438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea

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Declared “the best survival book in a decade” by Outside Magazine, 438 Days is the true story of the man who survived fourteen months in a small boat drifting seven thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean. Days is an inspirational tale that is incomparable to any other non-fiction story I have ever read. Not only is the story itself noteworthy but Jonathan Franklin’s deft handling of the tale is nothing short of exceptional. I propped him up to keep him out of the water. I was afraid a wave might wash him out of the boat,” Alvarenga told me. “I cried for hours.” Our reading panel from libraries and The Reading Agency really enjoyed 438 Days – here are some of their comments: protagonist,alvarenga,resides in. I can see why it’s of use to the story but I found it quite tedious. I knew I had to push through it though to get to the near fatal fishing trip.

438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea

Although Alvarenga was unaware, he carried the optimum body type and precise age for an extreme survival situation. He was exceptionally strong but not too tall or muscled to require massive caloric intake, and at thirty-four years old near the perfect vortex of maximum strength and maximum experience.” I really enjoyed this book. Alvarenga comes across as a very humble hero. His story is so incredible. I spent lots of time trying to imagine what I would do to survive. The most compelling evidence of Alvarenga’s resolve is that his crew mate died after the first 4 weeks. Surviving 4 weeks at sea is no small feat, but Salvador Alvarenga lost the only human company he had and then went on to live another 13 months alone. It is hard to really comprehend what he went through. Alvarenga remained sitting, gripping the tiller tightly, determined to navigate a storm now so strong that harbourmasters along the coast had barred fishing boats from heading out to sea. Finally he noticed a change in the visibility, the cloud cover was lifting: he could see miles across the water. Around 9am, Alvarenga spotted the rise of a mountain on the horizon. They were approximately two hours from land when the motor started coughing and spluttering. He pulled out his radio and called his boss. “Willy! Willy! Willy! The motor is ruined!” Alvarenga believed he didn’t need a doctor to diagnose what was wrong. He was suffering from a yearlong tortilla drought.” Franklin’s deep research provides tremendous insight into the incredible journey: into the true immensity and isolation of the Pacific Ocean, the daily requirements and suffering of being a castaway for more than a year, as well as the physical and even more illuminating, at least to me, the psychological toll that it took on Alvarenga, a man who probably was the one in a million who could have survived this ordeal.

Poladian, Charles (February 3, 2014). "Meet Jose Salvador Alvarenga: Castaway Spent 13 Months Lost At Sea, Survived On Birds And Turtles". International Business Times . Retrieved February 5, 2014.

438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea

Surviving the voyage made Alvarenga a celebrity of sorts, and both his life before the voyage, the voyage itself, and his newfound celebrity once he’d washed up on land again are recounted here as factually as is possible in a case like this where so much relies on one person’s account of things. All we know is that Alvarenga reportedly left his family in El Salvador to go work as a fisherman in Mexico because he feared that a gang would try to take his life. That episode isn’t ever fleshed out in any satisfactory detail, and Alvarenga’s reported motivation to stay alive – to see his daughter again – didn’t ring true with me for whatever reason. José Salvador Alvarenga ( Spanish: [xoˈse salβaˈðoɾ alβaˈɾeŋɡa]; born c. 1975) is a Salvadoran fisherman and author who was found on January 30, 2014, aged 36 or 37, [nb 1] on the Marshall Islands after spending 14 months adrift in a fishing boat in the Pacific Ocean beginning on November 17, 2012. He survived mainly on a diet of raw fish, turtles, small birds, sharks and rainwater. [7] He swam to shore at Tile Islet, a small island that is part of Ebon Atoll, on January 30. [8] Two locals, Emi Libokmeto and Russel Laikidrik, found him naked, clutching a knife and shouting in Spanish. [9] He was treated in a hospital in Majuro [5] [10] before flying to his family home in El Salvador on February 10. [11] Jose Salvador Alvarenga and the science of survival". CBC.ca. Associated Press. February 6, 2014 . Retrieved February 6, 2014.

Costa Azul is a lost corner of Chiapas, Mexico’s poorest state and a region where emigrants tend not to stop as they continue on the long trek north to the United States. Few arrivals see much of an economic salvation in the tattered local economy. But the thirty-year-old Alvarenga wasn’t looking at land—his eyes were focused on the Pacific Ocean and had been since he was eleven years old and had run away from school to live at the beach with friends. Costa Azul would serve not as home but as home base. He would launch seaward for multiday ocean journeys to the richest remaining fishing grounds along Mexico’s plundered coastal ecosystems. He focused on finding food. He prayed more and sang hymns, even in the most devastating moments at sea. Alvarenga remembers numerous cargo ships passing him by, but he doesn’t know if all the ships were real or if he imagined them. “I would signal them and nothing would happen,” he said. “But I thought God will determine which boat will save me.”

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On November 17, 2012, Alvarenga set out from the fishing village of Costa Azul, near Pijijiapan, off the coast of Chiapas, Mexico. [1] An experienced sailor and fisherman, he was intent on a 30-hour shift of deep-sea fishing, during which he hoped to catch sharks, marlins, and sailfish. His usual fishing mate was unable to join him, so he arranged instead to bring along the inexperienced 23-year-old Ezequiel Córdoba, with whom he had not previously spoken, and whose surname he did not know. [12] I enjoyed the book. The descriptions of the men’s ordeal are really well written, and the story of the main protagonist is well set out before main part of the book unfolds. It’s a bit of a niche read but pretty unputdownable once you get into it.” I wanted Alvarenga to survive, while at the same time I didn’t feel any particular connection to him. No real insight is provided into who Alvarenga is or what motivates him. Franklin himself doesn’t seem too clear on those details. Jonathan Franklin: 438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea, New York, 2016. (The story of José Salvador Alvarenga, written down by an investigative journalist)Connelly, Sherryl (November 14, 2015). "Fisherman survives '438 Days' lost at sea, story told by Jonathan Franklin in new book". The Daily News . Retrieved August 11, 2019. I suffered so much and for so long. Maybe if people read this they will realize that if I can make it, they can make it. Many people suffer only because of what happens in their head; I was also physically being tortured. I had no food. No water. If I can make it so can you. If one depressed person avoids committing suicide then the book is a success. Wearing tattered clothes and with his hair and beard matted wildly from 14 months at sea, Alvarenga stepped off the boat to news cameras and reporters. In days, he went from the most solitary existence imaginable to the most-wanted interview on the planet. By the time the storm lifted, Alvarenga knew they had drifted far from Mexico. He could see airplanes flying overhead. But with no mast and no flares, the tiny boat was invisible in the vast ocean. It was raining the day Córdoba died, recalls Alvarenga. The two men, as they’d done almost daily for weeks, were huddled inside the icebox. They prayed. Córdoba asked Alvarenga to visit his mother and said that he was now with God.