Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava have the kind of loyal friends who stick with them through thick and thin – they have dogs!
The two women left Honolulu for Tahiti on May 3 on Appel’s 50-foot sailboat, the Sea Nymph. The trip should only have taken 18 days, but things quickly went awry when they found themselves out at sea in the middle of a storm. The mast of the sailboat took serious damage, and they spent nearly 5 months adrift in the Pacific.
Although they didn’t plan for things to go so terribly wrong, they were well prepared: they had the boat packed with food and their two loyal dogs, Zeus and Valentine.
Appel and Fuiava spent 98 days sending out distress calls that went unheard. The two had no answers, no clue where they were, and very little hope that they might see another vessel. But Appel says that because of Zeus and Valentine they were able to keep it together. They found inspiration in the memory of a sign they saw at the humane society when they rescued their dogs, you might be familiar with the saying.
She tells ABC News:
“At the humane society, because both of our puppies are rescues, there’s a sign when you walk out of the humane society in Oahu that says ‘be the person your dog thinks you are,’ and without those two to make our lives better during the rough times we might not have made it as long as we did.”
A Taiwanese ship finally spotted them and contacted the Navy. They were about 1,000 miles off the coast off Japan, and way, way off course!
Imagine the relief they felt when they saw the Navy approaching! It’s difficult to tell who was more excited about the Navy’s arrival, the women or the dogs!
The two are back home and recovering from the ordeal, but they’re not done exploring yet! They hope to make repairs to the Sea Nymph and have her out on the ocean again come next Spring!
When making their “just in case” checklist, they ought to remember to include Zeus and Valentine!
H/T: news.com.au / ABCNews.go.com
Featured Photo: USS Ashland/Facebook
