Cartagena, Columbia (Commonwealth Union)_A 47 year old man from the island of Dominica was rescued by a Colombian merchant ship having spent 24 days adrift on the ocean. All he had to survive on was ketchup, garlic powder and seasoning cubes. Elvis Francois was spotted by the merchant ship CMA CGM Voltaire as he lay on his sailboat, having survived on rainwater which he scooped out with a cloth to stay hydrated.
Francois was repairing his sailboat on the island of St Martin when unknown to him, strong currents had pushed the boat out to sea. With little ocean navigational knowledge, his quest to get back to shore proved useless. Having tried desperately to contact his friends but hearing the frustrating and eventually the panic-filled silence that denoted ‘no signal’, the courageous Francois decided to sit it out, believing sooner rather than later, help would arrive.
Not that he didn’t try to call for help, especially as he had keep bailing water out of his boat whenever it rained for fear of it sinking. He tried to set a fire in the boat as a distress signal and he even wrote ‘Help’ on the hull of the boat. But luck was not on his side at that point.
Having all but lost hope of ever seeing his family again, when he saw a passing plane high in the sky, he used a mirror to signal for help. Having seen the man adrift only after circling the tiny boat twice, the plane contacted a passing container ship which picked him up about 120 miles off the port city of Cartagena.
Very appreciative of the pilots who spotted him and the ship’s crew that tended to him until he landed ashore, Francois was found to be in good health albeit somewhat lighter in weight but able to travel back home to Dominica after clearing immigration.
