Why skeptics think a South Carolina sailor lied about being lost at sea for 66 days

[Liberal_in_LA]

Morning Mix
Why skeptics think a South Carolina sailor lied about being lost at sea for 66 days
By Peter Holley April 5 at 3:04 PM

It’s rare that a man is lost at sea and returns home looking even healthier than before he disappeared.

But that’s exactly what skeptics of Louis Jordan have pointed out as they question the 37-year-old’s miraculous account of surviving 66 days adrift in the Atlantic Ocean.

‘God knows I am a truthful man,” Jordan told the Daily Mail in response to his doubters. “My family knows I am telling the truth. The people who know me know that.”

[Shipwrecked sailor says he survived 66 days at sea with a lot of prayers]

!--!-!!!!!

By the time cameras caught up with him, Jordan, who claims his shoulder was broken when his boat overturned, wore a backpack, declined medical help and showed “no obvious signs of injury,” according to the Daily Mail.


---!!!

“I would have expected him to be severely dehydrated,” Kulik said. “After that amount of time at sea, he would have been wobbly on his feet, and yet he seemed to walk perfectly. He says he broke his right shoulder, and yet he didn’t even seem to be guarding that shoulder in the pictures I saw after the rescue. There is a lot that doesn’t add up.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/05/why-skeptics-think-a-south-carolina-sailor-lied-about-being-lost-at-sea-for-66-days/

[patricia92243]

1. How could one fake being 200 miles out at sea on an overturned boat. n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. he was picked up from sea. I guess the doubt is regarding how long he was.out there

[Aerows]

3. I've been skeptical from the first time I saw that story.

The Peruvian fishermen that were lost at see for 2 months had teeth falling out, were dehydrated, had eaten nothing but raw fish and looked like they were on their last legs.

This guy looked hale, hearty and like he had just fallen off of a boat and wanted to tell a very tall tale.

[malaise]

4. Hahahaha

Same here - something is wrong with this story

[Aerows]

9. Hell, I got taken out by the tide

too far while windsurfing, couldn't get the boom back up, and felt like I was going to die just trying to fight against the current to paddle the whole contraption back to shore for a mile.

My friends were close to calling in the Coast Guard. If you are in the damn ocean, I don't give a crap what you are in, on or clinging to - you get beaten to death by the tides, and even covered, pounded by the sun.

I'm as blond as that dude, but I tan far easier than he does. I was sunburned after 2 hours fighting it. As pale as that guys skin is, he would have fried in 30 minutes. I was lucky I got off with just 1st degree burns, even though I kept the sail over my face, and I've only once gotten a second degree burn and that was being on the water for 8 hours and it was only on my nose LOL!

That dude was there for maybe 30 minutes hiding in an airwell under a capsized boat.

[LisaL]

12. The boat wasn't capsized by the time he was found.

His claim is that the boat capsized at one time but then righted itself.

[Aerows]

14. A boat, large enough to have a cabin

righted itself 200 miles out at sea?

That's his story?

35 foot sailboat. Righted itself. 66 Days ago there were Northeasters blaring against the coast. A 35 foot sailboat that was capsized sustained that. Then somehow miraculously was righted. Without him freezing to death, getting a tan or being dehydrated. With a broken shoulder.

[LisaL]

19. So what it is that you think went on here?

Considering he was found at sea, in a boat that looked really bad.

[Aerows]

23. I think he was in a boat that looked really bad

for various reasons that didn't include him being "lost at sea" in it for 66 days. Anybody that can turn a capsized 35-foot sailboat over 200 miles from shore is nothing short of a superman in the water - I doubt Michael Phelps could pull that off. But to do it with a broken shoulder?

Or a sprained shoulder?

Or hell, more than 3 minutes after falling out of a boat that is 200 miles off the coast? In the deep ocean?

The ocean in February is COLD. This is the Atlantic. Very damn Cold. Can't move your limbs after around 5 or 6 minutes cold, much less right your overturned boat.

Look at the time frame. Were there storms off the coast of North Carolina in late January/early February?

That's the timeline he is claiming.

[lumberjack_jeff]

33. Yes. Sailboats are designed to be self-righting.

Boats suitable for offshore use have a "range of positive stability" of more than 180° meaning that the boat is more stable right side up than upside down.

It is common for an offshore sailboat to "turn turtle" but a boat with a broad range of positive stability (210° or more) will right itself quickly.

If he had a source of fresh water, I don't doubt the story.

[Aerows]

39. In waters that are at 55F?

What is your believability factor on this story. Cold waters, 35 Foot boat capsized in early February. Not in the Pacific, but in the Mid-Atlantic.

[lumberjack_jeff]

42. I doubt that he broke his shoulder. I doubt that he lived on fish caught with dirty laundry.

I am skeptical that you can be adrift without contact for 60+ days only 200 miles off the coast of South Carolina.

Otherwise I find the story plausible.



I would take this boat offshore.

[Aerows]

46. I assume that in early February during a Noreaster

You could right it easily in 50 degree water. 200 Miles off of the coast in the deep Atlantic, and has to be the North, because in the Mid, at least a Navy ship would find you.

That's *still* what you are saying.

And come out looking like this guy.

Do people regularly tell you that it is raining?

[lumberjack_jeff]

76. a) you don't get a sunburn while secured in the cabin of a sailboat in survival conditions

b) The temperature of the water is immaterial in the cabin, and I'm used to north pacific water. 60°+ is pretty warm.
c) "you" don't right a 36' boat. It rights itself as it is designed to do. You're along for the ride.
d) as I understand it, this was his liveaboard. I would expect that there'd be 50+ days of food, water and cooking fuel aboard.

That said...
200 miles off the north carolina coast is the gulf stream, which flows about 2mph. By my math, they should have found him up near the grand banks.

It is perfectly possible to survive knockdowns and rollovers for 66 days. But if you do it in the north Atlantic, I find it surprising that he'd be rescued 500 miles from home. More likely 3200.

And the story about finding him clinging to an overturned hull is bullshit. A pearson 35 isn't going to stay inverted for more than a few minutes in calm water. I suspect that it was a misreporting.

I'm not ready to call shenanigans on the story.

He was found 56 days after he was declared lost...
By a german freighter who took him off his disabled vessel...
66 days after he was last seen...
Pretty elaborate deception, if you ask me.

Is his story subject to embellishment? That would not surprise me.

[Marr]

79. That portion of the story was misreported, just to confirm.

The 'sitting on the overturned hull' has since been updated.

[lumberjack_jeff]

82. Thanks. n/t

[Aerows]

96. Well?

I like you, LJ. But are you STILL suspending your disbelief?

[lumberjack_jeff]

97. Yes.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026466809

[Aerows]

99. Props, LJ

You are right.

[lumberjack_jeff]

100. I'm interested to hear the lessons he learned.

It sounds as if there are many preparatory things he could have done to make his experience less dangerous, and he seems to acknowledge as much; "I was an inexperienced sailor".

No mention of flares or a handheld VHF or EPIRB, for instance. Either of the latter two would have avoided the problem of being lost at sea.

Many sailors have experienced dismasting yet limped back to port under jury rigged sails and rudder. The one thing he for sure did right was to stay with his boat.

I'm eager to read more about it.

[treestar]

95. One of the comments at the link explains

how that boat is built not to stay capsized, and it will right itself.

[lumberjack_jeff]

98. Here too.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6464632

[malaise]

15. Yep - everything was wrong with his appearance

Never looked dehydrated, barely a sun tan and way too much weight for sixty days at sea and I don't care if he was eating raw fish.

[Aerows]

28. And by the dates he gives

He would have been lost in the Mid Atlantic in late January, Early February 200 miles off of the coast, and somehow righted his capsized 35foot sailboat in those waters at those temperatures.

[malaise]

32. And as you pointed out there were more than a few Noreasters this year

Not buying this 'miracle'

[Aerows]

54. This is *literally* one of those stories

where you are supposed to believe the warm trickle running down your leg is rain.

Do they just assume no one has ever been on the open ocean before?

Do they just assume some person will set up a GoFundMe for some asshole that faked being lost at sea like the chick that set up one since every gay person in existence wants pizza at their wedding?

There are plenty of people that need help.

The people that pull these stunts need psychological help (or prison time) because they view humanity as the vast field they can graze from.

And graze they do. It pisses me off immensely.

[malaise]

88. But but but

They needed a nice Easter miracle - if people believe the shite spewed at Fox they might buy this BS.

[Hekate]

85. That was what struck me. I expected a skinny wrinkled burned guy with "sea legs" when he came ashore

With sunbleached hair that looked like straw.

I figured this would all play out one way or another -- but he didn't look authentic.

[SoCalDem]

31. a seaworthy craft (more or less)..saved rainwater & sushi

[Aerows]

34. That capsized and he turned it over in waters that would make the body

go into hypothermia on the best of days in approximately 4 minutes? A 35 foot boat, in the deep ocean, no footing, only the ability to push your legs in the water as leverage?

Ever tried to turn over a 5 foot canoe in deep warm water?

[lumberjack_jeff]

37. He didn't turn it over, it turned itself over - as it is designed to.

With all due respect, you're out of your element here.

http://www.setsail.com/evaluating-stability-and-capsize-risks-for-yachts/

[Aerows]

41. Well, I'm aware of elements

Early February, 200 miles off the coast in the Atlantic when noreasters were roaring through?

Boston got hit with them. North and South Carolina got hit with them.

Which element should I be in tune with, precisely?

[lumberjack_jeff]

43. 35' sailboat <> canoe

A (dismasted?) rudderless cruising sailboat in those conditions would very likely capsize - and subsequently right itself... perhaps often.

The weather at his homeport is usually in the 50's and 60's in February. What was it like this year?

We'll see. I suspect that his story has been embellished, but not fabricated.

[Aerows]

48. If your boat capsizes in late January

In the Atlantic Ocean, how long do you think you will survive without hypothermia setting in? Capsizing means your ass went overboard.

[lumberjack_jeff]

77. I know what capsizing means. That's not it. n/t

[Aerows]

53. And you are completely sure that no one

absolutely no one off the coast of Norfolk would be aware of your presence.

For two months.

And you didn't die of hypothermia.

And you were in a sailboat that while it could be righted at 210 degrees, could be righted 3 times while you were in 50-55 degree water. During persistent Northeasters. That pummeled the entire Eastern Coast during February. And most of March.

Your little boat, boat, floated, float, float through that frozen sea. With no provisions, a Bible, and your own horseshit stories to keep you company? Is he like the human barbie and subsisted on light and air, no water or food required?

He looks about as hale as a man scheduled for a weightlifting competition.

[LisaL]

70. There is no evidence he was anywhere else.

"Alerts were issued from New Jersey to Miami, according to the Coast Guard. Officials searched financial data to determine whether Jordan had come ashore without being noticed, but they found no such indication, Fajardo said."

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/general-news/20150404/man-reported-missing-at-sea-for-66-days-found-in-good-health

[LiberalFighter]

5. Agreed

[johnnysad]

6. This story is ridiculous

He was not lost at sea drifting on an over turned boat living on rain water and raw fish for 66 days



Not looking like that


https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=1484

[Ghost in the Machine]

22. Really! Unless he shaved on the boat that rescued him, too. MY goatee is bigger than that, and

I just trimmed it back down from a full beard! I keep a full beard in the winter and tell everyone it's my "winter fur", but I can grow a full beard in a week to a week and half.

Peace,

Ghost

[Aerows]

25. He claimed to have been lost 66 days ago

which would have put him in the Atlantic in late January, Early February.

That's obviously the most hospitable time to fall into the ocean, no storms, and be able to heroically right your capsized sailboat, right? It's not like you would get hypothermia within around 6 minutes, and even with a shoulder that was perfectly fine, you could combat the suction of the ocean to right a capsized 35-foot sailboat in the 6 minutes before you succumbed to hypothermia (in the best of conditions), right?

[Ghost in the Machine]

40. They could fertilize all the crops in the Country with this story! Oh, wait...

You see, these 2 waves came along, spaced perfectly apart, and the first one broke just before the boat causing it to list back on its side, then the second wave hit the boat and knocked it back upright!! That's totally plausible, right?

Peace,

Ghost

[zappaman]

75. That makes sense.

And I bet that he caught a flying pig or two and was able to roast it in the sun.

[Ghost in the Machine]

101. As much sense as his story, anyways :-)

Good to see you, zappaman, hope all is well with you and yours. Sorry it took so long to respond but I wasn't on here yesterday. 2 doctors appointments and laid up the rest of the day, but I'll live through it.



Peace,

Ghost

[Takket]

7. hmm, interesting

I had the flu last week and was laying on the couch feeling like I didn't care if I ever moved again. I saw this story and thought, as sick as I am now, how in the world did he last two months on a capsized boat eating raw fish and rainwater and not develop massive food poisoning or pneumonia along the way? just had to believe you can exist in the environment that long without getting sick enough to be killed or nearly killed

[LisaL]

74. Apparently he lost a very large amount of weight.

He was pretty chubby before he went missing.

[LeftyMom]

8. He doesn't have a hint of sunburn.

Anybody who has similar coloring and spends any time on the water knows precisely how likely that is.

[Aerows]

10. I'm blond haired and blue eyed

but I tan very easily. After 2 hours on the water, I get burned. He was under a capsized boat hiding in an air pocket for 30 minutes max. He doesn't even have a damn tan.

[LisaL]

11. He claims he was sitting in his cabin most of the time.

[Aerows]

16. He heroically righted a capsized boat

-ALONE- in deep water 200 miles off the coast, that was big enough to have a cabin?

[LisaL]

17. He was found at sea, in a boat that looked very bad, and apparently haven't been

seen anywhere since he went missing.
Explain that.

[Aerows]

26. If what he said was true, he was lost at the end of January.

200 miles off of the coast of North Carolina.

How many minutes can a person survive clinging to a boat in waters at that temperature in OPTIMAL conditions? How many minutes can a person survive clinging to a boat that is capsized in optimal conditions? This is open ocean with tides, cold water, and deep, bone chilling conditions. It would be unbelievable in August, but in January?

Surely you jest.

[LeftyMom]

29. Sister Aimee Semple McPherson disappeared for five weeks and was presumed drowned at Venice Beach

Eventually she wandered up to a house in Agua Prieta, Mexico with a story about being taken to a shack in Mexico by kidnappers (whose names included "Mexicali Rose" and "Steve&quot before she escaped and walked across the desert for thirteen hours looking for help.

Clever people noted that Sister Aimee wasn't particularly sunburnt, or dehydrated, and that her feet didn't much look like she'd walked through the desert or anywhere else for thirteen hours.

Cleverer people asked around a bit and found out that her married boyfriend, a radio engineer who had worked at her ministry, had gone missing at the same time she had.

In summation, there's long historical precedent for people staging disappearances for attention, profit or to cover for their actual whereabouts.

[LisaL]

72. Well, when these "clever people" come up with something that prove this guy wasn't at sea all this

time, let me know.
So far there is no evidence whatsoever he was anywhere else.

[morningfog]

51. Party at sea with secret lover.

Blown off track during his drug trade meet up.

Sex,drugs, murder. There are endless possibilities that are more plausible than his story.

[olddots]

13. we heard it wrong

He was lost at the mall and survived on food court food all that time .

[Grammy23]

18. My reaction was the same as others who have expressed a heavy dose of skepticism...

About the whole story. Having lived along the Gulf Coast most of my life and spent a fair amount of time on the water as a kid, I couldn't help but notice the color of his skin was not right. Others who claim to have spent far less than 66 days adrift have scorched skin. Their lips are parched. Haggard barely begins to cover how ragged they look.

I got severely burned as a teenager more than a few times, even though I used Coppertone Sun Tan Lotion. The SPF back then was almost zero. I had blisters on my skin and I looked like a cooked lobster. I was sick and spent several days in bed with fever and cool wash cloths covering my scorched hide. I could not stand to have anything touch my skin. My mother applied liberal amounts of Solarcaine from a spray bottle....that was pure torture until the numbing effect kicked in!! And that was the result of ONE DAY out boating with my family.

Something about this guy's story does not feel right. He may be telling the truth, but I fully expect that it will turn out to be a hoax.

[Aerows]

20. 66 Days ago

Wasn't the coast being hit with N'Oreasters? Like blanketed with snow? 200 miles away, you are going to get some churning, freezing and ... Oh wait. I forgot a 35-foot sailboat with a cabin was righted, because they don't weigh much and the suction of the current isn't that hard.

It was just capsized during winter and boom, there it was again popping up like a cork.

So you don't have to really contend with sun during winter if you are on a boat in the ocean, you just have to worry about staying warm.

Unless you have to worry about BOTH things, which is indeed two worries that EVERYONE has on a boat 200 miles from shore any season.

He dodged the freezing hurricanes, dodged the cold, dodged the sun, turned back over his capsized 35-foot sail boat in the cold of the ocean BY HIMSELF with a broken shoulder, and then floated along dining on sushi, rain water and the Bible.

That sounds believable. Did he get swallowed by a whale, too, and spat up along the coastline?

[IdaBriggs]

21. I'm not saying it was aliens....

but it sounds like ALIENS.



Best of luck to him. Not my circus, not my monkeys.

[pugetres]

24. "According to Jordan’s family, he capsized at least twice more."

I read that bit in the LA Times.

Three times! And, he still had a Bible dry enough to read cover to cover

[malaise]

35. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Maybe the bible was in a ziplock bag -separate from the suchi.
This thread is excellent

[LiberalElite]

47. I wondered about that dry Bible myself -

it just must be a miracle.

[yeoman6987]

60. Throughout the entire tale, the Bible was always my

suspicion. I gave him the benefit of MAYBE he read it wet until it dried out and only read parts that weren't stuck together.....gullible that I can be. The other thing I thought was at sea you lose track of time and days. Heck I have a hard time keeping up with what day it is on a 4-day cruise so maybe he was out two-days and thought if felt like 66-days. If all I had was myself and a Bible, I could see myself thinking it was an endless amount of time. Who knows but I am sure this will be investigated very much in depth while ignoring real problems of the U.S.

[beam me up scottie]

27. Oh, you just don't know an uplifting story when you hear one.

[Art_from_Ark]

83. This story is "up-lifting" something, all right

[beam me up scottie]

92. Yep.This has 'movie deal financed by Roma Downey' written all over it.

If they get away with it look for a major production to be released in movie theaters, otherwise it'll be all over the boob tube next Easter.

[Aerows]

30. Temperatures of the mid-south Atlantic during February and March

http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/satl.html

Of the COAST of NC. Not as cold as they would be 200 or even 100 miles off of the coast.

It's cold, but you STILL have a sunburn due to sunshine hours.

Think about this tall tales details.

[SheilaT]

36. Wasn't he reported missing

maybe by his mother, back in January?

So now we have to account for where he's been hiding for two months, along with his boat, before getting out to sea and capsizing and being rescued.

[Brother Buzz]

45. He was sailing Appalachian Trail

[Kalidurga]

63. Yep

And ended up in Argentina.

[Greybnk48]

90. I was just going to say the same thing.

Not to be too mean or sceptical, but come on! Who does he think he's kidding? A broken shoulder will need an xray, and I'm sure blood work will be drawn. When that's all done, the sham will be over.

If it's not a sham, apologies from cynical old me.

[yeoman6987]

62. Do we really need to investigate the story?

This guy is a nobody who may be lying but who cares really. The worst is he got a kick out of hearing his made up story in the press for a few weeks. As long as he doesn't get money from it. Who cares really.

[840high]

66. You are right.

[MADem]

81. The taxpayers and the USCG expended money and human energy to rescue that guy.

Human lives were placed at risk to save him.

If he was bullshitting, he needs to reimburse the government for the cost of his 'rescue.'

I heard the phone call between him and his father, and his father seemed remarkably unsurprised to hear from his "dead" son back from a watery grave.

The tones of voices in the conversation just set off my bullshit detector.

Who knows? It'll be figured out eventually--and it should be. This shouldn't be left to pass--otherwise, we'll have more of the same.

[Hekate]

86. Yes, all that

[BlueJazz]

38. I'll take the man's word for it.

[Aerows]

50. Were it Australia

and the fact that your waters aren't as cold as the mid atlantic? I might. But don't you think no matter where he is sailing he should have a tan?

[BlueJazz]

56. Frankly, I'm confused about the whole thing. On the BBC news yesterday (I think) they said he had...

...a large amount of canned food and water to start out with. Then he was lost for awhile...then the craft turned over then back upright and he stayed in the cabin for many days.

Now the news says something else/different happened so again, I don't know what the hell to think ??

By saying "I believe him"...I'm just taking the easy way out, for now.

[Aerows]

57. Supposedly he was fishing off the coast of NC

in Late January, mind you, where the temperatures regularly are -1Cº (29Fº) ambient, and waters are (7ºC, 53ºF) managed to drift 50 miles without noticing (81Km) and the 13m boat capsized in the deep Atlantic waters. He broke his shoulder, managed to - again 7-9ºC waters - survive the rapid cool down his body would have most certainly done and managed to flip the boat, alone, climb into it, flush it of all of the water everything in it would have succumbed to, found a dry Holy Bible, a dry blanket to thaw out under while keeping his toes and fingers from falling off, and ...

[BlueJazz]

61. ....to his amazement, looked down and discovered an Acme portable heat dryer with super...

..ion-lithium batteries that last for 65 days. Suddenly a shot rang out! He turned terrified at first then was filled with joy to discover the noise was just the lock that had broke on a secret compartment that had 45 cans of Hormel Beef Stew. Just then...a large condor flew by and dropped a can-opener out of it's beak. He thought: "Damn, I was I had some cigarettes".
Out of the corner of his eye, he spied a wooden box in the water....

[misterhighwasted]

44. Did he get himself a go-fund-me account yet?

"Lost at sea & a Bible," & he should have $800,000 in a couple weeks.

[Aerows]

49. That's the only thing I can conclude.

You have to be an idiot to be sailing in Mid Eastern Atlantic waters prone to N'Oreasters (In January folks), then concoct this kind of tale.

[cwydro]

52. Yup.

I'm with you.

[indie9197]

55. OK, sailors answer me this

A 35' sailboat will not float when it is filled with water, correct? How does a sailboat of that size manage to turn upside down without taking on water and sinking?

Also, if he capsized off the coast of NC or SC, wouldn't he end up off the coast of Nova Scotia or even further, after 66 days?

This sounds like a case for Columbo.

[Aerows]

58. I think some of the issue is the translation of

Fº to Cº.

Temperatures regularly are -1Cº (29Fº) ambient, and waters are (7ºC, 53ºF)

[indie9197]

64. I didn't get into the temp issue

but I think he would have been dead from hypothermia without dry clothing.

[Brother Buzz]

59. How come a glass held upside down under water holds air?

A sailboat will ship a ton of water in a knockdown but it generally doesn't fill up.

[lumberjack_jeff]

80. The "windows" and "doors" "close".

Sailboats are (usually) designed such that the companionway is above the water even in a full knockdown. Only when the boat rolls completely over will any inflooding occur, and if the hatch is closed, only a small amount will come in. Enough to get everything wet, but not enough to compromise buoyancy.

[Politicalboi]

65. His lips should have been blistered

And he should of had red dry skin. The wind factor alone is painful. And with a broken shoulder.

My guess is he's looking for a Gofundme account. He lived in his boat prior to his trip. He should have come back at least looking like this guy.

<a href="http://imgur.com/TrkEZ0F"><img src="" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

[LisaL]

71. He is a very healthy looking guy right now.

But apparently he was much fatter before he went missing, and lost a huge amount of weight during this time.

"Grenz said he made a copy of Jordan's U.S. passport describing the American as weighing 290 pounds. Jordan now was probably only about 200 pounds and he looked little like the man in the passport photo, Grenz said."

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/general-news/20150404/man-reported-missing-at-sea-for-66-days-found-in-good-health

[morningfog]

93. So it was all just his diet plan.

[darkangel218]

67. And found right before Easter!!

Oh what a "miracle"!

Praise the Lord!

[malaise]

89. Precisely

Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah hahahahah - oh the timing!!

[chillfactor]

68. man..you people would even doubt God....

if he told you this happened to Him...just because you would not survive an event like this....you figure no one can...

[Aerows]

69. Do not invoke Him

on surviving events.

I survived Katrina with the eye passing over my house. The walls were breathing and I hid with the cat in the bathtub.

I am pretty sure I survived enough that I know a bs story from a real one.

Please do inquire about mine, about rationing water, heat, humidity and wind.

This guy had humidity, heat by day, rationing water, no food, humidity and cold as hell at night all by himself and the Red Cross didn't even show up after 2 weeks "Ya'll need some water" while we were raking debris in the front yard.

Hell no, we needed water 2 weeks ago, but thanks for coming by.

[Marrah_G]

102. I think if God told me he got lost at sea I would have myself evaluated...

[Calista241]

73. Who gives a shit.

This guy didn't even get 15 minutes of fame. It was more like a 10 second story in between the Final Four and the Iran deal.

I had already forgotten about this until I read this thread.

[lumberjack_jeff]

78. Too much ignorance.

This diagram shows the cross section of three differently-shaped cruising sailboats. "CG" represents center of gravity. "CB" represents center of buoyancy. "M" is the moment arm of the flotation acting on the boat to return it to an upright condition.

Based on the photo and description of his boat, it was probably closest in design to the moderate displacement style of boat, not the traditional cruiser on the top, nor the race-style boat on the bottom. When pretty much any enclosed sailboat is knocked horizontally flat (or "capsized&quot The buoyancy of the hull and cabin work to return the boat upright.



As the boat goes past 90° due to the action of waves it eventually reaches a position in which the buoyancy moment works to cause the boat to invert completely. Cruising boats of this vintage tended to reach this point at about 120° or 30° past capsize. At this point, the boat will roll until the mast is straight down. If 0° (upright) to 120° is the range of positive stability, 121°-180° is the range of inverted stability.
... But the boat is not especially stable in this position. Waves that can make a boat roll 120° can easily make it roll the >60° required to allow the boat to return itself upright.

Good monohull cruising designs can easily survive a rollover or even a pitchpole (flipping stern over bow). They are designed so that they are stable upright, and not very stable inverted.

Yes, I've designed boats. Yes, I've done similar longhand hydrostatic calculation and yes, they are a drag.

This was not a fabrication. Some of the details reported are inaccurate and subject to embellishment, but I believe that the fundamentals of the story are true. The main evidence to the contrary appears to be "He doesn't look very much like Tom Hanks in Castaway" and "I paddled a canoe once - the water was cold".

[LisaL]

84. Exactly. The only supposed "evidence" I have seen that

this story is false is that the guy doesn't look like Tom Hanks in Castaway.
Meanwhile, no evidence was found that this guy was somewhere else during this time.
And while he doesn't look like Tom Hanks, it does appear he lost a huge amount of weight.

[Orrex]

87. I hear that he has a son who drifted away in a balloon

Film at 11:00. Reality TV deal at 11:15.

[lumberjack_jeff]

91. "All indications that the Coast Guard has is that this guy seems to be telling the truth"

https://www.yahoo.com/health/health-fact-checker-does-it-add-up-south-carolina-115677168942.html

While his story sounds farfetched to the general public — and even some of his rescuers — experts say it’s completely plausible.

“All indications that the Coast Guard has is that this guy seems to be telling the truth,” says Petty Officer 2nd Class Nate Littlejohn of the United States Coast Guard, who is familiar with his organization’s ongoing case study of Jordan’s adventure.

Jordan was inside a sailboat — after initially capsizing his boat eventually righted itself — which offered him protection from the sun, Littlejohn points out to Yahoo Health. “He conserved his energy. It’s possible he found a way to manage his calories and that the freshwater he was able to get ahold of was in abundance.”

Jordan also lived on his boat, which was a huge asset during his ordeal, says survival expert Joseph Alton, MD, author of the best-selling “The Survival Medicine Handbook.” He was an experienced fisherman, and had a solid water supply and most of his worldly possessions with him at sea. “If anyone could survive that amount of time without terrible physical effect it would be him,” Alton tells Yahoo Health.

Alton says three major factors work against people when they’re lost at sea—exposure to the elements, lack of water, and lack of food. Jordan had protection from the sun and wind on his boat, which was a huge plus for him. People lost at sea typically develop severe sunburn on their skin and in their corneas in an eye condition known as photokeratitis, says Alton: “That can dramatically reduce their ability to function.”

Jordan was also seemingly smart with his water supply. “You can’t live very long without water, but if you start rationing it immediately, you end up buying yourself more time,” says Alton, who points out that someone can go 24 hours without water and then survive on 12 ounces a day afterward. The water supply that Jordan already had onboard likely helped him to survive longer before he had to drink the rainwater he says he caught in buckets.

[treestar]

94. Very interesting

From some of the comments at the site, it does look possible for him to have been living in the boat's cabin and eating all right for the first 60 days or so.