‘Help’: Colombia rescues sailor adrift in Caribbean 24 days

BOGOTA, Colombia — A man from the Dominican Republic was saved by the Colombian navy. He says he spent 24 days at sea on a sailboat and ate ketchup, garlic powder, and seasoning cubes to stay alive.

Elvis Francois, 47, had scrawled the word “help” in English on the boat’s hull, which officials said was crucial to his rescue.

The sailboat was seen from the air, northwest of the La Guajira peninsula. A passing container ship took Francois to the port city of Cartagena, the Colombian navy said in a statement on Wednesday.

Francois told Colombian authorities that his ordeal began in December, when currents swept his sailboat out to sea while he was repairing it off the Dutch Antilles island of St. Martin, where he lives.

Colombia man, Survived On Ketchup And Garlic Powder

“I called my friends, and they tried to contact me, but I lost the signal. “There was nothing else to do but sit and wait,” Francois recalled in a navy video.

He said he survived on ketchup, garlic powder, and Maggi cubes.

On Thursday, Cmdr. Carlos Urbano Montes told The Associated Press that Francois said he collected rainwater with a cloth. He stated that Francois was found to be in good health but that he had lost weight.

Francois said on the videotape that he had to keep taking water out of the boat so it wouldn’t sink. He also attempted but failed to light a fire to signal distress.

Saved By A Plane Flying Overhead

Finally, a plane flew overhead, and he signaled with a mirror. When the plane passed again, he said the navy informed him that he had been spotted.

“I had given up hope and was thinking about my family when I came across the coast guard,” she says. “I wouldn’t be telling the story if it weren’t for them,” Francois explained.

According to Urbano Montes, when the merchant ship picked up Francois, the sailboat was abandoned at sea.

According to the navy, Francois was given a medical check on shore before being handed over to immigration authorities for his return to Dominica.

SOURCE – (AP)