Man is rescued after a month adrift at sea: 'I cried for a whole week'

SÃO PAULO, SP (UOL/FOLHAPRESS) - American Kai Sato, 39, was rescued near Hawaii after spending more than a month adrift in the Pacific Ocean. The information comes from the British newspaper The Guardian and Hawaii News Now.

Sato left the Catalina Islands in California on a sailboat on June 7. The sailor hoped to complete his first solo crossing of the Pacific Ocean, as reported by Hawaii News Now.

He, however, lost control of the vessel. The mast broke two weeks into the trip and the battery on his phone, which Sato used to guide navigation, died.

Sato said he initially tried to drive back to shore but ran out of gas. "I was an easy target, being carried south by the current and completely deviating from the route," he told Hawaiian TV.

The American stayed out of the shipping lanes and reported days of despair on the boat. "I cried for a whole week, drifting south, completely miserable."

After five days, he decided to repair the boat with PVC pipes and kayak paddles. The improvisation allowed Sato to slowly return to the route between California and Hawaii.

Sato fed on oats that remained on the boat, as well as fish and squid carried by the waves to the vessel. To drink, he filled buckets with seawater and closed them with plastic bags to collect the condensation droplets: "I simply licked them to survive."

A container ship heading to Hawaii encountered the boater last Tuesday, July 22nd. Sato is staying with a relative and is already planning to travel to the Philippines on a larger vessel.

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