Man lost at sea for 24 days survived on ketchup, seasoning and water
A man who spent more than three weeks lost at sea says he survived by eating little more than ketchup, seasonings and “some water.”
Elvis Francois, a native of Dominica, was rescued by the Colombian navy after being adrift in the Caribbean Sea for 24 days.
The 47-year-old said he was swept out to sea late last month while repairing his sailboat off the island of St. Martin.
He wasn’t able to get back to port and didn’t have phone service to call anyone.
“There was nothing else I could do than sit down and wait,” he said in a video released by Colombian authorities on Wednesday.
Francois was eventually rescued about 120 nautical miles northwest of La Guajira, South America’s northernmost peninsula.
Officials said he was spotted from an airplane after writing the word “help” on the hull of the boat.
In the video, Francois also explained how he managed to survive his ordeal.
“I had no food. It was just a bottle of ketchup that was on the boat. Garlic powder, and Maggi,” which are seasoning stock cubes. “So, I mixed it up with some water,” he added.
“Twenty-four days, no land. Nobody to talk to. Don’t know what to do. Don’t know where you are. It was rough,” he said in the video, adding that at some point he “lost hope.”
Francois was picked up by a merchant ship and taken to the port city of Cartagena, where he received medical care, Cmdr. Carlos Urbano Montes said in the video.
He was in good health when he was rescued and was later handed over to immigration authorities for his return home, Montes said.
