Adrift at sea without food or a phone signal and with little sailing knowledge, Elvis Francois’s chances of survival were slim to none.
But sustained by a diet of tomato ketchup, garlic powder, stock cubes and rainwater, the 47-year-old made it home after 24 days lost in the Caribbean Sea. He told rescuers he had been repairing a yacht near a harbour on the island of St Maarten when the weather turned and he was swept away from the coast.
Francois, from the island nation of Dominica, said: “I called my friends, they tried to contact me, but I lost the signal. There was nothing else to do but sit and wait. I had no food. There was only a bottle of ketchup that was on the boat, garlic powder and Maggi [seasoning cubes]. So, I mixed it up with some water for me to survive 24 days in the sea.”
Francois is not a sailor and did not know how to navigate or use any of the equipment on the boat, which he had to keep bailing out as it was letting in water and was in danger of sinking.
He tried various ways to attract attention, including carving the word ‘help’ on the hull of the boat. Then, he tried lighting a fire on the vessel to send a distress signal to passing boats, but none of them spotted him.