How Missing Sailor Survived 66 Days at Sea
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ABC News(NEW YORK) — For two months, his ability to survive was tested: He was alone, injured and hungry. And then, finally, he was rescued.
After Louis Jordan embarked on a fishing trip from South Carolina in January, he said, his sailboat capsized. Jordan said he broke his collarbone and his boat drifted away from the coast.
On Thursday, after 66 days at sea, Jordan was picked up by the Coast Guard 200 miles off the North Carolina coast.
So how did the 37-year-old survive?
What supplies did he have?
When his boat flipped over, Jordan lost most of his equipment, including his captain’s log, GPS devices and rice, he said in an interview with ABC News.
What did he eat?
For Jordan, a key to survival was pancakes. He made two or three of the breakfast staple each day with flour fried in oil. He also caught fish.
To drink, Jordan relied on rainwater, which he said tasted like coconut milk.
His father, Frank Jordan, told CNN Thursday he wasn’t too worried about his son going without food because he had fasted before.
However, he told reporters on Friday, “Sometimes I cried so much that I thought there just wasn’t anything left.
“After about two months I just…started to think, ‘It’s over, I lost my son,'” he added.
How did his faith help?
Jordan said he regularly prayed and read his Bible while at sea.
“He told me on the phone that he was praying the whole time,” Frank Jordan said to CNN. “I believe that sustained him.”
The ordeal gave him perspective, Jordan said, adding that he’d like to have children one day.
Jordan said he was more worried about his family and friends than himself. “Their poor hurt feelings: If I’m ever going to show up again or not, not knowing if I abandoned them, that’s really worrying,” he said.
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