Two Women, and Their Dogs, Rescued After Nearly 5 Months Lost at Sea

They were supposed to trade one island paradise for another: a monthlong sailing trip in spring, from Honolulu to Tahiti.

But on Wednesday morning, they were discovered in the wrong hemisphere, 5,000 miles off course and nearly six months into a dream that had curdled into a nightmare.

Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiaba were rescued by the Navy vessel the Ashland 900 miles south of Japan, according to a statement released by the Navy on Thursday. After setting out in early May, a storm claimed their 50-foot boat’s engine on May 30. They spent the next five months adrift at sea and unable to make contact with others.


The two friends survived on a water purifier and a store of oatmeal, pasta and rice, with two pet dogs, Zeus and Valentine, to keep them company.

“I had tears in my eyes,’’ Ms. Appel said of the moment she saw the Navy ship approaching, according to The Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “It was incredibly emotional.”


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In a video released by the Navy, she blows kisses with two hands as her rescuers arrive; Zeus and Valentine yap and circle excitedly in the background.

Ms. Appel, who said she had lived in Hawaii for 10 years, began planning the trip two and a half years ago out of a desire to further explore the South Pacific. But after their engine flooded, the plan went awry. Ms. Appel and Ms. Fuiaba at first believed they could get to their destination using only the boat’s sails. But two months into a journey that ordinarily takes half that long, they began to issue daily distress calls using a high-frequency radio.

For 98 days, no one answered.

“It was very depressing and very hopeless,” Ms. Appel said. Their boat had been too far out of range to communicate with anyone either on land or at sea. “There is true humility to wondering if today is your last day, if tonight is your last night.”