http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=103056
http://www.kitv.com/story/36692448/honolulu-women-dogs-rescued-at-sea has a map showing origin, intended destination, and rescue location.
“The Hawaii sailor says they survived by bringing more than years worth of food onboard and having water purifiers with them.”
This story is interesting because it raises a lot of questions for me. It’s great they had that much food but interesting that they brought that much. Not just enough for a year but years.
How experienced were they? Their engine broke down but they did have sail power. Sailboat engines are designed to be your mode of transportation for long distances.
Glad they and the dogs are well.
The whole story sounds suspicious to me after seeing the report on the news last night. They had sails, why were they not able to use them? Did no one notice they were missing for five months? Did they not have any onboard communication system?
They planned well for the worst. The reports say they had a whole years worth of food packed just in case something happened.
This story is proof positive that you need to prepare for the worst whenever you head out. How many hikers do we hear about that leave for a day hike and get into trouble? Not saying a hiker should pack 60 days worth of food but this does show how well prepared these heroic woman were before they headed out on this treacherous voyage.
This is also a testament to the courage, perseverance, and determination that woman have. A truly heroic tale for the history books.
@doschicos - it didn’t say “several years” or even a “couple years”, it said “more than a years worth”. Could have been 13 months worth.
I will agree that considering they said the trip takes roughly 21 days it is amazing they had that much food though.
@alwaysamom - My initial thought was the same thing, but it doesn’t say no one missed them. Another story I read said they veered off course and there distress signals couldn’t reach anyone. So it’s very possible they were missed but because they were not on the chartered course they could not be found.
My initial thought was I bet they’ll be happy to take a little breather from each other now. Talk about living in close quarters. 
A TV report said that one of the women lost her phone overboard. what good would a cell phone do in the middle of the ocean? Unless it was a satellite phone.
If that food was in a dry food “survival kit” from Costco, I can see how they had more than a year’s worth onboard.
From WaPo:
“The pair had prepared for a long trip; they had water purifiers and over a year’s worth of food on board, mostly dry goods including oatmeal, pasta and rice.”
I thought shortwave radios or satellite communications or whatever it is they use on boats for long-distance communication would be considered mandatory equipment on a pacific crossing? It does seem odd that a boat and experienced sailor capable of going from Hawaii to Tahiti wouldn’t have that kind of equipment on board. You bring a year’s worth of food for a 3 week trip but not a satellite phone/radio? Anyway, I’m glad they’re safe.
I was assuming they would be sailing further, and it was just 21 days to their first port. I can see how they’d pack a lot of dry stuff like oatmeal, rice, and pasta from Costco, and plan to pick up fresh food on their route. So it doesn’t seem strange to me.
@alwaysamom - Just came across another article …they were definitely missed.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/navy-rescues-honolulu-women-lost-sea-months-50743924
It may just be a lack of information in the reporting, which wouldn’t be unusual. I’d still like to know why, if they were experienced sailors, they weren’t able to use their sails.
They sent distress signals for 98 days! The Pacific ocean is just a huge body of water, and islands and ships are very far apart. A Taiwanese fishing boat caught sight of them and alerted the US Coast Guard (not sure how they could do that), which sent a warship based in Japan out to intercept the sail boat.
I’m sure they could use their sails, but they said they got lost. Without proper navigation, you would just be sailing in circles.
ETA - my parents had a sailboat and my Dad was a good navigator. Even with that, we had to adjust course sometimes to catch the wind and that little change can really set you off. In a small area like the Chesapeake! Can’t even imagine the vast ocean…
Perhaps the issue was not use of the sails, but with navigation.
http://archive.hokulea.com/holokai/1976/ben_finney.html describes some of the navigational problems sailing from Hawaii to Tahiti.
Their story was on the front page of our home newspaper, as they set out from HI. They said that a big storm knocked out their motor and radio/communications system. They were attacked by tiger sharks several at least twice. They did sent out distress signals and 10 flares but no one came.
It is great that their water purifying system was sufficient for them to remain hydrated for those many extra months of being lost at sea. I had no idea that water purifying was that advanced and wish that the folks in Puerto Rico and others who are storm-ravaged have that technology available to them as well.
Desalinating water can be done by distilling or reverse osmosis. Distilling water can be done with common household items (but heating the water to boiling may be an issue), but dedicated water desalination devices can be expensive.
Of course, someone sailing between Hawaii and Tahiti could also collect rain water and eat fish.
According to news articles:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-american-sailors-rescued-after-five-months-sea-n814806
As to why they didn’t then use the sails, I had read (sorry can’t remember the article any longer), that the mast eventually broke.
The mast itself is shown in photos as looking intact. Sounds like some of the rigging broke. I wonder if they tried to jury-rig the sails.
Good thing they brought so much food along.