"I Survived by Licking Droplets"... American Man Dramatically Rescued After Drifting for a Month in the Pacific

Mast Breaks During Solo Voyage, Leading to Pacific Drift
"I Wanted to Give Up on Life"
Rescued by Container Ship After 30 Days at Sea

A story has emerged of an American man who was dramatically rescued near Hawaii after drifting for 30 days in the Pacific Ocean aboard a yacht with a broken mast.

According to The Guardian (UK) on the 27th (local time), Kai Sato, 39, a resident of California, set off alone from California’s Catalina Island on June 7, aiming to cross the Pacific Ocean solo for the first time. However, during the voyage, the yacht's mast broke, and even the cellphone he was using for navigation ran out of battery, turning the adventure into a nightmare almost instantly. Sato recalled, “I kept drifting south, crying for a whole week,” adding, “I felt so hopeless that I wanted to give up on life.”

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He tried to return to land, but after running out of fuel, he was unable to move the yacht any further. Sato said, “From that moment on, I was just drifting like a sitting duck. I was continuously pushed south by the current, drifting far off my original course.”

On the fifth day of drifting, he improvised a makeshift support for the broken mast using a pipe and a kayak paddle. By around day 20, even his drinking water had run out, so he had to collect condensed droplets from plastic bags to drink. Sato said, “I survived by licking those droplets. I mainly ate oatmeal, and whatever fish or squid landed on the yacht.”

After drifting for nearly a month, he finally reached the shipping lane between California and Hawaii, and on the 21st, was spotted and rescued by crew members aboard a passing container ship. The crew threw a rescue line to Sato’s yacht, and Sato tied it to the stern. The yacht was then pulled toward the ship, and Sato was safely brought aboard. The entire rescue operation was completed in about one hour and 30 minutes.

Sato is currently staying at a relative’s house and is reportedly already planning a new challenge: sailing all the way to the Philippines using a larger boat.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.