Weird... they had a year's worth of food? Can't say they weren't ready for worst case scenario. Lends to the case for having an amateur radio license and station onboard.
Reminds me of a story of some fishermen that got "lost" in the Pacific and rescued near Australia. Allegedly it was a distraction story due to some election South of the border. Not saying this was a publicity stunt, but good on them for packing food for a year. I'd be making dog jerky one month in.
Apparently they had the beacons and did not use them. Looking more and more like a couple of attention whores getting their 15 minutes. Next we'll hear how they were sexually assaulted while being rescued. Rescued sailors under scrutiny for not using emergency beacon October 31, 2017, 7:16 AM| There are new questions about two women who say they were stranded on a sailboat for months in the Pacific Ocean. A Navy ship rescued Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava last week, but the Coast Guard says the two had an emergency beacon on board and never turned it on.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/1...onsistencies-cast-doubt-on-tale-survival.html Another hoax. There should be mandatory prison time and a massive fine for diverting emergency services.
Wow..I agree, they should be arrested and made to pay huge fines if true. Any chance they are part of the "leaving America" if Trump wins and then regretted it
Something fishy is going on! Sailors who say they were lost at sea for SIX MONTHS never used their emergency beacon, were caught in a non-existent storm and sailed past an 'uninhabited' island that is home to 2,000 people Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava say they were lost at sea for months before being rescued by the US Navy on October 25 Sailing experts say that the women should have activated their emergency beacon and would have been rescued almost immediately if they had The women claimed that they didn't activate the beacon because they never feared for their life, despite encountering a fierce storm and losing their engines The National Weather Service reports that there were no storms recorded at the time the women say they were battered by a storm in early May The women also gave unlikely reasons for why they did not attempt to dock at islands and ports they encountered during their travels The women were eventually spotted by a Navy vessel and taken to Japan By ASSOCIATED PRESS and DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER PUBLISHED: 21:44 EDT, 30 October 2017 | UPDATED: 12:00 EDT, 31 October 2017 Questions have been raised over the story of two Hawaii women who say they were lost at sea for six months - after it emerged they never activated their emergency beacon, sailed past an inhabited island and were caught in a seemingly non-existent storm. Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fiava were rescued by the US Navy 900 miles southeast of Japan last Wednesday after setting sail from Hawaii on May 3. They told a harrowing tale of survival after their rescue, but many of their claims have now been called into question including: The woman claimed they did not have a standard Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) on their vessel. The Coast Guard found one on board and say it was never activated. The 'Force 11 storm' they claimed they encountered at the start of their journey, featuring 30-foot high seas and 60 mph winds over three days, was not recorded by meteorologists They claim that they considered turning back after the storm but could not because the islands of Maui and Lanai did not have harbors deep enough for their boat. There are several places they could have docked They also claim that, days later, they could not stop at a nearby island to fix their boat because it was 'uninhabited' - but Christmas Island, part of Kiribati, is home to over 2,000 people and often welcomes huge commercial ships Instead of stopping at Christmas Island, they set a new destination of 1,000 miles away in the Cook Islands - also hundreds of miles beyond their original destination of Tahiti When off Tahiti in June, the captain of the ship was reported to have told the Coast Guard they were fine and expected to land next morning - but months later they ended up in the western Pacific Jennifer Appel said in an interview Tuesday that she did not turn the emergency beacon on because the pair did not feel they were in imminent danger. She claimed that in her experience the beacon should only be used when you are in imminent physical danger and going to die in the next 24 hours. 'Our hull was solid, we were floating, we had food, we had water, and we had limited maneuverable capacity,' Appel said in an interview in Japan, where the U.S. Navy took them after their rescue. 'All those things did not say we are going to die. All that said it's going to take us a whole lot longer to get where we're going.' Previously, Appel and Tasha Fuiava had said they were close to giving up when the U.S. Navy rescued them last week, thousands of miles off course. +8 Jennifer Appel (right) and Tasha Fuiava sit with their dogs on the deck of the USS Ashland on Monday. The Hawaii sailors were rescued on October 25 after being lost at sea for months while trying to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti +8 Authorities are questioning why Appel and Fuiava (seen here on Monday) did not activate their emergency beacon after their boat was damaged by a storm and they were lost at sea Lost sailors say they were not in enough danger to use beacon The two women met in late 2016, and within a week of knowing each other decided to take the trip together. Fuiava had never sailed a day in her life. They planned to take 18 days to get to Tahiti, then travel the South Pacific and return to Hawaii in October. They set off on May 3 and were rescued by the U.S. Navy last week, thousands of miles off course. Key elements of the women's account are contradicted by authorities, and are not consistent with weather reports or basic geography of the Pacific Ocean. The discrepancies raised questions about whether Appel and her sailing companion, Tasha Fuiava, could have avoided disaster. SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share On their first day at sea, May 3, the two U.S. women described running into a fearsome storm that tossed their vessel with 60 mph (97 kph) winds and 30-foot (9-meter) seas for three days, but meteorologists say there was no severe weather anywhere along their route during that time. After leaving 'we got into a Force 11 storm, and it lasted for two nights and three days,' Appel said of the storm they encountered off Oahu. In one of the first signs of trouble, she said she lost her cellphone overboard. 'We were empowered to know that we could withstand the forces of nature,' Appel said. 'The boat could withstand the forces of nature.' But the National Weather Service in Honolulu said no organized storm systems were in or near Hawaii on May 3 or in the days afterward. Archived NASA satellite images confirm there were no tropical storms around Hawaii that day. +8 Appel (left) and Fuiava on October 25, when they were rescued by a U.S. Navy vessel about 900 miles southeast of Japan The pair said they thought about turning back, but the islands of Maui and Lanai didn't have harbors deep enough to accommodate their sailboat. At 50 feet (15 meters) long, the vessel is relatively small, and both islands have harbors that would have accommodated them. Plus, the Big Island - the southernmost island in state - has several places to dock. 'I had no idea that we were going to be in this thing for 80 solid hours,' Appel said of the storm of which there is no record. Still, they pressed on. Fuiava, on October 25, had never sailed before joining Appel for the planned trip from Tahiti to Hawaii that began on May 3 US Navy saves two women who were lost at sea for five months Days later, after parts of their mast and rigging failed, they sailed up to another small island, still with a working motor, but decided against trying to land, believing the island was mostly uninhabited with no protected waters. 'It is uninhabited. They only have habitation on the northwest corner and their reef was too shallow for us to cross in order to get into the lagoon,' Appel said. But Christmas Island, part of the island nation of Kiribati, is home to more than 2,000 people and has a port that routinely welcomes huge commercial ships. +8 A May 3, 2017 satellite image provided by NASA, showing the Pacific Ocean around Hawaii. The women claim they encountered a massive storm that day, but the National Weather Service says there were no organized storm systems were in the area at the time 'We could probably nurse it down to the next major island in Kiribati,' Appel said. 'Then we'll be able to stop there and seek safe haven and get up on the mast and fix it.' The island has at least two airfields, and the women had flares aboard to alert people on land. Plus, its widest point spans about 30 miles (48 kilometers), a day's hike to safety from even the most remote area. When asked if the small island would have been a good place to land and repair their sails, Appel said no. 'Kiribati, um, one whole half of the island is called shipwreck beach for a reason.' A video image of Appel, taken by the Navy, showing the crippled boat that Appel and Fuiava were rescued from on October 25 Stranded sailors and their dogs rescued after five months at sea Christmas Island has a place called Bay of Wrecks on its northeast side. So, instead of stopping for help, they say they set a new destination about 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) away and a few hundred miles beyond their original target of Tahiti. They were headed to the Cook Islands. 'We really did think we could make it to the next spot,' Appel said. Then, they say, another storm killed their engine at the end of May. The Coast Guard made radio contact with a vessel that identified itself as the Sea Nymph in June near Tahiti, and the captain said they were not in distress and expected to make land the next morning. More than five months after they departed, they were picked up in the western Pacific about 900 miles (1,448 kilometers) southeast of Japan. The two women and their dogs were all in good health when picked up by the U.S. Navy. Sailors from the USS Ashland approaching Appel and Fuiava's boat on October 25 A retired Coast Guard officer who was responsible for search and rescue operations said that if the women used the emergency beacon, they would have been found. The EPIRB communicates with satellites and sends locations to authorities. It's activated when it's submerged in water or turned on manually. The alert signal sends a location to rescuers within minutes. 'If the thing was operational and it was turned on, a signal should have been received very, very quickly that this vessel was in distress,' Phillip R. Johnson said Monday in a telephone interview from Washington state. Johnson described the device as sturdy and reliable, but added that old and weak batteries could cause a unit not to function. Appel and Fuiava also said they had six forms of communication that all failed to work. 'There's something wrong there,' Johnson said. 'I've never heard of all that stuff going out at the same time.' Share or comment on this article Comments 1312 Share what you think Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all The comments below have not been moderated. Bumblebee Tuna, Anchorage, United States, 10 minutes ago Probably an attempt to fake their deaths. Pripet, Shangri La, Nepal, 14 minutes ago Fake Citriolo, New York, United States, 17 minutes ago they ate a lot of baccala' donald r bayer, rochester, United States, 22 minutes ago CNN sponsored the voyage ! Abby84, Pennsylvania, 28 minutes ago Nobody should believe them: they are too well fed. Liars. Jeffrey Coley, Walnut Cove NC, United States, 31 minutes ago I am a novice sailor myself, and these women never should have attempted this voyage. They're lucky to be alive. When this story first broke someone said it reminded them of the "Balloon Boy" story. There's something to that. Lots of drama and inconsistencies. Being more charitable, to these novice mariners any bit of rough weather might have seemed like a "Force 11" storm. Damage to the rig means they were carrying too much sail for the conditions, they should have reefed the sail in heavy wind. The damaged spreader would have made the boat incapable of sailing on a reach (across the wind) because it wouldn't stand a side load. With no motor the vessel was reduced to the maneuverability of a Spanish Galleon, the only option to sail straight downwind using the jib. ile, far north Aberdeen, United Kingdom, 36 minutes ago One of them looks far too well fed to have lived off rations for 6 months. Fake story. Morrisfactor, Seattle, about an hour ago Soon they will blame it all on "white men" and the Patriarchy. readhead13, Alameda CA, United States, about an hour ago How can the one still be so fat? That makes me suspicious right there! Robie58, southport, United Kingdom, 7 minutes ago There were probably three of them when they set off, but they ate her when they ran out of Mars Bars.. Bill, Bennington, about an hour ago Looks like they are riding pretty high compared to the dirty waterline - wonder what was weighing it down . Jeffrey Coley, Walnut Cove NC, United States, about an hour ago "A year's worth of food". No wonder they couldn't make any speed. View all The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.