Cuban refugees land on Isla, while ocean search goes on for five missing local fishermen

Makeshift barge 12 people, 18 days, L Lock Photo

An intense nautical search has been underway for the last two weeks to locate five island fishermen and their 32-foot boat, the Anastacia, missing since March 30^th.  

While the quest to find Anastacia was underway, a makeshift, homemade barge equipped with a rudimentary sail and oars landed on the eastern coast of Isla Mujeres with a dozen Cuban refugees on board.  

Three women and nine men posed with relieved smiles for a photograph at TV Isla Mujeres. They had been at sea since March 27^th, eighteen days in a rickety, dangerous craft, arriving in reasonably good health, proving that there is still hope for the safe return of the five young men from Isla.

Por Esto photo

Seeing the primitive Cuban refugee barge got us thinking. If the Cubanos spent more than two weeks at sea - with a minimum amount of shelter, food, and water - how long can people survive on the open ocean? What is the record number of days? What type of craft were the survivors typically found in? What do they do for food and water?

There are many accounts on the internet about people who have been successfully rescued after drifting for long periods of time in strange, makeshift vessels, making do with rainwater and the occasionally caught fish or seabird. There is one story about two people adrift for nearly five months in an ice box scavenged as their fishing boat sank, and another about a sixty-two-year-old man floating for three months in a disabled sailboat. When the search for Anastacia and crew first started, two other boats were found that had been drifting, without power, for a couple of weeks. One boat was from Isla Holbox, the other one from the Veracruz area. No one had reported them as missing. 

5500 miles in a small boat - listverse.com photo

But the internet story that really gives us confidence that our islanders will be found is the account of the five fishermen from the west side of Mexico, who on October 28^th of 2005 set out in a twenty-five-foot boat to do some shark fishing.   

Lucio Rendon, Salvador Ordonez, and Jesus Eduardo Vivand, along with two other companions, motored out to their chosen location and set their lines, then the crew relaxed with a few beers for the evening. The next morning, they couldn’t locate their expensive equipment and spent several hours searching the sea, until, without fully grasping their new predicament, they ran out of fuel - too far from shore to paddle the boat to safety. The boat began to drift with the strong ocean currents. 

Fundraiser at El Patio April 15th

By the time the men were located a record-setting nine months later in August of the following year, they had drifted to within two hundred miles of the Australian coastline, a total of five thousand five hundred miles across the wild Pacific Ocean.  

Living on the raw flesh from sea turtles, sea birds, and fish, plus collecting rainwater in their plastic fuel containers, three of the five fishermen survived to be rescued by a Taiwanese fishing trawler.  

It is unimaginable what they went through in their reluctant journey across the Pacific. It is also unimaginable the pain and heartache their families were subjected to, never sure what had happened to their loved ones. 

If these folks can survive, so can our island guys.

 If you would like to help out, here’s what you can do. 

There is always hope! Isla Fiesta photo

The El Patio House of Music is having a fundraiser starting at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, April 15^th.   

100% of the proceeds from food and beverages will be donated to the families.

Hasta Luego

Lynda, Lawrie, and Sparky