The U.S. Navy on Wednesday rescued two American women and their dogs who had spent five months lost in the Pacific Ocean.
Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava of Honolulu had planned a trip in their small sailboat from Hawaii to Tahiti. However, the duo and their dogs experienced a slew of bad circumstances beginning when a cell phone fell overboard on the first day. The engine lost power a month into the trip, the mast was damaged due to bad weather, and as they drifted on across the Pacific, their water purifier stopped working, an NBC News affiliate reported.
The women had thankfully prepared with a years worth of food, and after sending a distress call everyday with no response, they were rescued by a U.S. Navy ship about 900 miles southeast of Japan, thousands of miles off course from their intended destination of Tahiti.
The USS Ashland rescued the women and their dogs after a Taiwanese fishing vessel saw their small, damaged sailboat on Tuesday and alerted the U.S. Coast Guard, according to a Navy statement released on Thursday.
https://twitter.com/USNavy/status/923636426226524168
The mariners believed they could still reach Tahiti using the vessel's sails after the engine lost power in late May.
"They saved our lives," Appel said through the Navy release. "The pride and smiles we had when we saw [U.S. Navy] on the horizon was pure relief."
Appel said they had started making distress calls two months after leaving, and had been sending them for 98 days, but they received no response and the calls appeared to be reaching no one. There were no vessels in close proximity, and the women were too far out to sea for the signals to be detected on land, according to NBC.
"It was very depressing and very hopeless, but it’s the only thing you can do, so you do what you can do," she said in a call with news media.
One night, two sharks attacked their boat, and one returned a day later. The sailboat, however, was able to withstand the damage.
Appel’s mother, Joyce Appel, said she called the U.S. Coast Guard about a week and a half after her daughter left Honolulu.
"The Coast Guard, in Hawaii, did a search and rescue effort," the elder Appel said. "I waited and waited and waited to see when I would hear from her."
The women credited their survival to packing the water purifier, extended food supplies, and their two dogs, whom Appel credited with keeping their spirits up.
Appel and Fuiava received medical assessments, food, and beds aboard the USS Ashland, where they will remain until the next port of call.
The ship's commanding officer said the "U.S. Navy is postured to assist any distressed mariner of any nationality during any type of situation."
The USS Ashland has been on a routine deployment for the past five months as part of U.S. 7th Fleet’s forward deployed naval forces out of Sasebo, Japan.