Pikelot Island #Google Maps https://t.co/Pg3TkVDgL3 pic.twitter.com/dS1yPa7saL
— VirtualGlobetrotting (@VirtualGlobe) April 12, 2024
A US Navy plane spotted the men stranded on Pikelot on Sunday thanks to a message on the beach. Survival packages were launched to help sustain them until they could be recovered. https://t.co/5mSAPcXsIR
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) April 11, 2024
These men are very lucky to be alive.