Ketchup, garlic powder and some bouillon cubes. That was all the provisions Elvis François had when his boat started drifting in the Caribbean Sea. On that, he survived 24 days before rescue came.
Elvis François was renovating a boat on the island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean just before Christmas when strong currents pulled the sailboat out to sea.
With no sailing experience or knowledge of navigation, he tried to use the mobile phone, but it had neither coverage nor much battery. Instead, he increasingly had to scoop water out of the sailboat, which was leaking.
He had carved the word “help” on the boat’s hull, but none of the boats he saw in the distance picked up the distress call. To get their attention, he had waved wildly and even set fire to part of his boat. Finally he saw an airplane.
In the player above: Watch the interview with Elvis, who recounts the unlikely story at sea.